very sick 1-3 day old indian runner duckling got from shameful local pet supply store mimicking salm

[ashleigh27]

i hope this reaches you. i have recently bought 4 pekin ducklings and they are doing so great. I went to grab more grass and shavings tonight and saw a small indian runner who seemed very lethargic in a cage for sale with a bunch of other ducklings. I made the manager give me him even though there is a 4 duck minimum he gave him to me for nothing because he knew the duck was sick and i told him i would try my hand at saving him. when i aske if the duck had been eating or drinking he said "honestly, i havent had time to check on them". i was really mad with him and took the poor 2 day old duckling. he is lethargic, lame, wont eat or drink on his own. he wants to sleep. no energy 99.5% of the time to lift head, stand, or walk. he is wobbly. he will drink from the syringe when i force feed but when i try to feed him food from the syringe he shakes his head and does not swallow it. i mushed the food after watering it down. it is non medicated. i am nervous of salmonella or another disease. i got him later in the day today at around 6pm. tomorrow is easter. i didnt realize what i was going to be up against and i feel so awful. i am researching but to no prevail how to help him, where to get amoxycillin, and only found 2 vets far from me who see ducks. they wont see him until monday anyway the latest. its 3:55 in the morning on easter and i have 2 kids who will be waking up bright and early to see what the easter bunny has brought them but i have not been able to sleep because i feel so bad and keep trying to feed him. im going to call it a night and try getting some form of rest even though i wont sleep a stitch im too worried. i want to help this little dude. please, if you or anyone you know of in your circle knows anything that could help let me know. i dont have brewer's yeast on hand but have been trying to syringe feed him sav-a-chick electrolyte. does this sound like salmonella to you? i have written this fast as i am a bit frantic. please forgive me if i have missed anything and feel free to ask any question you may have. if i am ever able to get to the bottom of this i will. i am going to call animal control, the cdc, and even if he doesnt make it i am asking a vet to test his stool for salmonella. whoever he gets his ducklings from has a problem on his hand and he may infect many other ducklings along with all the other lives both human and non that these infected ducklings will touch. i hope no parents bought any of those ducks that were with this one as a pet for easter. quick responses would be so appreciated. i hope this reaches someone. my name is ashleigh btw. I am from massachusetts. thank you in advance for your timely responses and help.

 

[gander007]

Ok first you grabbed a problem by the horns .....




I use this on animals 14 weeks and older .....


You can put water into the lungs the way you are doing things
and doing food that way you can do big damage if it get's into
the lungs ......

you need to find a long small hose and that is only going to
handle liquids not food and you will need to be gentle ....


Try putting a little sugar in the water and try keeping him warm ...


Baby's chick's & ducks are not all perfect and in reality more die
then live harsh but very true as little things like not washing your
hands before and after touching them can cause problems and
passage and as you said they are from a feed store where anyone
can touch them and this brings many problems infections start
at the store and this little duck could have been healthy when the
store purchased it but who touched it and what kind of infected
animals were they around ......


A bird can be just fine in my yard but someone buys it and takes
it somewhere in a car where a sick animal had been before or in
a carrier that had a sick animal now who is accused of the responsibly for the chicken me not the person who introduced
the chicken to all the different sicknesses out there .......

No the chicken I sold here was healthy

The chicken they got home was sick

This is why I do not allow people to touch my birds

And I do not want them in my yard ... All sales are somewhere
else

 

[Miss Lydia]

i hope this reaches you. i have recently bought 4 pekin ducklings and they are doing so great. I went to grab more grass and shavings tonight and saw a small indian runner who seemed very lethargic in a cage for sale with a bunch of other ducklings. I made the manager give me him even though there is a 4 duck minimum he gave him to me for nothing because he knew the duck was sick and i told him i would try my hand at saving him. when i aske if the duck had been eating or drinking he said "honestly, i havent had time to check on them". i was really mad with him and took the poor 2 day old duckling. he is lethargic, lame, wont eat or drink on his own. he wants to sleep. no energy 99.5% of the time to lift head, stand, or walk. he is wobbly. he will drink from the syringe when i force feed but when i try to feed him food from the syringe he shakes his head and does not swallow it. i mushed the food after watering it down. it is non medicated. i am nervous of salmonella or another disease. i got him later in the day today at around 6pm. tomorrow is easter. i didnt realize what i was going to be up against and i feel so awful. i am researching but to no prevail how to help him, where to get amoxycillin, and only found 2 vets far from me who see ducks. they wont see him until monday anyway the latest. its 3:55 in the morning on easter and i have 2 kids who will be waking up bright and early to see what the easter bunny has brought them but i have not been able to sleep because i feel so bad and keep trying to feed him. im going to call it a night and try getting some form of rest even though i wont sleep a stitch im too worried. i want to help this little dude. please, if you or anyone you know of in your circle knows anything that could help let me know. i dont have brewer's yeast on hand but have been trying to syringe feed him sav-a-chick electrolyte. does this sound like salmonella to you? i have written this fast as i am a bit frantic. please forgive me if i have missed anything and feel free to ask any question you may have. if i am ever able to get to the bottom of this i will. i am going to call animal control, the cdc, and even if he doesnt make it i am asking a vet to test his stool for salmonella. whoever he gets his ducklings from has a problem on his hand and he may infect many other ducklings along with all the other lives both human and non that these infected ducklings will touch. i hope no parents bought any of those ducks that were with this one as a pet for easter. quick responses would be so appreciated. i hope this reaches someone. my name is ashleigh btw. I am from massachusetts. thank you in advance for your timely responses and help.

ashleigh, if you don't have the things gander 007 is talking about about all you can do is take a dropper [make sure it's been cleaned real good of what ever it was used for,] like comes in nose drops. start dropping small amts of water right at the tip of the bill using the sav a chick you have mixed in water. try getting the lil one hydrated first. have you checked it's vent? make sure it doesn't have pasty butt which is common with chicks and ducklings that are dehydrated. after you have gotten some warm water into it then try giving it some feed made into soup mashed real good. and keeping it warm at this stage that's about all you can do until you can get it to a vet. I know you know this but don't let your kids handle this duckling and be sure to wash your hands really well after you do. I hope it pulls through, you have at least gave it a fighting chance. it may not even have anything contagious it may have just been weak to begin with and not able to get to food and water. Please let us know how it is doing.

 

[Amiga]

Some additional ideas. Not all of them are good, I wanted to brainstorm. As Miss Lydia said, this could be a case of a dehydrated duckling. Sounds that way to me. Won't rule out bacterial infection, though.

Do you have any BComplex vitamins in the house? I would use the B3(niacin) level in that supplement as a gauge, and get 150 mg of niacin into a gallon of water.

There is also niacin in sardines. If you have any sardines in water with no added salt (not in oil, no spices, etc.). You could take a teaspoon of sardines, mash them up very fine, stir them into a quarter cup of water and offer the liquid. Very imprecise, but something.

For antibiotics, there was an article written about oregano having natural antibiotic properties, and some chicken farms adding some to the feed.

So perhaps a mild, cooled, oregano tea until you can get veterinary help.

Another thing is fish antibiotics. I am not real keen on this idea, but in a desperate time, it might be worth considering.