Losing entire flock to disease - help?

[casportpony]

Our vet school never asks for money ahead of time. They get the carcass or live animal, euthanize and start to work immediately. They will even send a FedEx label to your e-mail on their account. They add that to the bill they send after work is complete.

That's how UC Davis does it too.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Sometimes I forget to send the check right away. Then they re-bill me. When I do that I send an extra $50 or $100 as partial/full payment for the next necropsy and they just carry a positive balance on my account till needed.

 

[Duck Hill]

UPDATE:

I got the final lab results, and spoke with the vet in person. He made it clear he did not think it was an infectious disease of any kind. It was not anything passed from one animal to another.

Results indicate it was not any toxins associated with pesticides, rat poisons, or anything like that. The ducks did not die as a result of applied insecticides, pesticides, fertilizer, hardware disease, or anything like that.

It seems likely that a toxin like botulism or something similar was the culprit. Botulism is an anaerobic bacteria - it grows when there is no oxygen.

Looking back with clear, guided hindsight:

The kiddy pool water was changed regularly. It was not the source.

There was a dog house with a plastic floor that had NOT been cleaned regularly. It contained mostly dry hay and some duck waste. However, upon closer inspection there was a groove where the wall and floor joined. This groove did catch rain water. On the low side of the dog house, water did fill the groove when it rained - and it is possible this water was there permanently. There was moist/wet hay (and poop) in this part of the dog house after the rain. So the groove probably had no air (plastic dog house), water, nutrients (poop), and a source of infection (bacteria from the poop). This would be an ideal place for the bacteria to grow.

The vet pointed out that bacteria like botulism do occur naturally in the gut of most animals. However, since the animal breathes (oxygen) and poops (bacteria get flushed out), then a few such bacteria are not a problem.

However, if the animal dies, or when poop gets into an oxygen-less environment, then the anaerobic bacteria can grow.

After the first several deaths my friend moved her ducks to a new pen area. The wooden duck house was disinfected and moved to the new area. The plastic dog house (for ducks) was said to have been cleaned and disinfected. It was moved to the new area. The weather was good, the ducks spend the night outside, and there were no deaths for several days.

Stormy weather hit. Half of the ducks took refuge in the wooden duck house, and the other half in the plastic dog house. The next day the ducks that were seen in the dog house early in the morning became sick. Eventually all of the ones that had been seen in the dog house in the morning died. Upon closer inspection, my friend realized that the plastic dog house that was supposed to have been cleaned and disinfected... had not been. The front appeared clean, but the back was still filled with some old hay.

The dog house was removed, and other steps were taken. As of this writing, all remaining ducks (7 of 18) are doing well and are healthy.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Wow thanks for getting back to us. So many people will be enlightened and educated from this. Please let your friend know that some good will come from her tragic loss. I’m sure the source of her bacteria is happening right now in another plastic container somewhere. Her loss just might of saved countless ducks/chickens. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Best wishes