Paralyzed duck?

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silkiemother

silkiemother

Crowing
Sep 14, 2018
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east wenatchee
So I noticed my pekin hen was getting sick a while ago so I’ve had her separated in isolation as soon as I noticed her sick. And when I say sick I mean head down, limp, barley moving and when moving is super slow and appears painful, wheezing, runny nose, and I think her eyes are dripping?About three or five days ago I noticed she isn’t using her feet at all and is trying to use her wings to get around. She doesn’t care or try to move her feet when I mess with them and has them not tucked under her but out behind her. She’s also kinda wheezy but she’s bright eyed and active but is also refusing to eat no matter what I’ve tried to feed her. I have been hand feeding, mind you being very careful that she doesn’t inhale it so she is getting something into her. Do you think she might have any quality of life or do you think I should maybe considering putting her down? I unfortunately do not have access to a bird vet since I live in quite an isolated area nor would I be able to afford one so I sadly can’t get her tested to see if she has something contagious or not. I do have her isolated far away from any other birds in a dark area with only my three silkies in another pen a good distance away from her keeping her company(they have a light so they aren’t in the dark unlike her). I did also have a seemingly healthy rooster pass away with no apparent cause of death maybe a few days before her getting sick, but they were in different pens so I don’t know if that’s linked or not. Oh, and we do have a problem with English sparrows getting into their feed but I have managed to keep them out of it for the most part but ya know, can’t get them all. Any advice or anything that might help me figure out what to do would be greatly appreciated
 
If she's not eating, tube feeding might be an option. They can go downhill fast once they stop eating.
Is there any possibility that she could have gotten into something toxic? Or that she could have eaten something that she shouldn't?
What's her normal feed?
What's the set up like? Free range?
It could be related to the rooster and it might not be. Sometimes chickens just up and die for no apparent reason - and without a necropsy, you never know. However, if this duck dies, you might want to consider sending it for a necropsy since it became ill within a short time after losing the rooster.
 
There is a slight possibility she could have eaten something toxic since she went downhill in a matter of hours but I’m not sure if she’s still be alive almost two weeks after getting sick. There is always a chance she could have gotten poisoned by something since we converted an old storage shed into a duck coop but I’m pretty sure we would have gotten everything after five years. She has access to as much food and water she wants all day in her pen, they get a mixed diet of chicken feed, grain(small amounts) greens, fruit and veggie scraps, and whatever treats I bring in as well as what they forage from the yard. They are free range birds but haven’t been out of their pen lately since we’ve had waist deep snow that’s finally starting to melt. She is housed with chickens but they’re the old ladies that don’t get along with my younger flock and they were quarantined and health screened before they were put in with the ducks. Could there be a slight possibility it might be an issue with the bedding I have? I have straw covering the floor in her run and the ducks occasionally fill their water and food with it but I always clean it as soon as I notice and the bedding does get damp occasionally right before I clean it out
 
silkiemother said:
So I noticed my pekin hen was getting sick a while ago so I’ve had her separated in isolation as soon as I noticed her sick. And when I say sick I mean head down, limp, barley moving and when moving is super slow and appears painful, wheezing, runny nose, and I think her eyes are dripping?About three or five days ago I noticed she isn’t using her feet at all and is trying to use her wings to get around. She doesn’t care or try to move her feet when I mess with them and has them not tucked under her but out behind her. She’s also kinda wheezy but she’s bright eyed and active but is also refusing to eat no matter what I’ve tried to feed her. I have been hand feeding, mind you being very careful that she doesn’t inhale it so she is getting something into her. Do you think she might have any quality of life or do you think I should maybe considering putting her down? I unfortunately do not have access to a bird vet since I live in quite an isolated area nor would I be able to afford one so I sadly can’t get her tested to see if she has something contagious or not. I do have her isolated far away from any other birds in a dark area with only my three silkies in another pen a good distance away from her keeping her company(they have a light so they aren’t in the dark unlike her). I did also have a seemingly healthy rooster pass away with no apparent cause of death maybe a few days before her getting sick, but they were in different pens so I don’t know if that’s linked or not. Oh, and we do have a problem with English sparrows getting into their feed but I have managed to keep them out of it for the most part but ya know, can’t get them all. Any advice or anything that might help me figure out what to do would be greatly appreciated
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If she's in pain and suffering, it may be kinder to put her down :(. Have you tried putting VetRx on her? If she's having respiratory issues it may help. Did you water down the feed to make "soup"? Is she drinking still?
 
I use straw and shavings. I'm not sure that would be the issue. Do you supplement with any niacin? If not, try giving her 1mL of liquid super complex b over something she will eat or in her mouth.
If toxins, you could try a flush like activated charcoal. I was actually wondering if she might have ingested any metal?
How old is she?
 
Have you tried any type of antibiotics? I read you have her in the dark why? Sounds like she has an infection it may be respiratory and could be other things too but with runny nose and eyes running sounds like respiratory at least.
she really sounds pretty sick now and it maybe to late to try but if you can get her the right antibiotic and get her started ASAP she still may have a chance.
Here is info on antibiotics and where to buy
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/antibiotic-article-from-a-dog-blog.73452/
@silkiemother
 
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