Need some expert duck advice...

[TJAnonymous]

I have 5 ducks that I bought off Craigslist in Sept 2020 - 3 Silver Appleyard (1 male, 2 females) and 2 Pekins (2 females). The guy told me that they had been born the previous spring (2020). He was getting rid of them because he had too many ducks. In the spring of 2021, all 4 duck hens seemed to be laying and 2 became broody. Then by summer of 2021, all of them suddenly stopped laying eggs. I thought it was weird. Posted about it on BYC a few times, but never figured out why they stopped laying. Then in January, they started again...but then stopped a few days later. This past weekend, I opened the coop to discover one of the Silver Appleyard hens was dead inside the coop. I have no idea why and didn't get to do a necropsy before my DH burned the body. The remaining duck hens have started laying again and have seemed to lay every day so far in the past week. But today I noticed that the other Silver Appleyard looks really thin. Her breastbone is very prominent. Is this normal for this breed? Both Pekins look normal and healthy. I honestly have no idea if the guy lied about the ducks age and maybe they are actually much older? I will try to get a picture of the SA this evening so you can see what she looks like. I just worry that she is going to die like the other one.

They all eat just fine and get lots of food. They also have access to 1/2 acre pond several times a week where they eat all kinds of bugs & stuff. The male doesn't look skinny either....so I'm not sure what to think about this situation.

 

[KaleIAm]

I'm sorry about your loss.

Right away my thought goes to the bugs and pond - while a wonderful and enriching activity ducks can get parasites that way. Mine did. Earthworms and slugs (my ducks favorites) can have parasites in their bodies, the ducks eat them, and then the ducks have intestinal parasites. Wild ducks can visit your pond, they defecate in it, then your ducks drink the water and can get diseases, intestinal parasites, and external parasites. Mine did.

It's sad, one of the reasons I got ducks was so they could enjoy our pond, and I used to row around with them. But they were getting sick all the time and our vet told me to stop. Since I have we rarely get parasites anymore. They still get some from the bugs they eat, but not like we got from the pond.

My avian vet has a couple different fecal tests (float and direct smear I believe?) To look for different intestinal parasites. They also found mites from wild ducks - which I missed completely.

Of course, it could be plenty of other things, too.

 

[addctd2plnts]

I would immediately deworm them. You can use Ivermectin pour on for cattle. It only takes 5 drops. Put one drop on the skin behind the neck, one drop on the skin under each wing, and one drop about 2 cms from the vent on the skin. Usually we do this each Spring and Fall with our show ducks, but your may need a second treatment about 6 weeks after the first. They get the parasites from earthworms and some fish. I know many duck people say not to worry but they often don't understand they get less eggs from a duck that has parasites and if they are hatching, they likely have less eggs hatch and survive. https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30E07552-7B6A-11D5-A192-00B0D0204AE5

You can also help all of them with Nutridrench by mouth. There are videos on youtube and an article on here that shows how to place the dropper in their mouth. I believe Nurtidrench can be obtained from Chwy and local rural supply stores. https://www.strombergschickens.com/product/nutri-drench-4-ounce

There's other things that can be done but these are the first two priorities in my mind.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I do have Pour-on Ivermectin that I use with the chickens. I will use some on the ducks tomorrow night when we put them away for the night. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture this evening because I got tied up and it got dark before I could get out there.

 

[jjackson-7]

Hijacking a bit here, but what is the withdrawal time on eating eggs after working with ivomec please?

 

[KaleIAm]

Hijacking a bit here, but what is the withdrawal time on eating eggs after working with ivomec please?

3 weeks after the last dose is what my vet told me.

 

[KaleIAm]

I do have Pour-on Ivermectin that I use with the chickens. I will use some on the ducks tomorrow night when we put them away for the night. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture this evening because I got tied up and it got dark before I could get out there.

I'm not trying to discourage you from treating for parasites, but something you might want to think about is that even "over the counter" parasite medications are real drugs with real side effects. If your ducks are sick with something else now might not be the best time to give them medication they might not need.

Is there any way you could test them for intestinal parasites first?

BTW, the medications we used were both ivermectin (injectable given orally) and panacur) both available OTC, but I purchased them at my vet.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I'm not trying to discourage you from treating for parasites, but something you might want to think about is that even "over the counter" parasite medications are real drugs with real side effects. If your ducks are sick with something else now might not be the best time to give them medication they might not need.

Is there any way you could test them for intestinal parasites first?

BTW, the medications we used were both ivermectin (injectable given orally) and panacur) both available OTC, but I purchased them at my vet.

I understand where you are coming from. I don't have any way to test though. I tried to get any of the local vets to test my chickens for internal parasites and they all declined. No one here treats chickens (or ducks). I have horses and goats though so I usually have wormer on hand because I do a rotational worming schedule for the large animals. For example, I will be administering Fenbendazol this month and then Quest Plus in May.

A silver lining in my situation is that the University of Arkansas has a really robust Poultry Department (thanks Tyson!) and the head veterinarian is willing to work with me via email. He will give me his professional opinion if I send him video or photos although he is located 4 hrs away so I can't really take my birds up to see him. I don't want to abuse his willingness to help, though, so I usually only bother him if I have a major concern (like Mareks or MG).

 

[BenlynFarm]

I understand where you are coming from. I don't have any way to test though. I tried to get any of the local vets to test my chickens for internal parasites and they all declined. No one here treats chickens (or ducks). I have horses and goats though so I usually have wormer on hand because I do a rotational worming schedule for the large animals. For example, I will be administering Fenbendazol this month and then Quest Plus in May.

A silver lining in my situation is that the University of Arkansas has a really robust Poultry Department (thanks Tyson!) and the head veterinarian is willing to work with me via email. He will give me his professional opinion if I send him video or photos although he is located 4 hrs away so I can't really take my birds up to see him. I don't want to abuse his willingness to help, though, so I usually only bother him if I have a major concern (like Mareks or MG).

Just curious for future reference...I live in NWA. Will the U of A test a dead chicken or ducks if the cause is unknown? I had a rooster die last year, cause unknown. So, I just wondered if it were to happen again if there is a place I could take it to see why.

 

[Isadora]

You mentioned the pekins look good. Pekins are known to be very greedy since they were created to be a heavy meat bird. Is it possible they're hogging a lot of the food and your other SA isn't getting enough?