kspidahl
Chirping
- Mar 25, 2020
- 3
- 16
- 57
Hello!
My first post here! I am a new duckling owner- I got them from TSC. We have had them for about two weeks, when we noticed one of my two ducklings looking ill. This happened on Friday (five days ago). He was standing hunched with his eyes closed and just chirping like a chant... We took him to the vet the next day (Saturday), they took a fecal sample and bloodwork. They said he was dehydrated, gave him some fluids, antibiotics (tylan), and said the results from the test would be back in three days (Tuesday). I didn't think he would make it that long- but he has!
On Sunday he was noticeably worse- unable to stand, his eyes were closed, and wry neck setting in (or something affecting his neck muscles). He has almost no balance, and not much control over his legs- he often throws his neck back and falls over backwards and flails around for a few seconds before settling. My gut told me the antibiotics weren't the right thing, so I jumped on the forums here and thought my best guess might be that he has cocci. We have been syringe feeding him pedialite with corid, and well as some Emeraid IC with nutritional yeast mixed in. He seems to be getting stronger- he bites at the syringe when we feed him and he is able to try and drink on his own (it's a terrible mess, but progress!).
Yesterday (Tuesday) we got a call from the vet- his fecal and bloodwork came back normal! The only thing that was slightly elevated was his heterophil count- a type of white blood cell responsible for inflammation (if I remember correctly). The vet's best guess is that it's just viral, and will need to run its course.
Sooo, any other hypothesis? Our other duck has ZERO symptoms and seems to be a happy, healthy duckling. Was it something from TSC (our vet informed us that TSC does NOT vaccinate their chicks)? They have been living in our house in a makeshift pen in the guest bedroom, so have had no contact with our chickens (we are from Michigan and it's too cold still). The only other thing I could possibly think of is, if one of our house plants dropped a leaf or two and he ate it- causing botulism? Or would botulism show up in the tests that were performed?
Sorry for the long post! This forum has been a life saver so far! Cheers!
My first post here! I am a new duckling owner- I got them from TSC. We have had them for about two weeks, when we noticed one of my two ducklings looking ill. This happened on Friday (five days ago). He was standing hunched with his eyes closed and just chirping like a chant... We took him to the vet the next day (Saturday), they took a fecal sample and bloodwork. They said he was dehydrated, gave him some fluids, antibiotics (tylan), and said the results from the test would be back in three days (Tuesday). I didn't think he would make it that long- but he has!
On Sunday he was noticeably worse- unable to stand, his eyes were closed, and wry neck setting in (or something affecting his neck muscles). He has almost no balance, and not much control over his legs- he often throws his neck back and falls over backwards and flails around for a few seconds before settling. My gut told me the antibiotics weren't the right thing, so I jumped on the forums here and thought my best guess might be that he has cocci. We have been syringe feeding him pedialite with corid, and well as some Emeraid IC with nutritional yeast mixed in. He seems to be getting stronger- he bites at the syringe when we feed him and he is able to try and drink on his own (it's a terrible mess, but progress!).
Yesterday (Tuesday) we got a call from the vet- his fecal and bloodwork came back normal! The only thing that was slightly elevated was his heterophil count- a type of white blood cell responsible for inflammation (if I remember correctly). The vet's best guess is that it's just viral, and will need to run its course.
Sooo, any other hypothesis? Our other duck has ZERO symptoms and seems to be a happy, healthy duckling. Was it something from TSC (our vet informed us that TSC does NOT vaccinate their chicks)? They have been living in our house in a makeshift pen in the guest bedroom, so have had no contact with our chickens (we are from Michigan and it's too cold still). The only other thing I could possibly think of is, if one of our house plants dropped a leaf or two and he ate it- causing botulism? Or would botulism show up in the tests that were performed?
Sorry for the long post! This forum has been a life saver so far! Cheers!
