Wood Duck Duckling With Wry Neck - Help!

[BoonesBirds]

My pair of wood ducks hatched some ducklings! Unfortunately, one looks like it is starting to develop wry neck.

This duckling in particular has been very difficult to get to eat. I’ve tried using Mazuri waterfowl starter and smearing it everywhere to no avail. It was about to starve when I saw someone else say that mealworms sometimes get them to eat. And that worked! It has been eating mealworms and crickets for the past week, but still no luck getting it to feed on waterfowl starter. Does anyone have any tips?

I know the mealworm/cricket diet is not sufficient nutrient-wise which is probably why the wry neck is starting to develop. I purchased Metzer Waterfowl Vitametz supplement and have been adding it into the water today. Will the vitamin supplement help to correct the wry neck, or is there something else I should be adding as well? I read that crickets have a good amount of selenium in them so I have been feeding it more of those to help with vitamin E absorption.

Attached are some photos from a few days ago. The wry neck has worsened since these pictures and it’s very hard for it to even swim. I had to put it with my chicks with a shallow water dish so that it wouldn’t drown little Lucky as we’ve named it is very special to me and I want to be able to help it have the best quality of life that I can. Thanks for reading!

 

[onwingandhoof]

I had a chick with wry neck. This is what I did and it worked after about 5 months of steady feeding. I got vitamin e tablets and selenium. I used scrambled eggs because she loved them. I opened the vitamin e and poured it over the eggs and a drop or two of selenium at each feeding. Most times three times a day. You will see a difference but it does take time.

 

[BoonesBirds]

I had a chick with wry neck. This is what I did and it worked after about 5 months of steady feeding. I got vitamin e tablets and selenium. I used scrambled eggs because she loved them. I opened the vitamin e and poured it over the eggs and a drop or two of selenium at each feeding. Most times three times a day. You will see a difference but it does take time.

Thanks for your reply! Unfortunately I’ve tried feeding it scrambled eggs but it doesn’t seem to want to eat anything that isn’t moving around like a bug. I will try again tonight and see if it has more interest this time. Usually it just spits any crumbles, egg, or crushed pellets out. I thought it might be a “picky eater” issue since mealworms are treats, so I waited until the end of the day to feed him once with no difference. It’s like he just rejects the food if it’s not an insect

 

[onwingandhoof]

Thanks for your reply! Unfortunately I’ve tried feeding it scrambled eggs but it doesn’t seem to want to eat anything that isn’t moving around like a bug. I will try again tonight and see if it has more interest this time. Usually it just spits any crumbles, egg, or crushed pellets out. I thought it might be a “picky eater” issue since mealworms are treats, so I waited until the end of the day to feed him once with no difference. It’s like he just rejects the food if it’s not an insect

In that case, I'd get crickets from the pet store and roll them around in the vitamin e and selenium. Use a zip lock baggie so you can roll them around. Best of luck!!