croft29
Hatching
- Oct 8, 2019
- 1
- 0
- 5
I'm new to the forum but have been keeping Indian Runner Ducks for a couple of years. Until these last few days we haven't lost a single duck to illness. (Some background - we're in the UK, have 22 runner ducks, of three different generations, all hatched at home. They are free range but put away at night, they are fed supplementary wheat but mostly forage on our land and have access to fresh clean water. We also have chickens, guinea fowl and geese - in case that's relevant. Also we live in a very remote community and our only vet is completely inexperienced in birds so we're pretty much alone with google to try and diagnose them)
Three weeks ago one of the littlest ones (now 11 weeks old, so then 8 weeks) developed a limp that turned into her back legs collapsing. We took her indoors, fed her and gave her vitamin drops, cleaned her and kept her by the stove but she got worse rather than better. Assuming it was something neurological that wasn't going to improve we made the sad decision to euthanize her. The rest of the flock seemed absolutely fine.
One of them has always been a lot smaller than the others and earlier this week I took him inside to try and make sure he was getting enough food, because I was worried he was very skinny and not getting his fair share. He has put on weight but I'm noticing that aside from that he doesn't seem quite right - he's very under-feathered compared to his siblings, his quack seems very quiet and he is beginning to have some trembling in his legs. This morning we went out to feed the rest and another of the smallest ones - who was absolutely fine and full of beans yesterday - was lying on the ground, bend up, his head back against his back. He was kind of convulsing, we took him in, wrapped him in a towel and while I started to google duck illnesses, he died in my husband's hands.
I've spent much of today googling duck illnesses but nothing sounds quite right. I don't know if the three are connected, or if it's just a coincidence and we're dealing with the inevitable losses when your flock gets to a certain size. I'm feeling completely overwhelmed and absolutely terrified that we're going to lose more of the birds. I love those daft ducks and have reared all of them from eggs.
I would be so grateful if anyone has any thoughts about what could be or could have happened to any of the ducks or advice on what to look for.
Thank you so much.
Three weeks ago one of the littlest ones (now 11 weeks old, so then 8 weeks) developed a limp that turned into her back legs collapsing. We took her indoors, fed her and gave her vitamin drops, cleaned her and kept her by the stove but she got worse rather than better. Assuming it was something neurological that wasn't going to improve we made the sad decision to euthanize her. The rest of the flock seemed absolutely fine.
One of them has always been a lot smaller than the others and earlier this week I took him inside to try and make sure he was getting enough food, because I was worried he was very skinny and not getting his fair share. He has put on weight but I'm noticing that aside from that he doesn't seem quite right - he's very under-feathered compared to his siblings, his quack seems very quiet and he is beginning to have some trembling in his legs. This morning we went out to feed the rest and another of the smallest ones - who was absolutely fine and full of beans yesterday - was lying on the ground, bend up, his head back against his back. He was kind of convulsing, we took him in, wrapped him in a towel and while I started to google duck illnesses, he died in my husband's hands.
I've spent much of today googling duck illnesses but nothing sounds quite right. I don't know if the three are connected, or if it's just a coincidence and we're dealing with the inevitable losses when your flock gets to a certain size. I'm feeling completely overwhelmed and absolutely terrified that we're going to lose more of the birds. I love those daft ducks and have reared all of them from eggs.
I would be so grateful if anyone has any thoughts about what could be or could have happened to any of the ducks or advice on what to look for.
Thank you so much.
