Mallard Duck Sudden Death

[MyDucky]

I had a rescued Mallard duck (Ducky), who came to me as a hatchling on April, 18th. She was raised mostly indoors for the first two months of her life. Gradually, we let her on the back yard during the day and brought her back home at night. She was raised as a home pet with proper accommodations for her kind and given a lot of attention and love.

Ducky appeared to be a happy bird, but last Thursday, less than three months after she came to us, she suddenly died and we are searching for an explanation for why did that happen?

Ducky was fed Purina Flock Raiser, salad mix, spinach, and cucumber. She had an improvised "pond" -- a shallow infant swimming pool. We changed the pool water at least every other day. As she was growing up, Ducky would eat grass roots on the back yard and play in a mud puddle in a flower bed.

Last Thursday morning, less than an a half an hour after taking her outside to her pool, Ducky made strange noises and when we went to see what was going on, we found her upside down, floating in the water. I pulled her out and tried to resuscitate her. For a couple of minutes she appeared to be coming back to life and I thought she would be fine, until her neck became limper, she hopped to the ground and started having seizures. She died within a minute.

I am heartbroken over my Ducky's sudden death and I wonder what would have caused it? I don't have experience with raising fowl, so I wonder if I did something wrong with my Ducky?

Any advise and information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm really sorry to hear that.

It sounds like she ate something toxic. She may have suffered from botulism or eating chemicals that may have washed into the yard or been sprayed on the plants. She could also have eaten something from the garage or a poisonous plant. Was it really hot out?

 

[MyDucky]

Thank you, for your kind words! It is hot here (Houston, TX), but the heat should not be a factor, because the duck was in a shade most of the time -- I had built her a "canopy" under which she had water saturated grass where she liked to "chill out." It is hot, but the wild ducks here live in similar conditions and Ducky did not show any sign of discomfort.

As far as harmful chemicals: we cleaned the patio with Lysol All Purpose Cleaner once a week to remove stains from her poop. Otherwise, the poop was removed throughout the day just by hosing it down. Last time we used Lysol was four days before she died; not sure if this could give a clue to the poisoning theory.... sadly, it crossed my mind that she could get hurt from the household cleaner, but it was not the first time we washed the patio with this detergent.

Besides Purina feed, (organic) salad mix, Ducky ate whatever she found in the grass and the mud puddle.... We have a Juniper-type bush that sheds purple berries and they get on the patio, but they have been there for several weeks now. Unless the poisons were slow acting, I cannot think of any change of Ducky's diet that would have affected her....

Thank you once again, for trying to help!

 

[MyDucky]

I am new to this Forum and I might have posted my reply to you to a wrong section...... My apologies if you are receiving it for a second time:

Thank you, for your kind words! It is hot here (Houston, TX), but the heat should not be a factor, because the duck was in a shade most of the time -- I had built her a "canopy" under which she had water saturated grass where she liked to "chill out." It is hot, but the wild ducks here live in similar conditions and Ducky did not show any sign of discomfort.

As far as harmful chemicals: we cleaned the patio with Lysol All Purpose Cleaner once a week to remove stains from her poop. Otherwise, the poop was removed throughout the day just by hosing it down. Last time we used Lysol was four days before she died; not sure if this could give a clue to the poisoning theory.... sadly, it crossed my mind that she could get hurt from the household cleaner, but it was not the first time we washed the patio with this detergent.

Besides Purina feed, (organic) salad mix, Ducky ate whatever she found in the grass and the mud puddle.... We have a Juniper-type bush that sheds purple berries and they get on the patio, but they have been there for several weeks now. Unless the poisons were slow acting, I cannot think of any change of Ducky's diet that would have affected her....

Thank you once again, for trying to help!