Sick duck, please help .....

[Angsminizoo]

I have a year old male pekin duck that is ill or injured. Last week I let him out of the pen to run the yard and I didn't notice anything wrong so I am assuming he was fine in the morning. My daughter swears that she remembered seeing him and my other two adult ducks waddling around the yard around noon. That evening when I went to put them up for the night he was laying down and could not stand up. My initial thought was that he was attacked by a hawk. But there was no puncture wounds. Then I thought maybe a back injury cause by one of my dogs running over him by accident. So I put him in my bathtub full of water to see if he could padded his feet and to take pressure off his back if it was a back injury. He did find in the tub. He ate and drank as normal. So I left him there for 2 days, filling up the tub 3 times a day to let him swim for a little while and keeping him still so that he could heal. After 2 days he still couldn't stand up. I don't have a vet nearby that knows ANYTHING about ducks (I have had problems in the past with miss diagnoses) so I called a vet at a wildlife refuge; he agreed that it sounded like a back injury and told me what meds to use, which I lucky had on had. After two days of meds he was looking worse (dirty, ruffled feathers and thinner) so I took him out and put him in a small cage by the others so he was not lonely. Now about 5 or 6 days later he is still sick. What is BETTER: He can left himself up in the front and walk on his hunches, but still not spreading out his "toes" and standing. He is still eating and drinking and trying to join the others in the yard. He is still rutting through grass for bugs. What is WORSE: He has white ... stuff... in the corner of his eyes that I can wash out but comes right back. He is A LOT thinner. Feather are still dirty and ruffled. Any thoughts?

 

[DuckLover2399]

Hmm i dont know sorry

Hope he pulls through.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Poor thing. I'm glad you got some advise from a rehab expert. I think still giving him access to water for paddling is a great idea so he maintains some range of motion in his legs and of course it gives him a chance to clean off and flush his eyes and bill with water. Maybe you could offer him some feed that has a higher concentration of nutrients. I hope he improves.

 

[dumb_cluck]

What has he gotten into? Perhaps a chemical or treated vegistation. ?

 

[jenny_kap]

i had a duck that didn't grow like all the others did. she was not eating, nor drinking enough. so, i asked the vet what to do and he said to give her some VERMIZOL. this is a medicine against worms. so i did, i gave her one pill every morning for 3 days and now my duck is eating and drinking and started to grow.

 

[Angsminizoo]

Thank you all for your well wishes. I can't think of anything that he could have gotten into. I have a fenced in yard and I have not put anything out that is new. He is also NOT my adventurous one, that is one of my females and she is health. I was afraid that my pond had gotten too dirty but again he is not one to swim in the pond a lot, just gets in and bathes. And the ones that LOVE the pond are okay and I cleaned my pond out and aside from mud and duck poop

it wasn't too bad, not a lot of algae. I am at a loss, I wish that I could find a vet that knew about ducks

 

[Amiga]

This is a bit of a guess, but Storey's Guide indicates one reason for inability to walk is diet/nutrition related. It sounds like your other two ducks are female. Are they all getting layer feed? Sometimes drakes that get too much calcium have a phosphorus/calcium imbalance that can affect their health. With ducks, I've found that mine don't display symptoms until things are pretty serious sometimes. So it could be he's had a little trouble but was hiding it from you.

If it's a vitamin or mineral imbalance, some poultry vitamins in water might help.

The white stuff in his eyes is bothersome. Sometimes animals can get fungal infections, too. I have heard of pau d'arco (an herbal medicine) being used for fungal infections, but that is just something for you to look into - I don't know if that would help, or what dosage might work. Another thought is that he happens to have an eye infection also, in which case antibiotic eyedrops would help.

 

[Angsminizoo]

I know that I have had problems with vitamins or lack there of with my ducklings as I have one that has a deformed leg that I caught and provided vitamin supplements in the water that helped prevent it from getting worse (still walks with a limp). I have started adding antibiotics to his (my sick drake) water and I am going to have to start adding vitamins to all their water because I do think that I am not feeding them right but I have had a hard time finding out what I should feed. I am just giving my adults (2 males and 1 female) cracked corn and my 2 ducklings (hopefully both females) wild game bird starter.

The eye thing bothers me too. It is foamy white? Doesn't really look like a prolapsed eyelid (sign of Botulism) and it isn't yellow and slimy like mucus. I can wash it off and it has been a little better today and not coming "right" back. I have been on the computer ALL day looking and can't find any illness that causes all of his symptoms. Maybe he did just injure his back and the pain has weakened his immune system and caused a secondary infection!?!?

 

[Amiga]

There could be a number of things going on, you're right.

Nutrition wise, I would go less cracked corn (which is okay for extra calories but light on nutrients). If you can get a grower/maintenance poultry feed that would be an improvement. I used that for a while before I switched to layer mash (I have all females so no drake problem). Anyway, I also added some dry cat kibble for extra nutrients, as well as free choice oyster shell for plenty of calcium. Even so, I recently have a couple of ducks whose calcium levels have dropped and I'm trying to figure out why. But that's just a side note to let you know nutrition can be a challenge from time to time.

There is a Mother Earth magazine article online about growing your own poultry feed. It has some good ideas for those who can't get ahold of premixed balanced ration.

The eye sounds like it might be foamy eye. Does he have access to clean water that's deep enough for him to wash his entire head? He just may need some help right now keeping that eye clean.

Good to give them all vitamins - and I think that the gamebird starter, with some added rolled oats (not instant) one part oats to four parts starter might be a good interim diet until you can get ahold of some balanced maintenance ration.

Don't forget they usually love chopped greens (I serve mine in a bowl of water), like dandelion, chickweed, lettuce, and cress. And those have good vitamins in them, too.

 

[Angsminizoo]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!! I have asked all over what to feed and all anyone has told me is "NOT" chicken feed or anything medicated. My problem is going to be finding the proper food now. Though I live in a rural area the feed stored here are limited on what they have

But this helps greatly. I had never heard of "foamy eye" before so I looked it up and YES you are correct that is what is wrong and it is because he has had to bath in my tub the past week do to not being able to stand. Thank you, the eye thing is why I have thought that he wasn't getting any better. With that explained it does appear that the vet from the refuges was correct and this is a back injury. He is holding his upper body up better today and "crawling" on his "elbows". Sorry not sure of proper terminology

. But this is an improvement. I am going to work on getting new feed for them all and start adding vitamins to their water. I will try the greens but I can't get them to eat any "treats" that I have ever given them. I will have to try putting it in water and see if they like it that way. Thank you again!