Young Muscovy drake - can't tell if Anatipestifer or just bottom of the pecking order

ZamDuck

Hatching
Dec 29, 2016
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7
Here's the rundown of my flock:
Papa Duck - Muscovy male, bought off the side of the road
Brown Tail - Mama duck to 12 ducklings in September
White Tail - Mama duck to 12 ducklings last week
Brown Tail's Brood - currently 3 drakes, 6 females (two drakes have gone to friends), all about 15 weeks old.


Climate is Southern Hemisphere, so it's rainy season right now, and we're in a daily rain situation, near constant mud.

So we've been trying to offload the males to a few people for Christmas. Two drakes have probably fulfilled their destiny as feeding a household, leaving us with 4, Papa Duck and 3 young drakes. I'm trying to offload two more this weekend to friends.

Yesterday my wife and I noticed that one of the drakes, who I know has the least fight in him, was hanging a bit off to the side of things. Kind of at the fringes of the rest of the flock. We have a security guard that told us unsolicited that he thought the drake was ill. This drake is hanging out at the edges of things, but I'm also seeing the rest of the flock push him away. He was stuck in one corner of the back yard yesterday, came to poke his head out, saw the rest of the flock around the corner from the shed, and just shuffled back to his little spot.

We let this poor guy on the outs (he has really wonderful stripped feathers, so we call him Stripey Boy) take a breather and move to the front yard. Untouched by ducks, this is a bit of a duck heaven. We keep them out of there because we don't want poop in the swimming pool. Anyway, moved him up there for a while to see if this is just territory-related. While doing so Stripey Boy was acting ....just off. Did some odd stretching and was a touch off-balance. When he arrived at his new plot it was night, so I'm not sure if he was looking around to get a feel for the place, or was doing an odd neck twist.

Feces-wise, he left us one last night that I think had a touch of yellow in an otherwise normal white and green watery deposit. This morning it's all regular ol' green. Eye mask is bright red, eyes, nose and mouth are clear.

Appetite has been less than I would have expected, but we're also in high bug season. The whole flock can destroy some pellets overnight, but lately they've been living the good life in a compost pile, so everyone seems to be getting enough, Stripey Boy included.

Also this mornings, Stripey Boy seems fine. Except that he desperately wants to get in the pool. He just sits at the edge of it, starting at it. Probably ate a ton of bugs from there last night, but it also means he's not being very active. But he'll walk around if you approach him.

So is this a classic drake coming-of-age story with territory and young lady ducks causing issues? Or is this Anatipestifer? If the latter, is it possible that he won't die from this? If so, how long for a recovery? Or can I butcher him with this and he'll be OK for humans to eat?
 
@ZamDuck Welcome to BYC

After reading here http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publi...ltry/182/riemerella-anatipestifer-infections/

I would think some of your other ducks would be showing symptoms as well. But a good vet would be able to make a diagnosis with blood work.

It maybe he is low man on totem pole and being standofish is his way of keeping from being beat up. My Drakes[Muscovy] will keep away from each other to avoid conflict after dominance is established. You might try putting a few females in with him and see if that perks him up.

I'd keep a close watch on him and the others just in case this is something contagious. But Muscovy's are hardy birds I have had them since 2004 and haven't ever had one get sick. They die from old age.
 

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