Sick Duck

[kdlyn74]

I have had my ducks for 3 years on Christmas day I went out to feed the ducks and my male duck wasn't acting right. I went and got him and put him in our heated shed. He has been there since. At first he was just kinda listless, I noticed that he had some swelling on his head around one of his eyes that he was holding shut. I also noticed that his head and neck felt very warm. I gave him 1ml of injectible antibiotic and left him alone for the night. The next day I used hot compresses on his eye and he opened it and he has an ulcer in his eye and it doesn't look like the eye is in good shape (may be blind) I put antibiotic ointment in the ulcerated eye, and gave him 1ml of injectible antibiotic. I have been unable to get him to eat or drink. Today the third day the swelling is gone, the warmth is gone, ulcerated eye is open, but now he is acting neurological and I noticed that now he has a blood spot in his good eye! He was perfectly fine on Christmas Eve morning but I was gone all day so I don't know what may have happened while I was gone. He does have a liking for picking fights with our rooster. His neurological signs are head turning to one side, only walking to one side, toenails curled, he almost seems as if he's had a stroke. I don't know what else to do. He hasn't eaten or drank for almost 3 days and I know his time is short if I can't get him eating. He seemed in really bad shape this morning but I went and got his female companion and he perked up and was very happy to be with her (happy enough to want to make babies, it seems his neurological difficulties weren't so bad that he couldn't manage that) Is there any one who knows what is going on here? I'm leaning towards trauma as opposed to disease since no other birds are sick but I did recently bring home a rogue chicken that I trapped because it was living on the side of the road a few miles from my house. Is there any kind of concoction I can force feed him until he comes around. I know that most neurological things from trauma will reverse themselves with time. Someone please give me some ideas that I may have not thought of.

I don't know why his eye is ulcerated it wasn't on Christmas Eve. It got very windy and cold here and sometimes he doesn't go in his house at night. Please help me!

 

[featherfinder]

Seems like you are doing what you can for his eyes. And i dont know alot about other medications you can give him. But as far as food you can try mashed peas mixed with water or scrambled or hardboiled eggs Chopped really small and see if he will eat it. The peas sounds best right now of he is not eating at all. If he is not so perky try giving him some sugar water and see if he perks up and wants to eat a little of what ever you make him.

 

[duckdad]

See if your local feed store or supply store can get you a syringe thats got a good sized discharge and use that to squirt a mix of hi-protein mash with some peas or cabbage/lettuce that has been thru the food processor and pretty well turned to mush. Add some sugar to the mix. If you have powdered vitamins mix some into the mush with everything else. This is a blend thats got enough nutrients to get his system working well again without having to eat a whole bowl of food.
Baby food will work as well if there is a flavor that he likes.
Get his mouth open, squirt in a little to see if he fights it. Make sure the food is wet enough that he won;t have difficulty swallowing.
If he's not struggling too much go ahead and give him a cpl spoons worth and check on him after an hour. If all is well, give him some more...as much as he seems to want. He may not be eating because of injury to the mouth. Thats very possible since he had some sort of physical eye injury.

You;re probably right about his overall health...if he's healthy enough to go 'surfin' then he's likely healthy enough to pull through his injuries.

Hope he gets better soon!

 

[galgo98]

Sounds like you are a very thorough nurse! Could you try putting him in his own tub of fresh water & floating peas & other veggies in it?

 

[duckdad]

warmth & quiet do as much as anything,.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
all very good ideas, I just wanted to

and tell you I hope he gets well.

 

[kdlyn74]

Thank You all so much. I live in an area where a veterinarian will think I've lost my mind if I ask him to see my duck. Hence my medicine cabinet that includes injectable antibiotics. Thank you for the peas solution. He ate some on his own and drank some water. He's still not out of the woods but was acting much better this afternoon. He's still not right neurologically but he's getting feisty with me so thats a good sign. I'll keep you posted as to the outcome of this. He's a fighter he's already survived a dog attack when he was just 6 months old. Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

 

[featherfinder]

For a speedy recovery!