Need some Help: Sick-acting Duck

[Bleenie]

I have noticed, the last few days, that my Muscovy Drake, Bommie, has been a little thin-looking in the chest. I let everyone out this morning and closed the pen up with the food inside to insure they would all come back to eat later on. Everyone came back up and chowed down when they got in the pen except for Bommie...

He sat outside the gate and "dozed" until i finally walked him into the pen, his chest looks pretty caved in/empty. When his favorite girl go up to the pen and started eating he went up next to her but just poked at the food for a second before turning away. He seems very "sleepy"? his eyes are always half-closed if he's standing still for a second. He has enough energy to trek to the creek & back so I just don't knwo what's wrong with him. I thought maybe he ate something but I felt nothing in his throat or chest & he wasn't sensitive in his belly or sides at all. No one else is acting odd at all, not even his hen that preens him all the time. His eyes are bright, nose is clear, no respiratory issues, bright, healthy color.

any ideas are really appreciated, I just wanna figure out what's going on with him.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Do you ever worm your ducks??? Could be one possibility for his weight loss- but Im not sure how that might effect his appetite as well.

 

[Bleenie]

I was thinking worms but I have never had a problem with them in the ducks before. I was planning to move him to the empty pen tomorrow and worm him, with his GF for company... since he's already acting weird enough, i don't wanna stress him out too much by cutting him off from everyone & since they're together 24/7 it wouldn't hurt her just in case.

I know worms will cause some weight loss but he feels alright, just no appetite.

 

[cracking up]

He's Beautiful - Hope you figure it out.

 

[Bleenie]

Well I moved the pair over into a seperate pen with the wormer water, now I will just be keeping my fingers crossed that his appetite improves and so does his energy... I feel terrible watching him, he's really trying to preen himself but he can only get through a few feathers before he has to take a break, it's heartbreaking to watch

 

[Hattiegun]

poor baby he is soooooo pretty....

 

[Duck_feeder]

Have you tried feeding any special treats like peas to see if that gets your duck excited about food?

If you are very worried he's not eating enough, you can force feed him (not as bad as it sounds - our vet taught us how to do it). Fill a plastic syringe (no needle of course) with mashed pellets mixed with water. Get it a bit into their throat and plunge it directly into their crops. Sometimes getting a bit of food in their system will kick start their appetite. They'll be a bit upset at you for doing that, but if done right it's perfectly safe.

We might have a video of giving one of our ducks medicine this way. I can look for it if you want.

 

[Bleenie]

I saw him eat a teeny bit of food a few minutes after i moved them & his chest doesn't look as sunken in today so I am hoping his appetite is picking up again or maybe the medicine will help clear out any worms or move anything he might have eaten along its way. I watched him for about 10 minutes and there is food in his poo, but it's still pretty watery(but thankfully there's no blood or anything!!). He is drinking well though and I covered the pen and took away all other dishes so the medicated water is their only water.

 

[Birdcrazy]

Oh such a pretty boy, hope he gets better soon

I've never wormed ducks before, but when we worm the horses we do all of them - if he does have worms would it be a good idea to worm the rest of your ducks, too? I know worms in horses are easily passable from one to another

 

[desertdarlene]

I wonder what happened. The muscovy at our lake also started to look like he had a sunken chest and a runny eye, but he had a fantastic appetite, but has lost some weight. In his case, he's a really old drake and almost totally blind, so I wonder if he's finding enough food for himself.