BelovedBirds
Crossing the Road
I believe you may be able to supplement Vitamin D through food, but I'm not sure on doses.Unfortunately, I believe pine shavings aren’t exactly a good idea for the environment she lives in. However, we will try to find a way to prevent her from spilling water while having enough water to dunk her head in to clean her nares and face. Thank you.
Right now, her diet consists of salmon, shrimp, and mussels since her duck feed is arriving late. We can’t buy any of her feed nearby and switching to any other feeds that are an option isn’t a good idea for us since most of them lack protein.
We’re hoping to drastically decrease her treats once she gets her feed back, but she’s rather picky. Unfortuantely, she gets sick of her feed at least once every few meals, so it might be difficult to only give her a treat or two everyday. It might take awhile.
I try to put food and water out for her whenever I’m awake, but we can’t when I’m sleeping since she makes the dog pads wet and eat from it. She also has a habit of soaking her chest feathers into the water when we give her water, so unfortunately, it’s not exactly the best idea to give her food and water without someone watching her.
Oh, she doesn’t have grit.
Oh, I see. Thank you for telling me.
We’ve also been concerned about lack of sunlight. The vet has mentioned this before, so we’ve already brought a fluorescent lamp for her. We try to turn it on and cover her eyes or go out on a walk with her so she can get some vitamin D. It isn’t enough, so we’re still trying to figure out a good way to help her get sunlight without having to stay outdoors with her for long periods of time everyday.
Thank you, we’ll try to buy her oyster shells soon.
She does have some of those symptoms, but that’s likely because of her infection.
Please don’t worry about that, it doesn’t bother me. Thank you for the help, I really appreciate it. It’s a lot better and much more reassuring to get help from other people who have ducks. It’s my first time raising a duck and just kind of a pet too, so I’m lacking a lot of knowledge regarding birds and ducks specially. Any advice is much appreciated, thank you.
Grit is really important- because ducks don't have teeth, they need really small stones (grit) to eat. The grit goes down into their digestive system and grinds up the food to prevent it getting stuck. Since she's eating a lot of treats right now, grit is absolutely crucial- I wonder if that could be making her feel poorly. You can get plain grit and mix it with oyster shells, or a pre mixed grit. Serve it in a little dish by her water, all day so she can take what she needs
Since she has some egg binding symptoms, I would give her the calcium gluconate I mentioned before asap. If it turns out there's no egg stuck, it won't harm her at all. It'll just help us to rule it out.
I think if you make some of these changes, the water deep enough for her to dunk her head, the grit and oyster shells, the Vit D as much as you are able to, and ruling out an egg being the problem, you should be able to find the cause. And at least, those changes will prevent other issues in the future
Keep in mind that since she has an infection, she will be feeling quite poorly, but your vet sounds like they've made some good suggestions too, so keep following their advice and working with them
One thing I also wanted to mention, is while waiting on the feed arrive you may want to try switching up her treats, perhaps it will make her less dependant on those same things. I had the same situation recently when my feed arrives late, I fed my girls mainly rolled oats, scrambled eggs, in the evening soaked calci worms (meal worms are also good, but i wouldnt reccomend these until you get grit), flaked tuna, an occasional treat of banana. All those things are good, but you'll need to mash it (ensure it's all soft and small) since she doesn't have grit. If you have any of those things, you could try introducing them, and changing up what she has. Once her feed comes, ensure that's all she's given in the morning, in the evening if she hasn't eaten, you could try mixing a little treat into the food. She should stick with the food eventually. You could also try wetting her feed, that may get her interest again.
I know it's a lot of information to take on board, ducks have been some of the most complex animals I've looked after! Not in daily tasks, but in all the knowledge I've had to learn. We all make our fair share of mistakes, and we're all constantly learning