My pekin ducks keep dying - help!

[alexxanndra]

Hi guys,

We started out with 21 pekin ducks. We are now down to 10 ducks. We did lose 2 to predators, however the rest of them just up and died suddenly. I started noticing that out of the blue 1 or 2 of the ducks would suddenly become very lame - eyes half shut, did not want to get up and walk around. I have been really trying to keep an eye out for all their symptoms. It seems a lot of them have a yellow tinge to their eyes, and a few of them have raspy breathing. 1 of the 10 we have left all of a sudden couldn't walk this morning. He is not doing good and I will be surprised if he makes it through the day.

I should mention that they all seemed to be fine as chicks. They are now 2 months old. Every few days one has been dying since about a month ago. We have had pekin ducks in the past and this has never happened to us before.

Any insight, advice, experience with this,, anything would be really appreciated.

Thx

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'm not a duck expert but any time one loses a lot of birds or even just a few in short order, the only prudent course of action is a necropsy otherwise you're taking a chance on losing the whole flock. You also need to know what the problem is or you risk your next flock.
Each state has at least one diagnostic lab. It isn't expensive and you need to contact them to see how they want them delivered. At the very least, douse a freshly dead bird with soapy water (Dawn) and refrigerate it to preserve evidence.
ETA
It's best to send a live bird with symptoms and the results of the post mortem will be more conclusive.

 

[Amiga]

I agree a necropsy should tell you what is wrong.

And I want to gently ask this: could you please offer some information about their environment?

What have they been fed, what kind of housing are they in, is it summer or winter where you are, do they have access to a pond, are there other animals in the area, what have you tried to do to help them so far, anything you can describe about their behavior and history.

Also, the Duck Forum has many experienced duck people - you could post a question there and probably get some helpful responses.

Sorry to read of your losses.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It's also best NOT to give any antibiotics or other meds prior to the necropsy or that will skew the results.

 

[ten chicks]

Could be anything,some issues to consider are:niacin deficiency and coccidiosis as ducks too can have a cocci overload/outbreak(Emeria,Wenyonella and Tyzzeria)

 

[PaintsRule]

There is a protozoa I believe that can affect mostly Pekin ducklings when in down. They just seem to be exhausted and just die. I had a friend give me some medication to medicate their water at this time and I never lost any after that. I cannot for the life of me find the info on what the protozoa is called or what the medication is called.

 

[marie1975]

My mini apple yard dicks keep dying on me I had a duck first dye in night after going in water in cat litter tray then a drake now a duck again why?

 

[marie1975]

My mini apple yard ducks keep dying on me I had a duck first dye in night after going in water in cat litter tray then a drake now a duck again why?