Sick Khaki Duck

[Amsn772]

I have a mixed flock of 4 chickens, two 3mo old khaki females, and two juvinile midget white turkeys. They eat a general “flock” food as my local farm store told me to get. I switched today to a higher protein (19%) game bird food for the flock. They have free range of my 2/3acre lot that has an abundance of bugs and all sorts of plants for the munching. They all share a coop and they put themselves to bed at night. I don’t use any chemicals around the yard although I have two neighbors close, however have asked them to let me know if they spray anything close to my fence.

The ducks have three water sources in the yard one is just for drinking and the other two are large enough to climb in and clean their nose and play around. Their feed pellets are in one location, however I provide snacks and fresh greens and scraps in another location.

So here’s the deal. All of a sudden one of my khaki’s was very ill yesterday. She tucked her head low into her neck and was barely walking at all. I was able to pick her up without chasing at all. (Usually I have to move like a linebacker and chase her into a corner). I put her into a large wire dog crate that I use as a recovery area. I gave her fresh food and water and she took non. Her poop was bright green which I suspect was bile. I suspect some sort of infection or backteria and have a first dose of amoxicillin I had on hand. I really felt like this was worse than a wait and see and I took her to the vet. Long story short, he told me that I had been starving her. And that she just needed to eat and drink. I took a bag of the special high calorie food for emergencies and he taught me how to tube feed her. I tube fed fed her four times yesterday (after 1pm when we got back from the vet) and twice today to far. I also gave her a second and third dose of amoxicillin. I added electrolytes to her water. She seems marginally better but if it’s just hunger, her poop should be more regularly colored by now (it’s still bright green) and she should be much more alert than she is. She can stand now (she couldn’t yesterday) and she can take 10/15 steps (yesterday only 2).

Am I on the right track here? What else can I do? I’m going to continue the antibiotics and called the vet to give me more. She’s obviously not just starving. The rest of the flock is fine.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Ducks need niacin to prevent leg issues... do you know the level in the feeds you have been using?

Was that vet an avian specialist? She doesn't look starved to me, but maybe she has something going on inside that is causing absorption issues?

Purina flock raiser has the correct amount of niacin at 55 mg/kg of feed.

What was the protein % and niacin level in the feed before you switched to 19%?

Regarding electrolytes in the water... gotta be careful if they are made for chickens since ducks can go through a lot more water than chickens... and some minerals in the electrolytes *could* be deadly if overdosed.

I mean if your seeing improvement like you describe... then maybe you ARE on the right track. How old are your chickens and turkeys?

Do you know if she was being bullied away from the feed? Sometimes extra feeders can help.

IMHO... a separate place for snacks and greens is something to choose to eat than a formulated ration. I provide treats ONLY specially in correlation with myself giving them... never free choice. Scraps and greens are often low in nutrients.

Hope she recovers quickly!

 

[Amsn772]

Purena Flock Raiser is what I had them all on. I switched to their Layena one. I have a significant amount of Raiser left so I’m going to mix the two.

I will discontinue the electrolytes in the next water fill. She has only had about 16oz of the electrolyte water today.

Two chickens are 5mo and just started laying. The other two are 3months. The turkeys are just about 3mo as well.

I have added feeders and broadcast food, so hopefully things are even. But no one in the flock has appeared under weight and the birds that do sometimes get bullied (my youngest chickens) are nice and plump.

The snack area is the porch and it’s always greens and seeds tossed Be me after I call them and they all come scampering over. I don’t leave the treats .