Sick duck practically doesn't eat!

[Duckpooper]

I have a female blue Swedish that's about 5 months old and has a swollen foot due to bumblefoot. She hasn't laid any eggs yet but her other siblings have. She would only walk with a limp. I tried to take out the plug on her foot yesterday but I couldn't find it, so I decided to just wrap her foot up. The swelling has gone down slightly since yesterday, but she still hasn't eaten in 4 days except only a few veggies. I currently have her in the house in a cage where I give her 250mg of amoxicillin a day. I've been giving her it for 2 days so far. Is there any way I can get her to eat more? I'm starting to get worried about her.

 

[KaleIAm]

When my duck, Plantain, mostly stopped eating I took her to the vet and they taught me how to tube feed her. I bought a baby scale to weigh her daily and make sure she wasn't losing weight. I had to tube feed her 3 times daily - it was a lot of work. She was eating only a few bites of veggies and a few mealworms a day, though, and on some days none.

Tube feeding was my only option to get enough food into her. I tried feeding her handfuls of mealworms but by the time she would carefully pick out a few the other 3 ducks would scarf them up. Same with her other favorite foods. If I separated her from them she would be so upset she wouldn't eat at all.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

hi, i would recommend bringing her inside if you haven’t already. try mealworms and peas to help her to not lose weight.

 

[Isaac 0]

Four days without eating is serious, and she is likely dehydrated as well.

And, just to note, unless she weighs two pounds, you are underdosing her with the Amoxicillin.

You need to either take her to a vet ASAP, or get tube feeding supplies very soon and start tube feeding her. If you want to go with the latter option, just say so and we can try to help.

 

[KaleIAm]

How is she doing?

 

[Duckpooper]

Sorry for the very late reply. Was busy with family issues. She is doing way better than before though. I've been letting her go outside for a few hours a day in a smaller area for her to be with her friends and she's way happier now. Her foot is way less swollen and she is eating everything I give her. The scab on her foot is also almost completely gone and is getting smaller everyday. I still have her in the house right now since we've been having coyotes in the area and she still has a slight limp. At first I thought she wouldn't make it but now I have full hope for her. Thanks for all your kind support everyone!

 

[Isaac 0]

Thanks for the update!