MY DUCK CAN'T STAND or WALK, HER LEGS SEEM TO CRUMPLE

[corrinekay]

Thank you all for the concondolences. I'm just glad my babies aren't suffering anymore

 

[Amiga]

The charcoal at that dosage should be fine for overnight.

 

[dadaas]

Hi,
I found this topic on Google, so I have questions.

I have the same problem with my 2 years old duck. She was spending almost 23 days laying on eggs. I didn't see her move for last 15 days.

And now she moved away from eggs, and only 2 eggs were in the nest. No new born ducks. So must be she decided to move away from nesting.

BUT now she cant walk. I did try to check for that eggs, but I didn't put a finger in her hole. I just touch it from outside, and it appears there is no egg because it appears like the empty hole. But I m not so sure.

Also, I did hold her in warm water, and this did not help at all.

I have 5 ducks, other 4 are staying close to her because she cant follow them, she cant stand on legs nor move too far, but she is moving in a way like jumping, this looks pretty weird and to me, it looks like she will die soon.

I put her near water, and she was drinking. I don't really feed them; they have a huge corn food supply and 50x50 meters yard just for them. So it is a huge place for 5 ducks. Basically they are on their own in this place, I just supply fresh water and corn, sometimes I buy special food when newborns are there.

But now i will go and buy special food for her, maybe it will help.

I m from Croatia and here only few people have ducks as pets. Also food supply is not so big i only have one option to buy.

So what else can i do?

I need to say i noticed this yesterday and today i dont see her goind better, so i m kind of afraid she may die tomorrow.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@dadaas Welcome to BYC.

Sounds like your duck is suffering from nutritional deficiency from not getting adequate nourishment and from sitting so long [they really don't eat much when sitting] and corn isn't going to give them many vitamins to keep them healthy and while brooding they aren't going to spend much time looking for bugs etc to give them enough nourishment to keep up their strength either. When ducks are brooding food and water should be placed close enough they have to get up off the nest for exercise of their legs. Also gives them opportunity to wash is water is available too.

I'd get her some really good feed actually all your ducks but especially while your duck is recouperating she needs a good balanced diet. And pool time[ with out drakes trying to mate with her ]so she can build her legs muscles back up. Hopefully it's not too late to get her back to health. Even some poultry vitamins in her water if you can get some. Make sure none of your drakes try to mate with her while she isn't able to walk. They may injure her further. When she is in the pool stay with her and help her in and out so she doesn't injure trying to get out on her own. and please let us know how she is doing. Corn is not really a staple it's more of a snack, I know they love it but it doesn't supply all they need.

 

[dadaas]

Ok, as i write in other topic i provided her new food that i bought in store with vitamins and proteins that little ducks eat when young. Sadly here we have only one duck food, so i hope this one will be good.

Sadly i cant put the duck in any place. There is no room, i have 50x50 meters backyard and ducks are there on their own and there are tons of bugs, i live in really wild area.

Also how did this happen to her?
Why she didnt stand up and go get some food, she build her own nest in the place she likes. Now i will go and make some pictures, so you can see all the area.

 

[dadaas]

Nest that was aborted, you see no eggs in it and some are broken

Pool in my backyard only for ducks, but i rarely see the ducks inside since Indian Runner Ducks were released in my backyard.

duck with the problem

Duck with problem

Duck with problem from distance

All ducks under tree

EDIT:
Watch the pictures in original view with zoom in, i made High Definition pictures so you can see all details.

EDIT2:
In last picture you can see her standing on her feets, but she cant move, if she trys to walk she just crash.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Why some poultry won't leave the nest or won't leave enough is baffling. If I don't see mine come out during the day the next day I pick her up and place her outside. Usually it's like she comes to herself and goes oh okay I need to poop, eat and bath then get back on the nest and in between chase a few ducks around all poo fed up acting bad. Thankfully I have never lost a duck or goose from staving themselves but I have read about it. So it does happen.

She doesn't look emaciated but hard to tell under all those feathers what her body feels and looks like so what do you think about her body weight compared to another her same size? The food you got is fine actually it will give her extra calories she needs now to get her health back.

Your pool is nice size but I'd get rid of the green water if it's been there awhile it could have harmful bacteria in it. Clean it out real good and fill close to top that way your heavier ducks will be able to get out of it. If you could make some way for them to climb out that would even be better. Light ducks could launch themselves out I don't think your Rouens could.
Looks like a real nice area you have for your ducks Plenty of forage space lots of bugs Hopefully your duck will begin to show signs of recovery soon, give her time to eat and get some good nourishment in her and hopefully she'll be good as new. Another thing too is you know how if we sit on lour legs for any length of time they will be come numb fall asleep. with her sitting and not getting up circulation probably wasn't so good, That is why placing her in some water deep enough she can float might help her start using her legs with the water supporting her body we call it water therapy. just always be there to put her in and take her out before she gets worn out.

 

[dadaas]

Yes, if she survives the night i will do water therapy again. That duck is some mixed ruen duck. It is the bigest duck in the yard but now she is not so big. I mean maybe it is still the biggest but before she was extra large. But this is normal since she was seating on the eggs for more than 20 days.

Also when she was seating ont he eggs first time like 2 months ago, she was acting like she is dead. I was thinnking that she died, so i get near her and just when i got few centimeters close she opened her mouth.

Few days later new ducks were born and she was OK.

So this duck is having some weird behaviour and i really hope this is just one of that weird behaviours.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yes, if she survives the night i will do water therapy again. That duck is some mixed ruen duck. It is the bigest duck in the yard but now she is not so big. I mean maybe it is still the biggest but before she was extra large. But this is normal since she was seating on the eggs for more than 20 days.

Also when she was seating ont he eggs first time like 2 months ago, she was acting like she is dead. I was thinnking that she died, so i get near her and just when i got few centimeters close she opened her mouth.

Few days later new ducks were born and she was OK.

So this duck is having some weird behaviour and i really hope this is just one of that weird behaviours.

Keep us updated on how she is and I hope she makes it. They go into some kind of trance when brooding chickens do the same thing.

 

[dadaas]

UPDATE:
She looks like stronger, but still her movements are weird. She stands on two legs then she try to do a walk and then she crash, but fast she stand up again and try to do a walk and crash again.

This way she is moving pretty much around all my big backyard and interesting thing is that all ducks are slowly moving around her.

So now i just will visti her trough the day and put food and water under her nose. Because she moves away from food and water.