Seizuring ducks???

[Phoenix346]

Greetings everyone. This is our first post on here and hope we can figure something out. We started raising chickens this year, mostly cornish cross, some turkeys, a few new hampshire reds and leghorns for eggs. My father-in-law surprised us 5-6 weeks ago with some ducks.... 23 of them! Most of them were Pekin ducks with a few cross breeds thrown in. They were already 6-8 weeks old at the time and now we are having issues with them dying off. We've lost 4 in the last 2 weeks and just tonight we saw that two of them were suffering; it was almost like they were seizuring. They would hold their heads close to their chest and seemed like arching their backs backward at the same time. They seemed to be suffering from something but we don't know what. They will not move very much now but they all seemed perfectly ok earlier today when I gave them fresh water and food. about two hours after we saw this my son went out to check on them; one seemed ok but walking funny while the other was bleeding from the sides of its head and its mouth and now dead. Very unusual and scary. Anyone know what may be going on? We want to butcher soon but now worry if the meat will be ok to eat.
The pen is kept up on a daily basis and fresh water given daily. We have two kiddie pools we fill with water every day for the ducks; they have a blast in them! Maybe this is something from the other chickens or turkeys? They all roam the yard without restriction from morning until dark and never give us any trouble. They are very fun to watch and the kids love them but we really worry now about all of them and this unknown situation. Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Joe

 

[Amiga]

Is it possible they are picking up an infection from their water? I have not seen this before, but it may not be an uncommon problem. Let me look up something in Storey's Guide.

Just looking for anything that might be a cause, here.

Duck virus enteritis, or duck plague - "this deadly disease is quite contagious and can infect wild and domestic ducks, geese, and swans, but not chickens or turkeys. Symptoms may present as sudden death of birds that are in good flesh, listless birds that are reluctant to move, extreme thirst, diarrhea (sometimes bloody), matted feathers on the head due to increased secretions from the eyes and nostrils, and protruding penis in dead adult males. High mortality in ducks of all ages is possible. Specimens must be sent to a diagnostic lab for positive diagnosis, and the disease must be reported to the state veterinary office."

"In areas where duck plague is known to occur in wild waterfowl, domestic ducks should be isolated and kept off of waterways frequented by wild birds.

Ducks kept on dry land are much less likely to contract this disease. A vaccine is available and is used by some commercial farms."

Other possibilities I see are

Fowl cholera caused by Pasteurella multocida - sudden death, listlessness, lameness, swollen joints, diarrhea, breathing difficulties, increased wear consumption.

New Duck Disease - Duck Septicemia - Infectious Serositis, Anatipestifer: "most common in 2 to 9 week old ducklings raised in dense concentration with poor sanitation and management. Symptoms in ducklings are similar to those in chickens with Newcastle disease: discharges from the nostrils and eyes, loss of appetite, green diarrhea, overall listless appearance, coughing, sneezing, head and neck tremors, and a stumbling gait.

Birds showing severe symptoms normally do not respond to treatment. If caught early, a single injection of a combination of penicillin and streptomycin or sulfaquinoxaline in the feed or water normally reduces losses. (Streptomycin is toxic to some strains of birds, so it is a good idea to inject only one or two birds and then observe for 30 minutes. If they are sensitive, they will get droopy and stagger.) A good poultry vitamin mi added to the drinking water may help boost their immune system."

Other possibilities - poisoning from plants and other substances

(I need to turn in, and tomorrow and the next day will be on the road - if I can, if I have coverage, I will check in - but I don't know if I will be able to be in touch."

 

[Phoenix346]

Thanks everyone for any help; we found the problem. Apparently our turkeys have been bullies and jumping on them at night, breaking theit backs and causing internal injuries. We learned our lesson on keeping them together all of the time and we will be separating them all tomorrow.