What to give?

[tiffanya]

Several week back I lost a duck after she showed the following symptoms: loss of balance, droopy wings, dificulty walking.

A couple of week later one of my drakes showed the same symptoms. I brought him inside our shed for several days and he got better so I put him back outside. Several days later he showed the same symptoms again. He's gone back and forth from outside to inside for the past three weeks, primarily inside at night only to stay warmer and get a little extra food. I gave the whole flock a vitamin/electrolyte supplement today, thinking it couldn't hurt.

My question now it what else would you recommend giving the duck? I've never wormed them and am not sure what the best wormer would be. An antibiotic? It would be helpful if I knew what was wrong, but unfortunately I don't.

 

[Kevin565]

Is there a possibility of foul play from neighbors?

 

[tiffanya]

No, why do you ask?

 

[ChicagoDucks]

Several week back I lost a duck after she showed the following symptoms: loss of balance, droopy wings, dificulty walking.

A couple of week later one of my drakes showed the same symptoms. I brought him inside our shed for several days and he got better so I put him back outside. Several days later he showed the same symptoms again. He's gone back and forth from outside to inside for the past three weeks, primarily inside at night only to stay warmer and get a little extra food. I gave the whole flock a vitamin/electrolyte supplement today, thinking it couldn't hurt.

My question now it what else would you recommend giving the duck? I've never wormed them and am not sure what the best wormer would be. An antibiotic? It would be helpful if I knew what was wrong, but unfortunately I don't.

 

[Kevin565]

No, why do you ask?

Your birds are showing symptom a local case had which involved poisoning

 

[mandelyn]

Do they free range or are they cooped up in a pen? I had one who swallowed a staple she found out in the yard, a kind we don't even use. We had the same sort of symptoms once she went septic from a ruptured crop. She didn't make it. She acted like that though, moving in slow motion, terrible balance, change in her voice.

Someone had recommended activated charcoal as a detox (had to crush up human pills), and molasses added to the water to work things through her system.

Sounds like a toxin they got into. The boy was being removed from it, perhaps didn't have as much. Returned to the environment, he gets it again. So it seems like it's time to start ruling things out.

Check the...

Water - Santize drinkers and pool, keep fresh as possible.
Food - Any damp? Possible mold? Look for chunks in the feed (indicates something holding the feed together, mold, fungus, moisture, bugs), check under/around the feeder if it gets damp frequently. Check feed storage area.
Bedding - Mold in a corner that doesn't get cleaned as often as the rest?
Run/outside - Any new foliage? On good terms with neighbors? Houseplants set out? Lawn fertilizer? Lot's of rain with any drainage from other properties to yours? Google anything you've put outside or can't recognize yourself to see if it's toxic. Think on anything new and rule it out.

Any new poultry added?

If it isn't likely anything like that is around, then it's time to rule out illnesses, which is better suited to a vet. A lot of things have the same type of symptoms but different treatments, depending on what it is.

They will play with or eat the darndest things. So you have to rule out everything they could be in contact with that's small enough to eat (that stupid staple was an 1 1/4 inch long!!!) or soft enough to get a piece off of (plants), or what could be in the water/feed.

Quite the list of plants toxic to poultry...

http://www.poultryhelp.com/toxic1.html

I hope you can find out what it is.

 

[tiffanya]

They are in a large run but do not free range. I haven't introduced any new birds and they've been in the same run for a year. Their food is the same, as is their bedding. (We did clean out their coop after the second duck started to show sumptoms. Changed all bedding.) We live on an acreage and have wonderful neighbors so no chance of poinsoning from them. I wondered if some how they had caught a disease from a wild bird or I accidentally tracked something in on my shoes. I keep worrying about other ducks showing symptoms but so far it's only been the two. He is back outside now since our temperature has been in the 70's during the day and 50's at night It's been around 3 weeks since he first showed symptoms and most days seems do be doing pretty well. I just wish I could get to the bottom of what it is.

 

[tiffanya]

And an third had symptoms this morning (another 2-3 weeks after the last one started showing symptoms). I'm at a loss!