Worried about my ducks health. Please help

[duckitup]

@casportpony hoping you can help me with calculations

. Mr. Fiona had capillaria in his fecal. I went and got some Safeguard for goats (liquid). It says Suspension 10% (100 mg/ml) The vet said to use .1 mil. However I saw in one of the other forums where you said to use (I think it was) .25ml per lb. He's around 3 lbs so that would be .75 mls or 3/4s of a ml right? (you know me and math lol) And should I put a little more than that in the syringe to compensate for the tip of it that he won't get when I administer it? To be honest I trust you more than the vet at this point. You were so right to have a fecal done! My vet didn't even mention that! I'm so angry and frustrated right now. So what do you think? Is .1 way too low of a dose?

Also, I had the fecal done by a vet that is closer to me but which doesn't deal with ducks. Then I called my duck vet with the results. My duck vet said that capillaria can look like other parasites and if the other vet isn't used to looking at duck fecals they could have misdiagnosed. Does that sound true to you? So I will be taking in another fecal to the duck vet tomorrow as long as I can get one.

He started being a picky eater over the weekend so I began syringe feeding again yesterday. And another symptom has popped up.....He has practically completely lost his voice and I wonder if it has something to do with being over run with worms.

Thank you

 

[needlessjunk]

Safeguard is .23mL per lb in poultry for 5 days. So if your guy is 3lbs it would be .69mL and I would round up to .7mL to make it easy. You don't have to tube it down his throat you can use a little syringe and put it down his throat in the corner where the tube goes. If you are tube feeding them you can mix it in that way too but make sure all of it goes in him and not to leave any in the tube. Pull back on the syringe to add air to the mix so that when you get to the end it pushes everything left over in the tube and tip through and into the bird. @casportpony helped me as well with something that sounds similar to your guy. Mine also lost weight and stopped quacking.

 

[duckitup]

Thank you needlessjunk. Now I'm starting to wonder if my vet taught me how to syringe feed a duck improperly. They taught it the same way you would syringe feed a cat etc. syringe in corner of mouth (where the bill hinges) and push food over the tongue to the other corner of the mouth. I saw a picture of a chicken being wormed on here last night. They had the whole beak open and pushed it down the throat to the side of the trachea. It was a picture that casportpony posted. My vet told me not to shoot it straight in because that could go down the wrong hole. Have I been doing this wrong the entire time? And do you know what was wrong with the duck that lost weight and his voice? Thanks

 

[needlessjunk]

Here is a thread that I started about my quackless duck. I cannot find a vet around me that will do fecal testing so I don't know exactly what happened or what cured it. She is back to normal now after tube feeding and worming with safeguard for 5 days. She is also going through a hard molt right now as well. The pictures of the tube feeding are a few pages in. If your vet showed you have to feed them then I would imagine they know what they are doing. @casportpony taught me. Here is my thread and I hope it helps. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1011195/fecal-testing

 

[duckitup]

@needlessjunk Thank you for posting that link! I didn't realize at first that you were talking about your duck. Glad to hear she is okay. Congrats, you saved her life! You have inspired me, as well as posts from casportpony and many others to try syringe feeding. So thank you for sharing your story. It has taken some of my fear over doing it away.

Small update. He maintained his weight from yesterday to today at 3.96 lbs. But he isn't gaining so I need to start tube feeding. I had a gram stain done on his poo today to check for bacteria. It came back clean. Nothing unusual. I was able to get an 18 french catheter from the vet and I have the 60 ml syringe at home already. I'm going to wait for my boyfreind Jay to get home from work tonight to help me and he will be picking up the Kaytee baby birdfood on his way.

BTW the catheter isn't nearly as intimidating in person as it looked to me online. It is more flexible and soft than I expected.

So hopefully after tonight I can be part of the tube feeding club! Wish me luck!

 

[needlessjunk]

@needlessjunk
 Thank you for posting that link!  I didn't realize at first that you were talking about your duck. Glad to hear she is okay.  Congrats, you saved her life!   You have inspired me, as well as posts from casportpony and many others to try syringe feeding.  So thank you for sharing your story.  It has taken some of my fear over doing it away.  

Small update.  He maintained his weight from yesterday to today at 3.96 lbs.  But he isn't gaining so I need to start tube feeding.  I had a gram stain done on his poo today to check for bacteria.  It came back clean.  Nothing unusual. I was able to get an 18 french catheter from the vet and I have the 60 ml syringe at home already.  I'm going to wait for my boyfreind Jay to get home from work tonight to help me and he will be picking up the Kaytee baby birdfood on his way.  

BTW the catheter isn't nearly as intimidating in person as it looked to me online.  It is more flexible and soft than I expected.  

So hopefully after tonight I can be part of the tube feeding club!  Wish me luck!  

@casportpony has a thread or two on tube feeding. She is the pro! Also watch the videos she provided. When tube feed they need to be held with their neck extended and up while not allowing them to move. When inserting the tube start by holding the tube on the birds left and point it at an angle to the right. Do not go down the center hole! That is their trachea you will go to the side and will be able to feel the tube sliding down their throat. Make sure you go down to the crop but don't go too far or not far enough.

 

[duckitup]

Thanks for the extra tips. casportpony posted videos around the beginning of this thread. @casportpony Thank you! They are very helpful. We ended up not tubing him last night because he ate a bunch of minnows just before. We decided to do it this morning instead if he hadn't gained any weight but........He did! He had an 18 gram increase from yesterday! The plan today is to let him relax, keep him stocked on minnows and duck food and leave him pretty much alone. It has been really cloudy and windy here most of the week but if the sun comes out today I'll let him go outside in a pen.

One concern is that he has begun to cough a bit. Mostly when he dunks his head. He started it yesterday. I'm keeping an eye on it to see if it gets worse. We have a follow up vet apt tomorrow so they can see how he is progressing so I will ask about his cough at that.

Thank you everyone for all of your help and support.

 

[duckitup]

Mr. Fiona update: Today he weighs 3.08 lbs/1397 grams. Yay for weight gain!!! He ate 58 minnows and much more duck food than he has in previous days. He still has his cough and he is still blind in his left eye. Cough will be checked out at the vet today.

I'm thinking a little too far ahead here...... We have one drake other than Mr. Fiona and 4 females. (We have contemplated finding more females if they get too rough with each other). So far the other drake (named Drake) has been alone with his girls for 9 days and it will be many more until Mr Fiona is ready join them. Any advice on reintroducing Mr Fiona to the rest of the free range flock when the time comes?

And for a little bit of fun.....We haven't come up with a real male name for Mr. Fiona yet, besides adding Mr to his name

. I'll post pics of him in a bit, Any name thoughts?

 

[duckitup]

 

[Debs Flock]

Aww! He looks like a Carl or Clyde.