Background: Jemima, a Cayuga duck, started acting differently a couple weeks ago. She was walking really funny and I was concerned she was egg bound, took her to the vet, vet said she's not egg bound. Then she starts molting--everything seemed fine. As her feathers grew in the chickens starting pecking at her, so I separated her in a cage inside the run. On Thursday, she was shivering and there was a chill in the air, so I brought her into the basement to be under a heat light. She is not eating, she drinks very little when I offer it to her. Friday and Saturday, she would just be standing there when I went to check on her--would drink a little water if I offered it. This morning I went down to check on her and now she's just laying down like she doesn't have the strength to stand up--she did drink a tiny bit of water when I offered it, but she seems to be getting worse.
I read a ton about molting and weight loss etc...but she seems to be getting worse. Not really any feather growth appears to be going on. I don't want to just keep her alive if she's slowly dying of starvation...is there anyway this is "typical" molting?? My gut tells me no...any suggestions/opinions?
I read a ton about molting and weight loss etc...but she seems to be getting worse. Not really any feather growth appears to be going on. I don't want to just keep her alive if she's slowly dying of starvation...is there anyway this is "typical" molting?? My gut tells me no...any suggestions/opinions?