My duckling had a seizure!

[mopargal1972]

Yesterday morning I was in my brooder room (yes, I have a whole room just for my babies!). Anyways, I accidently knocked over the lid to the trashcan that I keep the feed in and of course, the noise scared my 5- 1 week old ducklings. One of them fell over, stretched it's legs foward and it's neck back and had a seizure. I am a vet tech with 17 years experience (with dogs and cats), so I'm about 90% sure that it was a seizure. I promptly picked him/her up and he/she slowly came around, began peeping, and then struggled to get down. I placed him/her back in the cage with the other ducklings and he/she was a bit ataxic (wobbly), but otherwise fine. This morning all 5 ducklings are acting normal. I'm not sure if I should be worried, and if so, what other symptoms I should look for. I have had chickens for several years, but these are my first ducks.

 

[Dances with Ducks]

This kind of thing came up a many times last year when people were brooding lots of ducklings. Usually it turned out just fine. Sometimes it happened repeatedly to a certain duckling and sometimes a whole batch of them, and occasionally the ducklings didn't make it. I think we all sort of came to the conclusion that it's helpful to add some brewers yeast to the ducklings feed to ensure they were getting adequate B vitamins and some other nutrients that are not always enough of in feed designed for chicks. This deficiency can lead to neurological problems. There are some commercial vitamin formulations specifically designed for birds availible too.

 

[mopargal1972]

Thank you for the info. I will try that. He/she has been fine since

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