Sick 4 week old white pekin duckling.

[Daizy3]

Hello. Im new to raising ducks. I have 5 total. The first 2 came from a local feed store. They are almost 4 weeks old. The other 3 I ordered from a hatchery and are 9 days old. They are in separate areas and have not met. After I braught home the first 2 I noticed one was already boe leg and appeared to have hip issues. A few days later I noticed it was breathing harder than it should. I talked with a friend who raises all kinds of birds. She said as long as it was eating drinking and acting normal not to worry. Only a few days later I could hear a week and it appeared to be coughing with crusty eyes. Back to my friend who said to treat with 250 mg of amoxacillin daily for 7 - 10 days. Eight days of meds , Eyes look better and its still acting normal. Eating drinking foraging swimming. But the breathing and coughing has not improved. Long story short what do I do now?

 

[Quatie]

Sorry your duck is not feeling well. Does your duck have deep enough water for it's head to full submerge when it drinks?

 

[Daizy3]

Sorry your duck is not feeling well. Does your duck have deep enough water for it's head to full submerge when it drinks?

Yes I have one of those big rubber bowls a small baby pool and a larger pool they swim in every day.

 

[Quatie]

There are a lot of things that can cause respitory issues. If you can post a picture and video of your duck that will help narrow down what is going on. It could be panting from heat From my understanding of bacterial infection in lungs doxycycline is best for treating ailments in ducks. If the amoxicillin helped, but didn't fully resolve the issue, doxy would be a better drug.

I would also look closely at the ducks nares, make sure there is nothing stuck in there. Unfortunately, Pekin are not as good at staying clean compare to other breeds. They're also a heavy breed and can overheat, and have hard time in the heat and will pant.

As for the legs, they also tend to have leg issues from their larger weight and fast growth. Pekin require more naicin then most breeds and often need it supplemented. Yours may need more naicin for it's leg. Here is some info on it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

I am tagging @Isaac 0 because he's very knowledgeable on these kind of problems. He will be able to give you more expert advice. He likely won't respond till tomorrow.

 

[Daizy3]

There are a lot of things that can cause respitory issues. If you can post a picture and video of your duck that will help narrow down what is going on. It could be panting from heat From my understanding of bacterial infection in lungs doxycycline is best for treating ailments in ducks. If the amoxicillin helped, but didn't fully resolve the issue, doxy would be a better drug.

I would also look closely at the ducks nares, make sure there is nothing stuck in there. Unfortunately, Pekin are not as good at staying clean compare to other breeds. They're also a heavy breed and can overheat, and have hard time in the heat and will pant.

As for the legs, they also tend to have leg issues from their larger weight and fast growth. Pekin require more naicin then most breeds and often need it supplemented. Yours may need more naicin for it's leg. Here is some info on it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

I am tagging @Isaac 0 because he's very knowledgeable on these kind of problems. He will be able to give you more expert advice. He likely won't respond till tomorrow.

Thank you for your response. They are on mana pro duckling starter and I add brewers yeast for additional niacin. It was boe leg the day I braught it home. The niacin seems to be helping. The larger it gets the taller more stable it stands. One foot does turn in slightly but it gets around fine. Hips are wider ther normal almost like its been ridding a horse for days. I dont think heat is the problem as I live in MI and its been in the low 70 for most of the last week. The outside pen is also mostly shaded and my yard gets a solid breeze bieng up on a hill. I do have doxy also ill switch to that for tomorrow's dosing. Ill post a photo. And video if I can figure out how

 

[Miss Lydia]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...es-attachments-images-to-the-new-byc.1174493/

 

[Quatie]

Thank you for your response. They are on mana pro duckling starter and I add brewers yeast for additional niacin. It was boe leg the day I braught it home. The niacin seems to be helping. The larger it gets the taller more stable it stands. One foot does turn in slightly but it gets around fine. Hips are wider ther normal almost like its been ridding a horse for days. I dont think heat is the problem as I live in MI and its been in the low 70 for most of the last week. The outside pen is also mostly shaded and my yard gets a solid breeze bieng up on a hill. I do have doxy also ill switch to that for tomorrow's dosing. Ill post a photo. And video if I can figure out how

That is great that the naicin appears to be helping. That is a good sign.

If the amoxicillin was showing some improvement, the doxy should improvements in 2-3 days. Otherwise there is a possibility it is something else. I would also give your duck daily warm baths. From my experience, one of my runners got a bacterial infection in her lungs, because she was terrible about cleaning. Despite having multiple pools and deep drinking water, she would not bath or clean her nares. The warm bath can help them get gunk out of their system while the antibiotics does it job. It is a lot of extra work, but worth it. Let us know how your duck is doing in a couple days.

 

[Kdlevesque]

I had very similar issues with my young duck. She had severely bowed legs and nasal congestion/coughing. Her previous owners were feeding her chick starter and once I switched her over to duck feed, the added niacin made her situation a lot better. She still has issues with her legs but not nearly as bad and the vet told us that she may always have problems. Ours also had an upper respiratory infection that the vet treated with antibiotics that we mixed in with water and she’s as good as new now. Hopefully your duck will be better soon!

 

[Quatie]

How is your duck doing? Are you seeing any improvements?

 

[Daizy3]

That is great that the naicin appears to be helping. That is a good sign.

If the amoxicillin was showing some improvement, the doxy should improvements in 2-3 days. Otherwise there is a possibility it is something else. I would also give your duck daily warm baths. From my experience, one of my runners got a bacterial infection in her lungs, because she was terrible about cleaning. Despite having multiple pools and deep drinking water, she would not bath or clean her nares. The warm bath can help them get gunk out of their system while the antibiotics does it job. It is a lot of extra work, but worth it. Let us know how your duck is doing in a couple days.

The duck is doing better respiratory wise. It took a couple weeks of meds but she finally got over it. However our special needs duck has a new issue. When I got her she was 4 days old and already boeleg and extra wide hips. A friend of mine that raises birds of all kinds took a look and said hip dysplasia was probably the issue. I switched to mazuri starter feed plus vitamins and peas and veg every day. She was doing great. Till 2 days ago when she started dragging her foot. It appears to be hip related as she can't lift her leg all the way. Foot is clean no injury or infection. Very slight swelling in leg. She still eats well drinks well and tries to move around best she can. She seems happy and content so I dont think it hurts her. I started swim therapy. Warm water for at least 30 min alone 4x daily. Upped the niacin by adding brewers yeast to what I already do with no improvement so far. Is there anything else I can do for her ? Splint maybe ? Or is this just how she will be ? She is now almost 7 weeks old.