Lethargic Duck Overnight, Possibly Egg Bound or Poisoning?

[Miss Lydia]

This can give you info on what drug treats what.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/antibiotic-article-from-a-dog-blog.73452/

I would think if Josh was egg bound she would be gone by now. It doesn't take them long if they can't pass the egg. The pics @DuckyDonna posted are one way to identify, when my Muscovy was egg bound all I noticed was she was lethargic. I brought her inside let her float around in warm water off and on all day by the next day she had laid an egg but I lost her anyway thinking now she must have had an infection. This was many years before I heard about Cal Gluconate. They are just too good at hiding symptoms.

Can you post pics of her feet and what have you been doing to treat the bumbles.
There is a possibility the infection maybe spread, do you notice any swelling or redness in her feet or legs? heat?And taking her temp would probably be a good idea. Their basic body temp is around 107 I believe.

 

[graypes]

Feet pic coming soon, but just checked and actually her bumble looks way better, like no scabs anymore and the bumps look baggy or like empty rather than full and hard!

Update: just as I was preparing to put them in for the night, I realized that the crunchy cheek feathers are from clear eye discharge... now I'm, scratching my head trying to figure out what is wrong with josh that would cause eye discharge

 

[Miss Lydia]

I really think if there is any way at all a vet should examine her. We can guess all night from all the different things you've described and never get close to what is going on. Can you keep her in so you can monitor her eating, drinking, pooping?

 

[DuckyDonna]

I agree with @Miss Lydia. There are just too many things going on for us to diagnose and treat this girl. A vet is the best option. Terramycin is an eye ointment that Tractor Supply has. You could get that but I'd still take her to the vet.

 

[graypes]

I really think if there is any way at all a vet should examine her. We can guess all night from all the different things you've described and never get close to what is going on. Can you keep her in so you can monitor her eating, drinking, pooping?

she's an indoor duck (at night, but right now all the time)! yeah I think I'm gonna have to go out to vet asap but they aren't great for last min appointments for me because of the distance. They'll call me at 9am for a 10am slot etc when the office is 3 hours away :/ Hopefully she makes it through the night. I really hope she does :/ tomorrow I'll try to get a concrete time for the next day at the vet and hopefully she can get by on tube feeding for a day or so

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thats a long way, too bad there isn't one closer.

 

[DuckyDonna]

How's your duck today? Were you able to get her to the vet?

 

[graypes]

How's your duck today? Were you able to get her to the vet?

I am sitting in the parking lot at the vets! Got squeezed in for a drop off appointment and left the house at 5am to get here this morning! These bumpy Michigan highways were TOO MUCH and I thought josh would have a heart attack on the drive here lol

So the vet just called and said that since Josh is so emaciated, she can palpate the belly really easily and said there's no egg likely in there. Since Josh is having the same green skinny poops as Booby had, the vet thinks it's probably something like a virus, infection, parasite, or maybe even organ damage. So they are sending off bloodwork today and doing a fecal test. They're gonna give her fluids, tube feed her (since I have been struggling to tube feed solo), and start her on some antibiotics. Josh and the whole flock were dewormed last month when Booby (other duck) was sick, so I think they're gonna wait for the results before they start her on any anti-parasitic. Once they get the blood work back, we're gonna evaluate treating the whole herd! I wonder if maybe its coccidiosis? Booby's fecal float last month however was negative for cocci but he was not eating and barely pooping at all at the time so I'm not sure if that was a very reliable sample. He got better after 12 days of SMZ antibiotics and tube feeding so it very well could be!

Last night Josh was pretty lively so for a moment I was like "maybe we don't have to go" but I sprang awake this morning and was like, you know what, I'd rather be doing the most than nothing at all. Rather than risking losing Josh to something preventable, I drove down here, thrust my wallet at the vet, and said, "take all my money!"

HOPEFULLY, we'll see improvement over the course of the treatment, and hopefully I'll be closer to creating a safe environment for my feathered children. If not, well, at least I tried!

 

[DuckyDonna]

that is so good you were able to get her to the vet! I'm anxious to hear what the blood tests will say. Please be sure to post on here what they indicate. ARe you more comfortable with tube feeding? Did the vet give you any pointers on how to do it by yourself?

 

[graypes]

that is so good you were able to get her to the vet! I'm anxious to hear what the blood tests will say. Please be sure to post on here what they indicate. ARe you more comfortable with tube feeding? Did the vet give you any pointers on how to do it by yourself?

tldr: I am terrible at solo feeding still haven't seen vet yet (since I did a curbside drop off for emergencies rather than an in-office appointment) but will ask for more pointers!


I can now tube feed like a champ when I've got an extra set of hands, after several trial-and-error feedings with booby, but no matter what I do, I'm always like two fingers short when I try to tube feed solo! Because my brother/housemate recently moved out, I'm on my own! The part that kills me is, while keeping the mouth open with one hand, having to push the tube down AND hold the syringe in the same hand kills me. Its like if I leave the syringe dangling or on the floor while I get the tube in, it pulls itself out because I don't have enough slack in the catheter line
Even so, I've managed to get the tube in, but then I don't have enough fingers to push the syringe AND squeeze the tip of the syringe/tube so it doesn't shoot off! By the time I had given up, Josh was traumatized, and I almost passed out because my circulation got cut off from kneeling over her for so long LOLOLOLOL like as if josh didn't have it bad enough as it is but now there's this large ugly featherless duck panting in her face and keeling over on top of her... lol poor girl. I don't know if its part of her illness or if I truly gave her Trauma with a capital 'T' but now whenever she sees me her legs LITERALLY buckle and shake...