The Quack Shack

[Miss Lydia]

I would get them out of the pond for treatment so they don't lose their eyesight or the infection spreads.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I would get them out of the pond for treatment so they don't lose their eyesight or the infection spreads.

I completely agree, but HOW?
It would either require to drain the pond, use a gigantic scoop to scoop them out or throw a net - which i don't have.
El Chapo Duckman came down with the others this evening to eat but avoided me so i couldn't grab him. And he stayed just long enough to fill up his belly and walked straight back up to the pond. At least, it seems that my treatment from Wednesday had some positive effect, he can see good enough again to find his way down and up the hill.
What do you think about mixing antibiotics powder (Amoxicillin and Doxycycline) into their feed? When they come down from the pond, they gulp down the food voraciously and wouldn't notice the taste. To my surprise this stuff is still available from sellers here in the USA. - While the triple antibiotics ointment from the $-stores has been pulled from the shelves…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Milka Duck is the only duck in my whole flock with a rest of common sense!
Just running late by 30 minutes today due to a hiccup at the groceries store and everybody was gone! All duck decided to stay on the pond overnight and it was forecasted to be a cold one with frost tomorrow (Sunday) morning…
Then i just heart somebody quacking angry, got up and saw Milka Duck waddeling back into the duck-house. Quackering and bickering to herself while walking inside. Obviously she got cold, had enough and came back. Here she is, having the whole house for herself:

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

And here's a short video of Chaos and Mayhem from Wednesday:

They came back from the pond, filled up their bellies and ran straight back up.

 

[Supercow]

Yesterday I noticed that one of the ducks (10 months old, perfect condition so far) has her chest sort of puffed up and holds her neck and bill close to her body, with the bill sometimes lying on the chest.

She walks around with the others but doesn't really participate in turning over leaves and grass etc. She extends the neck sometimes but not as thoroughly as the others do. She also moves a little more stiffly than the others.

I said hmmm, spent the evening reading about impacted crop and thought OK, if she's not better by morning (when everybody's crop should be largely empty), I'll try and catch her and see what's what.

In the morning the ducks came storming out of their house and the duck's condition is still here. She tries to eat and drink and fails because she refuses to extend her neck sufficiently..

So I caught her - she did extend her neck during the chase, ie. in a life or death situation, and also opened the beak quite normally) - and tried massaging the puffed up breast, especially on her right side as I understood the crop is not symmetrically placed.

It did not appear hard to the touch but she did grunt when I pressed down on her right side (didn't mind the left). So I said OK, this doesn't look like a problem but I have no experience, let's try how water goes.

I placed her in a kiddie pool so I could dunk her and she would then drink the water (that's what Junior did during her recovery from malnourishment). But that didn't happen, she did not drink. all I got was a wet duck which in itself is unusual - I interpreted it that since she's not drinking and holds her neck stiffly, she's also not able to keep the oil gland in good condition.

I placed her in a dog crate away from others since this is my first year with ducks and I don't know whether this problem is really just mechanical or could it be something that others could catch from her. The crate has dry hay and a bowl of warm water with a vitamin/mineral solution.

Now I'm waiting for my wife to come from a short trip so we can together try and force-water the poor duck with a syringe. I'm not doing it alone because I consider myself clumsy and don't want to stress the duck out even more.

If we make no progress today we're taking to the vet's tomorrow (there is a vet lady somewhat close that raises ducks herself, hopefully shes't not on vacation as avian vets are scarce).

Super crappy photo #3 but it shows the posture that started this.

Any thoughts very welcome, thank you.

Update: did the syringe thing. Most of the water just flowed out of the bill. After that she did drink a bit from the bowl on her own, but just maybe 5 sips.

 

[Supercow]

What do you think about mixing antibiotics powder (Amoxicillin and Doxycycline) into their feed?

That's what the lady we got our original ducks from used to do - any kind of infection, boom, grab some amoxycillin, crush it up, feed it either dry or dissolved. She says it works reliably enough for her.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I completely agree, but HOW?
It would either require to drain the pond, use a gigantic scoop to scoop them out or throw a net - which i don't have.
El Chapo Duckman came down with the others this evening to eat but avoided me so i couldn't grab him. And he stayed just long enough to fill up his belly and walked straight back up to the pond. At least, it seems that my treatment from Wednesday had some positive effect, he can see good enough again to find his way down and up the hill.
What do you think about mixing antibiotics powder (Amoxicillin and Doxycycline) into their feed? When they come down from the pond, they gulp down the food voraciously and wouldn't notice the taste. To my surprise this stuff is still available from sellers here in the USA. - While the triple antibiotics ointment from the $-stores has been pulled from the shelves…

I would imagine when people have large flocks that is about the only way to dose them. But I would think they need to have their eyes treated too. There maybe some bacteria in the pond so maybe you should invest in fencing and close if off until you can drain or find out what bacteria is in there. When we first moved here we took water samples from our spring to check for bacteria so there are places who will do this for a fee.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yesterday I noticed that one of the ducks (10 months old, perfect condition so far) has her chest sort of puffed up and holds her neck and bill close to her body, with the bill sometimes lying on the chest.

She walks around with the others but doesn't really participate in turning over leaves and grass etc. She extends the neck sometimes but not as thoroughly as the others do. She also moves a little more stiffly than the others.

I said hmmm, spent the evening reading about impacted crop and thought OK, if she's not better by morning (when everybody's crop should be largely empty), I'll try and catch her and see what's what.

In the morning the ducks came storming out of their house and the duck's condition is still here. She tries to eat and drink and fails because she refuses to extend her neck sufficiently..

So I caught her - she did extend her neck during the chase, ie. in a life or death situation, and also opened the beak quite normally) - and tried massaging the puffed up breast, especially on her right side as I understood the crop is not symmetrically placed.

It did not appear hard to the touch but she did grunt when I pressed down on her right side (didn't mind the left). So I said OK, this doesn't look like a problem but I have no experience, let's try how water goes.

I placed her in a kiddie pool so I could dunk her and she would then drink the water (that's what Junior did during her recovery from malnourishment). But that didn't happen, she did not drink. all I got was a wet duck which in itself is unusual - I interpreted it that since she's not drinking and holds her neck stiffly, she's also not able to keep the oil gland in good condition.

I placed her in a dog crate away from others since this is my first year with ducks and I don't know whether this problem is really just mechanical or could it be something that others could catch from her. The crate has dry hay and a bowl of warm water with a vitamin/mineral solution.

Now I'm waiting for my wife to come from a short trip so we can together try and force-water the poor duck with a syringe. I'm not doing it alone because I consider myself clumsy and don't want to stress the duck out even more.

If we make no progress today we're taking to the vet's tomorrow (there is a vet lady somewhat close that raises ducks herself, hopefully shes't not on vacation as avian vets are scarce).

Super crappy photo #3 but it shows the posture that started this.

Any thoughts very welcome, thank you.

Update: did the syringe thing. Most of the water just flowed out of the bill. After that she did drink a bit from the bowl on her own, but just maybe 5 sips.

Did you gently feel along her neck for anything she may have swallowed that may have stuck? I'm going to give you this link because we have to be so careful when giving liquids by mouth https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[Luv Ducks]

I agree, I would get some sort of cheap fencing and leave an opening so that they can get off of the pond. Once they come up to eat their feed then close off that opening. Snow fencing is sometimes not too expensive or a cheap bird netting with poles of sticks to hold it in place. Good luck with your ducks Frank. I pray that they all get better soon and the eye infections get healed.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Yesterday I noticed that one of the ducks (10 months old, perfect condition so far) has her chest sort of puffed up and holds her neck and bill close to her body, with the bill sometimes lying on the chest.

She walks around with the others but doesn't really participate in turning over leaves and grass etc. She extends the neck sometimes but not as thoroughly as the others do. She also moves a little more stiffly than the others.

I said hmmm, spent the evening reading about impacted crop and thought OK, if she's not better by morning (when everybody's crop should be largely empty), I'll try and catch her and see what's what.

In the morning the ducks came storming out of their house and the duck's condition is still here. She tries to eat and drink and fails because she refuses to extend her neck sufficiently..

So I caught her - she did extend her neck during the chase, ie. in a life or death situation, and also opened the beak quite normally) - and tried massaging the puffed up breast, especially on her right side as I understood the crop is not symmetrically placed.

It did not appear hard to the touch but she did grunt when I pressed down on her right side (didn't mind the left). So I said OK, this doesn't look like a problem but I have no experience, let's try how water goes.

I placed her in a kiddie pool so I could dunk her and she would then drink the water (that's what Junior did during her recovery from malnourishment). But that didn't happen, she did not drink. all I got was a wet duck which in itself is unusual - I interpreted it that since she's not drinking and holds her neck stiffly, she's also not able to keep the oil gland in good condition.

I placed her in a dog crate away from others since this is my first year with ducks and I don't know whether this problem is really just mechanical or could it be something that others could catch from her. The crate has dry hay and a bowl of warm water with a vitamin/mineral solution.

Now I'm waiting for my wife to come from a short trip so we can together try and force-water the poor duck with a syringe. I'm not doing it alone because I consider myself clumsy and don't want to stress the duck out even more.

If we make no progress today we're taking to the vet's tomorrow (there is a vet lady somewhat close that raises ducks herself, hopefully shes't not on vacation as avian vets are scarce).

Super crappy photo #3 but it shows the posture that started this.

Any thoughts very welcome, thank you.

Update: did the syringe thing. Most of the water just flowed out of the bill. After that she did drink a bit from the bowl on her own, but just maybe 5 sips.

Well, that position is the general »i feel unwell« position of a duck.
That includes »i am broody, stay away from me«!

Most important: Does she drink?
A duck must drink or she will be dehydrated within 12 hours and most likely be dead within 2-3 days.
Does she poop?
If she does not poop:
- She has swallowed something that won't pass (i.e a piece of a plastic bag)
- She has an issue with the egg-factory (sadly almost always lethal)
- She has an infection in her food-processing tract
If she does poop:
- the poop looks disgusting and smells bad - nothing to worry about!
- the poop looks watery no solids - pointing to an infection
- the poop is slimy - pointing to the egg-factory

If she eats and/or is able to swallow, i would give her some antibiotics as a prophylaxis.
Sadly, without an x-ray by a vet, there is very little you actually can do. As an example, if she is egg-bound (very common in young ducks), there are methods to release the stuck egg, but not even after caring for ducks for more than five years i would try to do that myself. The risk of fatally damaging the duck's delicate parts are serious.
Sorry for painting a dark picture, but i am sure i have lost more of my female ducks to conditions like egg-bound, injured organs (drake!) than to predators. The sadest thing is that they often hide away somewhere and just die.
Keep your duck dry and (not too) warm and let her rest.