Sick ducks? Help! Newbie!

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Hi,

I am wondering if olive oil may be loosening their insides. It is sometimes given to loosen an impacted crop.

Miss Lydia is giving you some good ideas - have you checked for bumbles? If I missed something, please forgive me - I was trying to read quickly through the posts to catch up.
 
An update! Ducks have been improving now that they have been receiving our house water that has been uv treated. They are more active and poop is firming up! Limp is gone with the 2! Yay! And we have a potential answer! 2nd well on property was used for the ducks for over a month and we switched them to this after the well tested positive for Coliform but was told by the county that it was prob a contaminant on the faucet. WRONG! High level of Coliform and e-coli found in this test! I'm sure 280+MPN for Coliform and 5.2MPN for e-coli was enough to sicken the laying ducks which in turn sicken their eggs which caused my children to get sick! So the other well attached to the house has a softener and UV and tested fine. So I am taking buckets of water from the house to give them. There is still one that seems to have diarrhea as of this morning but will continue to check. So here is my questions now. First, this water is likely to have caused their sickness correct? Second, do they need medical intervention treatment because they ingested contaminated water and may now have other bacterial issues or a parasite? Fourth, when will be a safe time to resume eating the eggs without risk of getting sick? Does my family need additional medic lucre after exposure to Coliform and e-coli? Looks like everyone is feeling better. Thank you again sooo much!
 
PrayingMantis said:
...ingested contaminated water and may now have other bacterial issues or a parasite? Fourth, when will be a safe time to resume eating the eggs without risk of getting sick? Does my family need additional medic lucre after exposure to Coliform and e-coli? Looks like everyone is feeling better. Thank you again sooo much!
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I have no idea how long those toxins would take to pass thru either ducks or humans. But I do know that I would absolutely not feed my family any foods that gave me any reason for concern. If I were you, I think I would not eat eggs until I spoke to a MD. And same goes for whether or not you & your family would require medical yourselves. Best thing I think is for you to call the Dr.
 
Thanks Holly! I'm in the medical profession but this area is not my specialty! So I have calls into the pediatrician and family doc. Amazing they haven't been in a hurry to call us back! I've discarded all eggs laid during the time of diarrhea but they have been looking good for a few days now but unclear if they need any treatment. Will be calling the Vet again today!
 
I am not in the medical profession, but I am a biologist and I am very interested in these matters. So here are some ideas for your to consider.

I would get a fecal test done for the ducks. If that turns anything up, it may be wise to give them a course of Tylan, which is what our vet gave us when we found a suspicious-looking spirochete in Romy's poop. I seem to recall it was for 10 days, 1/4 teaspoon of powder per liter of water. I put it in their water at night. Don't eat the eggs.

I would also get them on poultry vitamins and add in probiotics after the Tylan for a month or so, rebalance their gut flora. Even if you don't go with antibiotics for them, I would get them on probiotics.

I would also get the family on vitamins and probiotics, same reason. I like Saccharomyces boulardii as part of the probiotic mix. There is something called Florastor. Very good, very pricey. We used it when a family member was on doxycycline for Lyme. Seemed to help quite a bit.
 
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Help again! We can't catch a break! Lily was limping again and low and behold she had a thorn in her foot but closer exam she also has Brumble! Then I found it on 2 more, I'm sure all 8 have it! I don't understand, we keep the area clean, feed them healthy food, vitamin water, clean drinking and pool water. We just can't afford this! A vet trip is going to set us back over $100. Must find home for them we just can't keep doing this. :(
 
Bumblefoot, when caught early, can be treated without a vet. I have treated several episodes in my flock. And it does seem to come in little spurts sometimes.

Also, since you are fairly new to ducks, I wonder if you might be mistaking some of the normal callouses on duck feet for bumbles.

Breathe.

Early bumbles do not need surgery. There are a couple of ways to treat it. Soaking the foot in Epsom salts helps, but I have not always done that. In some cases, I just slather triple antibiotic ointment (no painkiller) on the bottom of the foot three times a day the first few days, then twice a day after that. This method takes several weeks sometimes, but it is inexpensive, not time consuming. And it has worked for me.

For more serious bumbles, the method Haunted55 has written about works well, too, no surgery.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/807777/bumblefoot-new-ideas-on-treatment-with-pictures
 
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Update! As of last night Lily's foot swelling has increased. I'm pretty upset at the vet. I was told he was knowledgeable but yet didn't know the breed of my welsh or runner. Then he administered one dose of Draxxin which I cannot see the benefit and 3 days of an anti inflammatory, ketofen. What the heck? How is one dose of antibiotic going to work? Seems like every chance anyone can get to take someone for their money they will do it. And I'm sure he will charge me again since he did nothing for her the first time. Now I have no idea what I should do for her. The swelling is now including one of her toes and I'm worried the infection will progress into her bone. I can't lance her open at this point as she would need sutures to be properly closed. What antibiotic is available on the market that I can order? So mad there is just not enough info out there on treatment for ducks!
 
PrayingMantis said:
Update! As of last night Lily's foot swelling has increased. I'm pretty upset at the vet. I was told he was knowledgeable but yet didn't know the breed of my welsh or runner. Then he administered one dose of Draxxin which I cannot see the benefit and 3 days of an anti inflammatory, ketofen. What the heck? How is one dose of antibiotic going to work? Seems like every chance anyone can get to take someone for their money they will do it. And I'm sure he will charge me again since he did nothing for her the first time. Now I have no idea what I should do for her. The swelling is now including one of her toes and I'm worried the infection will progress into her bone. I can't lance her open at this point as she would need sutures to be properly closed. What antibiotic is available on the market that I can order? So mad there is just not enough info out there on treatment for ducks!
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Penicillin in powder for drinking water or injectable, both can be gotten at a feed store. I'd call this vet though and tell hem what's going on they use to do free follow up visits. In the meantime soak her foot in 2cups to 1 gallon of Epsom salt water[warm] as long as she'll let you. as many times as she'll let you. do not let her drink the water it also acts as a laxative. I use a 1 gal bucket and hold the duck in the water up to their body. actually you could use 1/2gal to 1 cup and use a dish pan.
 

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