Unwell duck... What's going on?

[Jlw0903]

How do you know it can’t be an egg because it’s too early in the year? Where are you located? Some of my ducks have started laying already this year. I’m in Maryland.
It certainly would not hurt her to give some calcium gluconate and if it is an egg it will help get it out. 1 ml per day for a few days is ok . Orally with syringe. This is what I use View attachment 4293368

I'm in South East Wisconsin. I've always written down when we get our first eggs of the year. As the ducks have gotten older they start laying later and later every year. Darla is 6. She may have laid 2 dozen eggs in total last year. She likely wouldn't start laying until March at the earliest.
My young ones will start any day though.

 

[Goosebaby]

I'm in South East Wisconsin. I've always written down when we get our first eggs of the year. As the ducks have gotten older they start laying later and later every year. Darla is 6. She may have laid 2 dozen eggs in total last year. She likely wouldn't start laying until March at the earliest.
My young ones will start any day though.

Ducks with ascites usually get an upright penguin like posture, just adding that because it’s something to look for.

 

[Jlw0903]

Ducks with ascites usually get an upright penguin like posture, just adding that because it’s something to look for.

Yea. I've been seeing her standing like that. I didn't initially put too much to it because she does have that spinal deformity so with the weight loss/being ill/under stress that it didn't trigger as odd to me. Especially since when she was a baby she'd have a very upright posture and I'd joke that she thought she was runner. That went away as she got older but she's always done weird things (like preferring to be in high places like on top of snow piles) also she was mostly doing that when she had herself tucked in the corner of the sick bay pen on top of the water catch pan behind the waterer so not a ton of space for her there anyways lol.

But more recently shes been walking oddly in that upright posture sometimes and like she's got something stuck between her legs which is what got me to notice that her abdomen feels a little hard and not right.



I will say she's been very interested in eating meal worms now which she wouldn't do before. She will eat peas too but only in water.Not that I'm fooled into thinking is a sign of her getting better....and she still doesn't seem to touch her regular food.
I called Madison after work and they won't take her after work hours essentially, no emergency vets I've called in my area have vets who will see poultry/birds. I was able to call my regular vet and pull on their heart strings so they are sliding me in for a vet visit tomorrow morning.
I've got my fingers crossed that she's not too far gone that we could at least try draining the fluid and just keep an eye on the condition but I'm also resigned to the fact that she might not be coming home. It's more important to me that shes not in pain or suffering than getting a few more months with her.

 

[Goosebaby]

Update 2/6.
I was able to pull some heart strings with my regular duck vet and he was able to sneak an apt in for us yesterday since UW-Madison wouldn't take her after hours and I wasn't going to be able to take the time off work to drive her a little over an hour one way.

Vet wasn't entirely sure what was wrong with her but she did have fluid in her cavity that he was willing to drain out. Said he took 300ml and that wasn't even all of it (said would dehydrate her too badly if he did a full drain). She seemed to immediately after that get some of her bad attitude back which was good to see. Seemed much more alert and curious for sure. He couldn't say one way or another if it was an infection or some sort of organ failure. He figured it was worth a shot to try antibiotics. She weighed in at 4lbs 4oz and that was BEFORE the fluid drain. I should have weighed her after while we were there. Not sure how good my home scale is.

I learned how to force feed a duck a pill yesterday.... First attempt took me maybe 15minutes... Gotten better at it now... Though she's figured it out and won't open her mouth for me which is the bigger fight now.

She's definitely weak, has a hard time getting her feet under herself and standing but if. She's motivated (treats) she does. This was something that started early this week. At this point I'm not sure if I'm seeing improvement in her standing/walking but she does seem much more sassy and

I think it started the day before yesterday (Wednesday) but it's like she's having seizures or something when she's stressed out. Her neck and head goes all floppy. But it was only after being in the car, after giving her pills, or picking her up etc. she did it again just now after I gave her her meds but it was much shorter and less "severe" than yesterday. I didn't mention it to the vet because I didn't think of it then and I at least didn't notice it when we got to the vet (I was more concerned with the fact that I was sure we were putting her down than with remembering all her symptoms).
Anyways she's never done that before. Is that a sign of her illness? A sign of her weakness? Sometimes that (assuming) if she gets better will also go away or here to stay? Maybe a sign of some other issue?

I gave her electrolytes and vitamins yesterday. I found that she will eat old-fashioned oats so long as they don't get wet before she dunks them in water .
Today i gave her breakfast for as long as she was willing to eat of oats, mealworms and peas and twice more throughout the day to try to get calories in her. She still won't touch her regular food but I don't care to fight that battle right now I've been giving her nutridrench with one of her meals at least to try and get some vitamins and whatever she's not getting in.
But besides her not eating the duck food it seems like her appetite is back. Poop is looking better too. Her feather condition has definitely degraded a lot because she hasn't had the energy to preen but she did do that yesterday a bit. I think me also bringing my drake to be with her and my down was a good call she seemed much happier when he joined. I'm not worried about him trying to mate her - the Roen is his favorite girl and she more than willing to meet his needs. Darla has always been one of his least favorite hens and hes never made a point of seeking her out. He's a very good boy when it comes to these two.

I don't want to get my hopes up yet but it at least seems like she's trending in the right direction (besides the head/neck floppy seizure thing)... St

What antibiotics is she on?

The seizure thing is basically lightheadedness, her heart isn’t pumping enough when she’s getting over excited.
Two things can cause this:
1 she has heart failure.
2 she’s emaciated and anemic and her body is really struggling.

If you can get her to eat banana that would really help her. The potassium will help her heart and banana is one of the most fattening fruits.

Another suggestion, the faster you tube feed them or give them meds the less stressful it is for them and the easier it is.
The fastest way to give meds is to apply pressure to the corners of the mouth, when they start to open the beak pull it open and stuff those pills or syringe as far down the throat as it will go, then close the mouth and hold it upright for a second.

 

[Jlw0903]

Update: SHES EATING HER DUCK FOOD RIGHT NOW!!!!

I took her to the vet yesterday. He drained 300ml of fluid from her. Said that wasn't all but he it could cause really bad dehydration if he took it all. He said it was worth trying antibiotics. She pretty much immediately get some of her bad attitude and curiosity back after the drain.

Inlearned how to force feed pills to a duck yesterday. Took me probably 15 minutes to get the first half of the pill down... I've gotten a bit faster now but Darla's making a bigger effort to not open her mouth ...

Yesterday I found she would eat old fashioned oats so long as they didn't get wet before she dunked them herself in water .
Gave her nutridrench with oats and mealworms last night. She did a tiny bit of preening which she hadn't been doing and her feathers have degraded a lot.

Today since she seemed to be getting her appetite back decided I would make more of an effort to get food in her as it seems like one of her biggest issues has been just weakness. She got three separate meals today of all she could eat oats, mealworms peas with a side of electrolytes.

During bath time I noticed my roen having some behaviors that suggested she needed a bit more grit so I set some out for her. Darla then decided to eat some! Which she wouldn't have before! So I said what the hell might as well try for the millionth time and put some duck chow out and she DOVE into it! I'm so happy. She's Definitely not out of the woods yet. And she might just end up going through this all again if it is some sort of organ failure but seeing her spend a lot more time preening and eating regular food is so good and I'm so glad that neither she nor I gave up.

Thanks for going through this with me. I'll keep updating....

What antibiotics is she on?

The seizure thing is basically lightheadedness, her heart isn’t pumping enough when she’s getting over excited.
Two things can cause this:
1 she has heart failure.
2 she’s emaciated and anemic and her body is really struggling.

If you can get her to eat banana that would really help her. The potassium will help her heart and banana is one of the most fattening fruits.

Another suggestion, the faster you tube feed them or give them meds the less stressful it is for them and the easier it is.
The fastest way to give meds is to apply pressure to the corners of the mouth, when they start to open the beak pull it open and stuff those pills or syringe as far down the throat as it will go, then close the mouth and hold it upright for a second.

I actually tried to delete this and redo the update.
Almost right after I posted I had put out grit for her friend and she started eating it so I figured "what the hell" and decided I'd try for the 100th time to offer duck chow and she DUG in!!!
She also started preening way more than she had yesterday.
She definitely has been super weak. And with my new feeding schedule for her (3-4 meals of all you can eat peas, oats and mealworms) seemed to give her more energy. I'll keep doing that even though she might be eating her regular food just because I know she needs the calories. But especially yesterday and today she's had a much larger appetite much closer to what it typically is.

I'll try the banana but they've never had it before so they probably will be terrified of it haha I don't want to force feed her more if I don't have too. Neither of us enjoy the experience

Antibiotic is clavamox

 

[Goosebaby]

Update: SHES EATING HER DUCK FOOD RIGHT NOW!!!!

I took her to the vet yesterday. He drained 300ml of fluid from her. Said that wasn't all but he it could cause really bad dehydration if he took it all. He said it was worth trying antibiotics. She pretty much immediately get some of her bad attitude and curiosity back after the drain.

Inlearned how to force feed pills to a duck yesterday. Took me probably 15 minutes to get the first half of the pill down... I've gotten a bit faster now but Darla's making a bigger effort to not open her mouth ...

Yesterday I found she would eat old fashioned oats so long as they didn't get wet before she dunked them herself in water .
Gave her nutridrench with oats and mealworms last night. She did a tiny bit of preening which she hadn't been doing and her feathers have degraded a lot.

Today since she seemed to be getting her appetite back decided I would make more of an effort to get food in her as it seems like one of her biggest issues has been just weakness. She got three separate meals today of all she could eat oats, mealworms peas with a side of electrolytes.

During bath time I noticed my roen having some behaviors that suggested she needed a bit more grit so I set some out for her. Darla then decided to eat some! Which she wouldn't have before! So I said what the hell might as well try for the millionth time and put some duck chow out and she DOVE into it! I'm so happy. She's Definitely not out of the woods yet. And she might just end up going through this all again if it is some sort of organ failure but seeing her spend a lot more time preening and eating regular food is so good and I'm so glad that neither she nor I gave up.

Thanks for going through this with me. I'll keep updating....

I actually tried to delete this and redo the update.
Almost right after I posted I had put out grit for her friend and she started eating it so I figured "what the hell" and decided I'd try for the 100th time to offer duck chow and she DUG in!!!
She also started preening way more than she had yesterday.
She definitely has been super weak. And with my new feeding schedule for her (3-4 meals of all you can eat peas, oats and mealworms) seemed to give her more energy. I'll keep doing that even though she might be eating her regular food just because I know she needs the calories. But especially yesterday and today she's had a much larger appetite much closer to what it typically is.

I'll try the banana but they've never had it before so they probably will be terrified of it haha I don't want to force feed her more if I don't have too. Neither of us enjoy the experience

Antibiotic is clavamox

Those are very good signs!

The reason I asked is Azithromycin can damage the heart with certain nutrient deficiencies, clavamox is a much safer option.

 

[Jlw0903]

Those are very good signs!

The reason I asked is Azithromycin can damage the heart with certain nutrient deficiencies, clavamox is a much safer option.

They are. I had very little faith shed improve at all and even if it's temporary to see her acting her self and happy again has been worth it all.

 

[Jlw0903]

 

[Jlw0903]