Sick duckling

[urbanquackjc]

I rescued a couple ducks (I believe mallards) which accidentally hatched from someone who was not expecting them to hatch. None-the-less, 1 duck is doing great growing the other has kept it's size (I got them-1 week ago). The person said they were 3 weeks old. I noticed it was niacin deficient (splayed leg) and started giving them niacin, but the one is not growing and very lethargic and I must hold it to eat. Not sure what to do next. Thoughts from the forum?

 

[nchls school]

I rescued a couple ducks (I believe mallards) which accidentally hatched from someone who was not expecting them to hatch. None-the-less, 1 duck is doing great growing the other has kept it's size (I got them-1 week ago). The person said they were 3 weeks old. I noticed it was niacin deficient (splayed leg) and started giving them niacin, but the one is not growing and very lethargic and I must hold it to eat. Not sure what to do next. Thoughts from the forum?

May be try apple cider vinegar in the drinking water. Possibly vitamins. Could be just failure to thrive. Broad-spectrum antibiotics. I feed my ducklings a mixture of wild game mash, hard-boiled egg, and dried meal worms. Their growth rate was rapid.

 

[Isaac 0]

Broad-spectrum antibiotics

Not trying to be snide by any means, but do you tend to start all your sick birds on antibiotics regardless if the sole problem is related to an infection, or not?

 

[urbanquackjc]

I get it. It passed, I am sure it was failure to thrive. I tried my best. Good idea on the apple cider vinegar. I will start that with the healthy one. I will also give a hard boiled egg with it's food.

 

[nchls school]

Not trying to be snide by any means, but do you tend to start all your sick birds on antibiotics regardless if the sole problem is related to an infection, or not?

No. Overuse of antibiotics makes them ineffective when they are needed. However, when a bird is seriously ill, measures have to be taken to solve the issue. When that issue is an unknown, then, yes, I use antibiotics. If I can see what the sickness is then I use measures appropriate for that illness.