Pekin duck seems very very sick after eating

[Jrf2352]

Hi there! I have a duck who seems to get very sick after eating. I have taken him to the vet but the symptoms cleared up by the time I got there and they could not give a diagnosis.
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
pekin duck, 6lbs 4 years old
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
after eating he loses balance, stumbles using wings to stay upright, eventually collapses and seems passed out. If I pick him up he will drink/try to walk around but his head just hangs straight down. he also seems to wretch like he is trying to vomit. I've attached two videos of him ~10 minutes after eating tonight.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
~2 months, but much less severe. the symptoms have been much worse tonight and monday night, 3 days ago. tuesday and wednesday he seemed okay.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
I have one other duck who seems fine
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
maybe a neck injury. during the day he sometimes seems to have neck pain/rests his neck on his chin rather than up and looking around like normal. Sometimes he seems completely fine for days though, so I am not sure it is a neck injury.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I don't know of anything that could have caused this
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
watermelon, feeder fish, duck/chicken feed
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
normal
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
rubbing his chest and trying to help him drink water after eating
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I would like to treat however possible! Home treatment would be preferred as I don't have a ton of extra money to spend on large vet bills
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
Link to videos:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ameqo50m1D9AkH7GBbEGCUTzL19E
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ameqo50m1D9AkH_wkTpN0ata3Xeg
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
Wooden duck coop with hay bedding from tractor supply

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Oh boy, tough one! - First let's call some experts to help: @casportpony, @Miss Lydia , @WVduckchick
Your drake looks a bit like he is paralyzed.
Could he have eaten something poisonous? Like a berry, an insect or something rotten.
You don't say where you live, is it warm/hot there?
Does he feel warm to the touch? Unusual warm feet or legs?
I would not give him anything to eat, just water as much as he likes to drink.

 

[Jrf2352]

Thank you for the quick reply!
It is possible he has gotten into something poisonous, but the symptoms seem to come on right after eating his dinner, and only some nights. He seems like he is trying to throw up, then he will fall down and look paralyzed for ~5 minutes and then slowly recover over ~30 minutes.

I live in florida so it's about 80 during the days, 70 at night right now.

He doesn't feel unusually warm anywhere

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC, and sorry about your duck. I do not know much about ducks, but he is having some sort of a neurological problem. Wry neck is something that many birds can suffer from, and can be due to a vitamin E or B1 thiamine deficiency, a head or neck injury, a disease, or possibly from eating a poison or toxin, lead poisoning from pain chips or lead shot in the ground. Ducks also suffer from botulism, but they usually causes a flaccid paralysis starting at the feet progressing up the spinal nerves to the wings, neck and eyelids, and does not come and go. Hopefully others will offer help.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I assume he is not panting heavily? - Have not seen that on your videos…
»the symptoms seem to come on right after eating his dinner, and only some nights«
So he had that before?
It could be that he is overstuffing himself! Pekin ducks unfortunately have been bred as meat-birds and sometimes develop a voracious appetite.
How does he eat his dinner? - Like he hasn't eaten for days and there won't be food tomorrow? Ducks cannot really burp and if he has swallowed a lot of air that can be very painful while those bubbles travel through his digestive system…
Just wildly speculating…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I don't think botulism! My drake Limpy had (suspected) botulism, it starts at the legs and proceeds upward: https://wcsv.org/education/diseases/duck-botulism/
Agree with @Eggcessive it could be a late symptom of vitamin deficiency as a duckling, causing neck problems. If he feels better, i would give him some Multi-Vitamins, just to make sure that his body has plenty available.
I hope it isn't lead poisoning! - Any lead-paint used around the house? I know lead-paint was used a lot in Florida due to the warm and humid climate, to prevent rot on wood.

 

[Eggcessive]

Symptoms could fit with lead or other poisoning. But most things are not known to cause intermittent symptoms. Seizures could do that, perhaps being triggered by eating. I would definitely get a necropsy performed by your state poultry vet if you should lose him. Here are some articles about diseases that can cause neuro symptoms in ducks:
http://www.duckdvm.com/condition/intracranial-lipoma

http://www.duckdvm.com/condition/new-duck-diease

http://www.duckdvm.com/condition/lead-poisoning

 

[Jrf2352]

I assume he is not panting heavily? - Have not seen that on your videos…
»the symptoms seem to come on right after eating his dinner, and only some nights«
So he had that before?
It could be that he is overstuffing himself! Pekin ducks unfortunately have been bred as meat-birds and sometimes develop a voracious appetite.
How does he eat his dinner? - Like he hasn't eaten for days and there won't be food tomorrow? Ducks cannot really burp and if he has swallowed a lot of air that can be very painful while those bubbles travel through his digestive system…
Just wildly speculating…

he is not panting at all. He has had it before, less severe until monday and today.

He does eat very aggressively, running/tripping over his pond at dinner time and eating like it is his first meal in days. we water his food down as we had a duck in the past who got impacted neck from eating too fast.

thanks for the input, I really hope it is just him trying to get some burps out!

 

[Jrf2352]

I don't think botulism! My drake Limpy had (suspected) botulism, it starts at the legs and proceeds upward: https://wcsv.org/education/diseases/duck-botulism/
Agree with @Eggcessive it could be a late symptom of vitamin deficiency as a duckling, causing neck problems. If he feels better, i would give him some Multi-Vitamins, just to make sure that his body has plenty available.
I hope it isn't lead poisoning! - Any lead-paint used around the house? I know lead-paint was used a lot in Florida due to the warm and humid climate, to prevent rot on wood.

I will try the multi vitamins. we have been giving him feeder fish to try and give him more nutrients as we suspected that may be the cause.

We did just pressure wash and repaint the house, but we used lead test purchased from home depot before scraping all the old chipping paint away. We also did our best to keep all paint chips out of the duck area (I haven't seen any in there)

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

he is not panting at all. He has had it before, less severe until monday and today.

He does eat very aggressively, running/tripping over his pond at dinner time and eating like it is his first meal in days. we water his food down as we had a duck in the past who got impacted neck from eating too fast.

thanks for the input, I really hope it is just him trying to get some burps out!

Sounds like you have to feed him in small portions, so that he can drink in between. Ducks can become very sick when they overeat and sometimes they do that entirely voluntarily… See: OMG! I think i killed all my ducks! HELP!