Egg bound or broken heart? :(

[yukonbeck2020]

Hi all, this is my lovely girl Perdita. Usually she is laying by this time in the spring, but we have had a couple exceptional circumstances that I’m afraid have impacted her;
1. We have switched back and forth from winter to spring over and over, with lots of rain and cold and general unpredictability!
2. Her best friend, and our only other duck, passed away recently

Over the past 3 days, she has been very lethargic. Her legs are splayed out to the side (I couldn’t get a great picture). My first thought was that she is egg bound, but we have done the usual treatment procedures, and no luck. We don’t even feel an egg stuck, so I’m concerned there’s a major issue or blockage internally. She also has very foul green poop. So worried about our girl. I can’t help but wonder if the death of her friend is impacting her somehow.

 

[picklestheduck]

Hi all, this is my lovely girl Perdita. Usually she is laying by this time in the spring, but we have had a couple exceptional circumstances that I’m afraid have impacted her;
1. We have switched back and forth from winter to spring over and over, with lots of rain and cold and general unpredictability!
2. Her best friend, and our only other duck, passed away recently

Over the past 3 days, she has been very lethargic. Her legs are splayed out to the side (I couldn’t get a great picture). My first thought was that she is egg bound, but we have done the usual treatment procedures, and no luck. We don’t even feel an egg stuck, so I’m concerned there’s a major issue or blockage internally. She also has very foul green poop. So worried about our girl. I can’t help but wonder if the death of her friend is impacting her somehow.

I’m very sorry you are going through this. How did the other ducks die? What are you feeding Perdita? Is she eating and drinking normally? When she walks are her legs still splayed? Have you ever supplemented her with niacin? Ducks usually need extra niacin than feeds supply throughout their lives. You can supplement it with nutritional yeast. She’s likely to be extremly lonely somce ducks don’t do well alone. They are meant to be in a flock. Do you have any other birds like chickens or anything at all?

 

[yukonbeck2020]

I’m very sorry you are going through this. How did the other ducks die? What are you feeding Perdita? Is she eating and drinking normally? When she walks are her legs still splayed? Have you ever supplemented her with niacin? Ducks usually need extra niacin than feeds supply throughout their lives. You can supplement it with nutritional yeast. She’s likely to be extremly lonely somce ducks don’t do well alone. They are meant to be in a flock. Do you have any other birds like chickens or anything at all?

Thank you <3 The other duck passed from a fox attack (she got out when we opened the pen and we couldn’t catch her broke my heart) So it’s not nutritionally related. She is still eating and drinking, but only when I put her bowls right in front of her. She is eating calcium-fortified manna pro feed. I’ve had a duck with splayed legs due to niacin issues, and this is definitely isn’t it. It happened almost overnight. It’s like it’s painful for her to stand up, and when she tries, she uses her wing as a crutch. Sadly I don’t have chickens or anything else. We have a small flock as we live in a neighborhood and are just starting out. We are looking for a couple of other grown-up friends for her. It’s breaking my heart!

 

[Miss Lydia]

If she is having trouble walking I would still try her on some liquid B complex 1 ml over a tasty treat just enough treat so she gets full dose. Also might be a good idea to get some Calcium gluconate too. It will help get an egg moving if stuck these 2 items are something we should all have. Plus Activated charcoal for ingesting toxins. TSC should have the liquid B complex and the calcium gluconate. Drug stores carry activated charcoal in the antacid section.
Best we can do since we're not vets is eliminate by trying things that can help and if one doesn't then we try another. If she is outside you might want to move her inside so you can keep an eye on her eating and drinking and give her a mirror that is safe so she can see herself until you get her some friends.
Very sorry you lost the one.

 

[Kbduckmom]

Sorry to hear about your one that died. Check for vent gleet (white callous around the vent and often missing feathers) just in case. It doesn’t sound like it, but it doesn’t hurt to check.

It does sound like a different thing I’ve seen before though. One of our girls got so her legs were almost useless to her side and she would use her wings to help her walk. It turned out that she was egg bound and that the egg had pressed on her spine causing paralysis. The egg was not showing up near the vent, but was inside. I treated her for egg binding (soak in epsom salt and KY jelly in the vent) and she passed an egg and soon recovered. She was able to walk and had a slight limp for a while until I adjusted her hip. I can’t remember where I learned how to do that, but the limp soon went away.

My guess is that she is somehow paralyzed, likely from an egg. If it’s a soft one, you won’t feel it unless you reach inside. For the KY jelly, try a turkey baster to get it in her vent so it actually gets to the egg.

Best of luck! Keep us updated!