Runner Ducks Dieing? ?

[hughes family]

So i sold my friend my 4 runner ducks, and he put them with the chickens and turkeys. Well the past 2 days one of the drakes i gave him couldnt stand would just lay there abd a few days later died. Now the 2nd drake is starting to do same thing, he trys to walk but looks crippled. Im thinking he will be dead in a few days like last one. So my friend wanted me to look online and see if anyone knew what was going on. Any help would be great. Thanks

 

[Amiga]

I would first get the runners into some kind of clean quarantine. Loads of fresh water, fresh food, clean bedding.

No strong impressions right now, so I will post this and give myself time to think what it could be.

What is he giving them for water? They need alot more water than chickens or turkeys.

What is he feeding them? They must have water they can fill their mouths with or they could choke.

Is it possible they have ingested something with botulism? If there is a mud hole that the others avoid but the ducks would dabble in, they could have been poisoned that way.

Runners are more sensitive to aflatoxin than chickens or turkeys. Check the feed.

I have to be away from the computer soon, but I will check in whenever I can.

 

[hughes family]

Well he has a pool with water in it for them, not sure what he was feeding them but i know he recently got a feed for turkeys, geese and ducks that he is giving them.

 

[Amiga]

The more details we can learn about the situation, the more ideas we might have about the nature of the problem.

All I can think to write here is please read my first post - get the ducks into a different environment and then do some detective work.

It could be something that an experienced duck person would pick up on right away that may not seem like a problem to someone else.

Has he raised ducks before?

 

[hughes family]

No. And the ducks did fine at my place and i had them for 3-4 months. He has had them less then a month and bam. Idk. I will tell him to seperate them. I feel bad. They did fine with me now my babies are dieing. I gave them to him for his daughter. Ill see if i can figure this out to. He thought they were getting beat up, but i dont think thats it. Then hens are fine still, but who knows for how long. Ill be there tomorrow to check and tell him seperate.

 

[blondiebee181]

Agreed with Amiga....maybe even separate the sick drake from the seemingly unaffected ducks....you said the 2 hens didn't seem sick yet right? What kind of housing and bedding is he using? You said the feed is an All-flock? The ducks have a pool? Definitely double check for any dirty water sources that could make them sick...Amiga, I may be on a limb but could a lack of niacin be affecting the legs?
Generally, ducks need more niacin in their diet than chickens for proper leg growth and development, but the only reason I can think it would be deadly is if the legs got so bad the duck couldn't stand to get to food or water so that's a stretch I think...
Um...make sure that there is no debris or chemicals or anything around the birds could injest or choke on....I had a chicken die a few months back from seemingly unkown causes...a similar situation...I put them to bed fine that night, or so I thought, but my hen Ginger didn't make it in to bed, the next morning I found her in a sitting position in the yard, dead. The only reason I could come up with is that she injested a piece of glass or wire and lacerated her gut. I took a magnet through the yard a day later and came up with all kinds of crap so it's very likely.
It'd be strangely coincidental if that happened to 2 ducks, but it seems more likely to me that they are being poisoned by something.
As an immediate solution....Amiga told me this once...you could try getting them to drink some water with charcoal in it. Charcoal is meant to get rid of gut discomfort. I gave some to my Runner Ivy once after she had been throwing up...again that's assuming the drakes were poisoned and it may or may not help, but the good thing is that eating charcoal shouldn't hurt them at all except it can get rid of good gut flora too, so it could be worth a shot. Good gut flora can be replenished with probiotic yogurt or kefir ...they sell caplets of charcoal at Walgreens in the indigestion section. Break one open and mix it in water. I forget the ratio....maybe Amiga will chime back in. I'm sorry about your ducks, I hope something more definitive crops up soon. Keep us posted.

 

[Amiga]

Thanks, blondiebee181, yes charcoal is a good, safe thing to do.

Three capsules emptied into a pint of water is how I would start. Actually for the sick drake, I would go with three times that - nine or ten capsules in a pint. Don't force it if you don't have to and know how to do it without pushing liquid into his lungs.

The niacin, too, would not hurt. Generally leg problems show up earlier. And if ducks are outdoors and can get ahold of bugs and worms, those have niacin in them. The OP stated drakes, so I am thinking they are at least five months old. But perhaps that was the wrong impression. Get some niacin, I would use at least 100 up to 150 mg per gallon of water. From anything I have read, it is safe for other birds, but to be on the safer side, separate the ducks and put it in their water.

I have been concentrating on the ducks, but want to write that I am sad to read about the loss. It affects all of you.