Young Duck went suddenly lame

[WannaBeHillBilly]

They don't eat as much during molt. If he is that vigorous and attacking your nose, I would just keep an eye on him.

That's what i will do - apart from wearing nose protection in the future.
I just want to be prepared if i really have to tube feed him.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Limpy never stops to surprise me: Today was a warm(er) sunny day here in WV and when i let the ducks out Limpy stormed out of the door, ran up the hill and jumped into the duck-pool before everybody else could do.

First duck to join him was his nurse Katharina then Donald slipped and fell in - he is as clumsy as his name-sake. But you can see the difference in size (and weight) between Limpy, Donald and Katharina. Limpy looks fragile compared with Donald.

 

[graypes]

OK, to this day we do not know for sure what was causing this lameness.
It could have been avian botulism, though i have not found a source for this (no rotten water, no carcass,…).
It could have been a poison insect, caterpillar, mushroom or plant that he ate.
It could have been a lack of some nutrients, minerals or vitamins.
Or it was just a stray alpha-particle…
It was not any kind of injury, there were no cuts or bruises on the legs, Limpy did not show any signs of pain when i moved his legs (apart from his permanent »murder« screams).
First, the vet gave Limpy a shot of steroids in the chest muscle, then we gave him 14 days of intensive care:
Limpy received a warm bath everyday for about two weeks in the afternoon to relax his muscles, clean up the little stinker and feeding without being freaked out on somebody's lap. While in the water we observed that he was moving his legs fine but out of the water they were too weak to support him.

He received the following medicine, all pills:

Addressing possible toxins:

• Activated Charcoal, six hours before/after anything else - twice daily, 10 doses
• Milk Thistle Extract, Mother Nature's detox - daily, 21 doses

Addressing a possible bacterial infection:

• FishMox - Amoxicillin for fish 250mg - every odd day, 7 doses

Addressing deficiencies:

• Centrum for Adults - A Multi-Vitamin - every odd day, 10 doses
• Vitamin B complex, daily 14 doses
• Tryptophan, essential amino-acid, precursor for Niacin, daily, 14 doses
• Calcium, Magnesium, Zink - every odd day, 7 doses
• Iron 65mg - every even day, 10 doses
• Vitamin C 1000mg - daily, 14 doses (makes the duck hungry!)
• Two teaspoons of glucose in a quart of water to drink
• Salt-Sticks during hot days

After two weeks Limpy was much better, so we dropped all medications, except for the Vitamin B, now as a liquid in the drinking water and the Milk Thistle (for another week).
I have gained so much experience »feeding« pills to my duck, i should probably create the »Pill Stuffing Team«, similar to @casportpony's »Team Tube Feeding«. At the end of those two weeks Limpy didn't had a chance to resist, sometimes he barely noticed that i gave him his Milk-Thistle.
In the end he will likely always be a special needs duck, but he is as independent as possible. Please see pictures of some of the Medications we used below.
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old post, sorry but how many mg of activated charcoal did you give? I found my duck in gross water with multiple carcasses a few hours ago

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

We were using the standard charcoal tablets from the pharmacy. No clue how much those weigh. But the point is: You can hardly overdose charcoal! Make a slurry out of a tablet and squeeze it into the duck's throat with a syringe (no needle!)
Ducks are gross! Mine don't drink the fresh water i serve them before one of them has pooped into. So even if your duck was swimming in gross water, it is unlikely that she will become sick.