Lame mallard hen needs help

[jadasmith99]

Ummm, I posted yesterday under ducks but got no response...I'm hopeful though so I'm trying again.


She's three years old and has laid dozens of eggs over the last three years, however, over the last month or so it seems to be taking a toll on her to lay. Sometimes she's very tired and quiet until she lays and other times she's very tired and quiet after she lays. Her eggs have been normal until recently when she laid a robin sized egg.

Yesterday's egg was normal but now she appears to be somewhat lame. She's very alert and clear eyed and still has a good appetite but she cannot walk on both legs...she clearly has a problem on her left side. Her right side is strong and she is able to scoot around but with difficulty...any ideas? She typically eats fresh greens, scratch and some layer feed supplemented with crickets, beetles, occasional mud minnows, etc. I'm afraid somehow I haven't really met her nutritional needs...could she need niacin? I'm soooo worried and look forward to any and all feedback.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

I will boost this up so Nathalie Ross "threehorses" can come on and help you out

any questions email

 

[threehorses]

I'm going to ask a few questions to see if we can get a better picture of everything going on.

First, what's her source of swimming water? Are you having a lot of hot weather there? And does she do the typical duck "dabbling" and great mud puddles in the area?

Any chance that, with the heat, if she has a pond that it's going stagnant? Any access to compost piles, kitchen scraps thrown out, fallen logs or other decaying vegetation (particularly wet stuff), algea puddles?

Has she gotten any of her feed or grains wet? Anything that she might have gotten into? Including maggots? Lots of earthworms?

If you supplement her, I'd stick more with crickets and less with beetles. Beetles are often carriers of a number of parasites. Crickets can be gotten more cleanly.

When you say greens, are you feeding much spinach? Kale? or more like collards/mustard greens? Lettuce? Any chance that any of these fell through the proverbial cracks and went bad?

Is she limping, or having trouble using that side? If you lift her wing, can she refold it normally?

Have you been able to examine her foot very carefully to rule out bumblefoot or cuts? Tears in the webbing? Any heat or swelling on any part of her leg on that side? Any drooping of that side's wing? Does she drag her foot or step gingerly on it?

When I see this, I always first suspect a foot injury or soreness as the webbing of the duck's foot is so delicate. Often, there's something like a cut, a tear in the webbing, or some slight heat or scraping of the surface of the leg where the duck has gotten into something.

There are illnesses that can cause a duck to be lame, however I'd suggest ruling out a simple mechanical cause first.

As for the egg issues - what about the quality of the shell? its it at all pitted? Wobbly on the surface? It's not usual to have to provide calcium in the form of oyster shell for ducks who are on a 90% diet of laying pellets. But after three years, it's possible. Birds are of a nature where if they don't receive enough calcium (or alternately receive too much phosphorus, particularly in the form of grains) that they will pull calcium from their bones to meet their bodily needs.

Just in case, it wouldn't hurt to provide her oyster shell, and a good source of D vitamins. Ducks will relish some yogurt which will help with D vitamins and help their gut's good bacteria. If you're feeding greens in the form of spinach, kale, or turnip greens, I'd decrease it. It's high in calcium - but it's also high in oxylates which bind the calcium in the food to make it not terribly bioavailable for the bird. Too many oxylates, over time, can interfere with calcium absorbtion and cause crystals of calcium which can deposit in joints and other places causing arthritis and issues with the kidneys.

As for her laying - three years of intensive laying is hard on a bird. I'd just boost this nutrition, check her out carefully, try the yogurt and diet adjustment if needed and please let us know what you find on her - or what you didn't find. Then we'll go from there.

 

[jadasmith99]

Thanks so much for your interest. I'm going to go check on a couple of things and follow up with you afterwards.

 

[jadasmith99]

Okay, after close examination, it looks like she may be developing a case of bumblefoot. The wound does not appear to be infected....can you advise on treatment?

 

[threehorses]

Sure. First, let's make sure it's bumblefoot. It would be quite helpful if you could get a picture. But does it look anything like this:

First off, you'll want to keep her up for a bit because you're going to want to clean the wound on her foot and keep her on dry bedding with only enough access to water to wash her face/sinuses out.

We'll go from there after I get your clarifying reply.

 

[jadasmith99]

I strongly believe it's bumblefoot...looks exactly like that but it's clean and the color of her flesh.