I think I figured it out...

[agregg15]

A couple days ago I posted a topic about how one of my Khaki Campbells was in poor condition (sorry about getting caught up in other things and not being able to post pictures) and yesterday I was researching the food I used to feed them which was DuMor. It turns out DuMor had a recall on horse feed because there was aflatoxin in it. I read the symptoms of ingesting aflatoxin and it supposedly causes a poor coat and loss of hair. My guess is that my Khaki Campbell was more susceptible to it than the others and all of the feed DuMor was producing went through the same machinery or share the ingredient that caused the contamination. I've also read that other people didn't like it and it's actually milled by Purina, which makes me wonder, why wouldn't a big name like Purina want to put their name on a product if it was perfectly fine for the consumption of animals? It sounds sketchy to me. I've recently (2 weeks or so ago) changed their feed to Blue Seal and my Khaki (and my other ducks) are looking much better. My little Khaki has started to grow in normal feathers and I've noticed that the other ducks feathers are shinier and stay much more dry. Coffee (my Khaki) isn't out of the woods yet with the winter coming soon and her current condition, but I hope my research helps others who have had the same problem.

 

[GrannyCarol]

Ducks are very susceptible to poisoning from aflatoxins. Those are toxins put out by mold in the feed and, unfortunately, mold does get into grains and the resultant toxins can get into the feeds. I suspect that I've lost ducks to aflatoxin poisoning in the past, but no way to know now. I really wish I had some way to know if what I am feeding is safe or not, the whole thing seems a bit sketchy. If there is any lack of quality in the batch of feed you are using, it could easily result in poor condition in your animals. Glad you found a way to get your duck into better condition.

 

[agregg15]

Quote:
It had me and everyone else I asked stumped on what the problem was. I'm sticking to Blue Seal from now on.

 

[dianaross77]

Boy that's scary. It reminds me of when all the dogs got poisoned from the dog food a few years ago. It made me glad I don't feed my dogs anything with wheat in it already.

 

[Amiga]

Just for what it's worth, I recall being told that black light can help indicate the possible presence of aflatoxin.

Here's a link.

http://vetmed.iastate.edu/diagnosti...ections/chemistry-/-toxicology/aflatoxin-iowa