Impeckable
In the Brooder
- Oct 15, 2019
- 4
- 4
- 19
Hello bird lovers! I'm here seeking advice for my Muscovies which suddenly seemed to get ill out of no where. I am new to duck keeping and these are our first experiences outside of chickens. Its been great up until now! One of our Muscovy drakes seemed to be feeling a bit ill two days ago, he was slightly reluctant to get up and walk when I moved their tractor coop but I didnt think much of it. Yesterday morning he refused to get up at all, had extremely dilated pupils and seemed very lethargic. I quarantined him right away and moved the tractor off of that grass. He is still in quarantine, he is drinking plenty of water (probably takes a sip every 10 minutes or so) but refuses to eat whatsoever. Pellets, grass, pellets mixed with water, zilch. He is quite skinny, just by picking him up I can tell he has lost a decent amount of weight. I noticed he had very, very bright green/yellow almost neon colored poop, which was quite watery and foamy.
I've been spending the last day (this morning and all afternoon/night yesterday) looking up any information I could find online. I have a sneaking suspicion it might be some sort of bacterial disease, as they have had fermented food in the past (but it did not contain any mold)? But Im unsure how likely this is versus a disease. Their water gets changed daily in the mornings but does get dirty in the evenings from them swimming in it. They get fresh grass and feed every day, and the feed does contain niacin (I believe it is the Purina all lifestages duck feed, unfortunately the only duck feed sold at my local TSC) The chickens also freerange, but the ducks are penned and so they do not have direct contact, and none of my chickens are ill whatsoever.
Since yesterday he has only declined, he still occasionally drinks but will not move, and his eyes are nearly always closed. I can tell he is extremely weak, if not in the last stages if ducks decline anything like chickens do. As of writing this he is struggling to keep his head lifted, so I suspect it is too late for the little guy.
I was ready to write this off as a one off, until this morning I noticed another drake that was reluctant to stand up. He is still making noise, drinking, walking around just fine but when laying does not like to stand and occasionally will fall forward when walking. I could just tell by his energy level hes just not 'all there'. I noticed he had quite bright, foamy poop similar to the first. Ive quarantined him as well, and included a picture of the poop in case that could help. They do not have bumbles on the face, sores, or are bleeding in their poop.
Any advice as to where to go next with this, or what it could possibly be? These ducks just turned 11 weeks old on the 29th. Most of them will end up harvested in just a few weeks (6/12) , and we planned on keeping a few as breeders so it would really suck if this happens to be anything contagious and untreatable.
What is the go-to for medications that might be able to help solve what this is? I did read that B Complex in the water is a good head start, but Id like to see some more opinions or potentially other things to try just in case. Thank you, any help is appreciated!
I've been spending the last day (this morning and all afternoon/night yesterday) looking up any information I could find online. I have a sneaking suspicion it might be some sort of bacterial disease, as they have had fermented food in the past (but it did not contain any mold)? But Im unsure how likely this is versus a disease. Their water gets changed daily in the mornings but does get dirty in the evenings from them swimming in it. They get fresh grass and feed every day, and the feed does contain niacin (I believe it is the Purina all lifestages duck feed, unfortunately the only duck feed sold at my local TSC) The chickens also freerange, but the ducks are penned and so they do not have direct contact, and none of my chickens are ill whatsoever.
Since yesterday he has only declined, he still occasionally drinks but will not move, and his eyes are nearly always closed. I can tell he is extremely weak, if not in the last stages if ducks decline anything like chickens do. As of writing this he is struggling to keep his head lifted, so I suspect it is too late for the little guy.
I was ready to write this off as a one off, until this morning I noticed another drake that was reluctant to stand up. He is still making noise, drinking, walking around just fine but when laying does not like to stand and occasionally will fall forward when walking. I could just tell by his energy level hes just not 'all there'. I noticed he had quite bright, foamy poop similar to the first. Ive quarantined him as well, and included a picture of the poop in case that could help. They do not have bumbles on the face, sores, or are bleeding in their poop.
Any advice as to where to go next with this, or what it could possibly be? These ducks just turned 11 weeks old on the 29th. Most of them will end up harvested in just a few weeks (6/12) , and we planned on keeping a few as breeders so it would really suck if this happens to be anything contagious and untreatable.
What is the go-to for medications that might be able to help solve what this is? I did read that B Complex in the water is a good head start, but Id like to see some more opinions or potentially other things to try just in case. Thank you, any help is appreciated!
