Wobbly duck

[Galaxyfalcon]

About 5 or 6 days ago I saw one of my young ducks (3mo) limping a bit and took a look at her feet. She had a small wound on one of the feet that looked like early bumblefoot so I started treating her and keeping her in the duck run on soft ground. On Monday, I noticed her falling down while preening/cleaning and stumbling a bit. I took her to a local vet and the vet isn't sure what is wrong with her. They tried treating her for inflammation/pain but nothing seems to have helped. No broken bones, fractures, or foreign bodies (e.g. ingested metal). They said to just try to make her comfortable and see how she does over the next 5 days or so. I feel really bad for her, she's young and was healthy and perky until recently. Today she is even more unsteady and is waddling around like she is drunk. I tried to capture her on film,

No one else is sick or showing any other signs of illness. I'm wondering if she had some kind of infection (vet doesn't think so) or if she got exposed to something toxic. Initially when I saw her falling down I thought something like botulism, but if it was that I think she would just be dead already. I'm tempted to try a charcoal flush to see if its a toxin she ingested, but I also wonder if maybe she fell and hit her head while playing or something.

Any ideas? I feel awful for her and am not sure what to do. Don't think it's niacin deficiency due to sudden onset and we give them vitamins/and a bit of yeast with their food.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Is it only when shes preening? I'm wondering if its type of wry neck? If so, the treatment would be vitamin e and selenium and it can take weeks to see a turn around.
Hopefully others with more experience would have some insight.

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

Is it only when shes preening? I'm wondering if its type of wry neck? If so, the treatment would be vitamin e and selenium and it can take weeks to see a turn around.
Hopefully others with more experience would have some insight.

It's definitely not just when she's preening. I let her out for a few minutes to get a little outside time and take a bath and she was wobbly to and from the grass area. I'll take a look at vitamin e and selenium. Do you have any supplements you would recommend?

 

[Crazy Maizie]

This is a good write up: http://herouxpotager.com/wry-neck/
If it were me, in addition to the vitamins mentioned, I would also give a liquid vitamin b complex to give a boost to your girl.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

What feed is she on? Did the vet run blood work for deficiencies? Her legs look unstable like a niacin deficiency especially since she appears to be a larger breed and is only 3 months. If it were my duck I would go get vitamin B from Duravet or Poultry cell and give orally asap.

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

What feed is she on? Did the vet run blood work for deficiencies? Her legs look unstable like a niacin deficiency especially since she appears to be a larger breed and is only 3 months. If it were my duck I would go get vitamin B from Duravet or Poultry cell and give orally asap.

They're on duck pellets from tractor supply mixed with a little scratch and then we've also been adding some multivitamins and a bit of brewers yeast added in. They also get greens (peas and spinach etc). Until the ducklings were about 2 months old (and as needed) we were adding durvet vitamin b complex to their water supply. I've also got some nutridrench to give her for an added boost.

The vet did x-ray but didn't feel a need to do blood work; for some reason she didn't think it was an infection (I asked if it could be a bacterial and if we should be her on antibiotics) but she didn't think it was worth the effort. Xrays confirm no breaks, fractures, no metal ingested etc (so no metal poisoning).

I don't think it's a niacin deficiency because it came on so quickly; I also caught her shivering a little the other day when she was swimming in her water.

The good news is that she looks like she's doing a bit better today, which is the first day where she's looked better and not worse. She's able to walk/hobble without toppling over and I saw her actually scratch her head with one foot without falling over which was impossible for her even yesterday.

I'll be sure to give her some vitamin b and nutridrench. Does anyone thing a charcoal flush could be a good idea or would that stress her too much?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ducks need anywhere from 100-125 mg of niacin a day. This could have been coming on gradually to where you didn't notice it.
I'd give her another day before doing the flush. Just to see if the B-complex is doing it for her. Some larger breeds just need that extra even if on duck specific feed like Poppy.
Glad to hear she seems to be improving.

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

Just a quick update. She seems a slight bit better but still definitely wobbly. She was able to follow her flock mates around for a bit (I let them out for some supervised yard time) and she was able to get in and out of her water, clean, eat, etc. She's just really wobbly/weak still although it's not as bad as the video I posted. We're continuing to treat her feet and giving her extra nutrition (nutridrench/vitamin b) but not sure what else to try at this point.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Well it may take more than one day so patience. Hopefully tomorrow you'll even notice she is better than today. Your giving her 1 ml b complex?
I say improvemnt even a small amount is good.

 

[sowNreap]

They also get greens (peas and spinach etc).

I'm a duck caregiver newbie so I've been doing lot of reading of what ducks can/can't or should/shouldn't eat. Now this may not have anything to do with your ducks problem, but I've read not to feed them spinach or some say at least not very often as it interferes with calcium absorption I guess.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable will know if that could cause other health issues or problems, maybe like your duck has.