Sick Duck - Mysterious Illness

[Bleenie]

I stopped by my Vets office today but had no luck there so stopped by a friends house, also a Muscovy keeper, to ask her is she's had a duck act like my Drake is right now. I wormed him but there's been no change since.

After talking about the symptoms and stuff we were thinking that, MAYBE, the Staph Infection he had in his ear may still be lingering and making him lose his appetite, feel sleepy/lethargic and stuff. I treated the Staph with Baytril for 5-6 days and his ears been clear since. I know there's others here that have dealt with Staph in their birds, so, my question is... Have any of you ever had a bird start acting ill a while after the infection was "cleared up"?

I started antibiotics tonight(durramycin) & will keep them going for about 10 days and hope for improvement. If this fails, the only other thing I can think to do is pick up some more Baytril from the Vet and try that again.

 

[gofasterstripe]

You & your duck are having a hell of a time over this. Im glad hes got a good mama that is willing to do what you are doing, it says alot about you Bleenie. Lets hope we can get this fixed so he can go back to be a normal healthy bird.

 

[Bleenie]

Thank you

I switched their waterer to a pint-sized one so it's easier to see how much of the medicated water they're drinking & he's taking in more now. I started measuring out their food also & am going to check it later today to see how much is gone. He seems to be moving around a little more, he actually put his mohawk up today(i just wanted to hug him when i saw that!! lol) so he's getting more alert... it's only been a day though so we will just have to see how he improves in the next few.

 

[Bleenie]

Well there's been a little 'progress', I refilled their waterer last night and it was empty this morning so WAY better water intake & there was also a decent amount of food gone this morning. thank goodness for the good signs. On an odd note, his eyes now don't seem as "bright"? they're kinda sleepy-half-closed all the time and look a bit dull.

I know molting can be rough on birds and he seems to be shedding a lot of to little feathers on his chest (although his mohawk is maturing very nicely

), I don't think a molt is all to blame, but i wish i could make it move along faster. Does anyone know if Rooster Booster works well for ducks as a vitamin supplement? I've never used it but I am out of Avia Charge 2000 now & I know I can pick some of that up at the feed store.

 

[dumb_cluck]

Have you tried ACV in the water? (apple cider vinegar with the "mother")? There is a bunch of posts mentioning the appication of just a teaspoon or so to the water does wonders...........

 

[Bleenie]

I havent but I will add it today. thank you for reminding me about that.. i think I have just been too worried about it maybe being Staph that i forgot about the basics