What is wrong with my duckling?

[gwen76]

Hi! I didn't know where else to post this but here goes nothin'. So, pretty recently, I got a duckling. She's an indian runner duckling who's only a little less than a month old. About 3 days ago, I noticed she had white crust around her eyes. She was also sneezing. I looked around on google for solutions and I only found 3 options-- Taking her to the vet, Giving her a saline treatment, and putting a bit of apple cider vinegar in her water. I'm too broke for the vet, but the other two options have worked fine. She still has eye crust and she hasn't sneezed once since. Any ideas on what this could be? What should I do? Also-- she has had no personality changes. She hasn't gone dull or anything, she's still bright eyed and playful. She eats all 3 meals and swims like normal.

 

[Pyxis]

!

Is she your only duckling or do you have others? Ducks are flock animals and absolutely need to be with other ducks. So if you don't have another duckling, you'll need to get one. Even if you have other types of poultry, that still won't cut it. Even if you think you're going to keep her as a house pet, she still needs a duck friend, because you won't be able to be with her 24 hours a day 7 days a week like real flock mates are.

That aside, what is your brooder setup like? Is the water deep enough that she can dunk her whole head up to and over her eyes? Ducks need to be able to submerge their heads entirely in water. She may not be able to properly clean out her nares and clean her eyes if the water is not deep enough.

Sneezing and eye discharge are also symptoms of mycoplasma gallisepticum, a chronic respiratory condition for which there is no cure and which she would infect every bird she comes into contact with for the rest of her life. Hopefully it's not that, but it's a possibility.

 

[gwen76]

Thanks for the feedback. No, I don't have any other ducks as of now. I don't plan on getting any until I get rid of this sickness, y'know, if it's not mycoplasma gallisepticum. I was told to try antibiotics , and colloidal silver. I'll be trying that very very soon. Thanks again and hopefully we get past this bump.

 

[Pyxis]

I don't plan on getting any until I get rid of this sickness, y'know, if it's not mycoplasma gallisepticum

If it is MG, the only way to get rid of it would be to cull this duckling and start over. MG cannot be cured; once they have it, they have it for life, and it never goes away. They also infect every other bird they come into contact with. It's not a good disease

What antibiotic were you told to try? Since you didn't answer the question about the water, I'm assuming that it's set up correctly? Also, what are you using for bedding? That could be irritating the duckling too.

 

[gwen76]

I used colloidal silver and massaged that around the balding spot by her eye. Then I sprayed some in her food. I also put salt in her drinking water (yes, her water was/is set up correctly) along with apple cider vinegar so that she could clean her beak properly. I also used medicated chick starter/grower to feed to her. Now, she is a completely healthy duck. Infact, she's sitting next to me right now quacking away. Thanks for the help!

Edit I feel like I should mention that I don't only feed her medicated chick feed. I rarely give her that. She eats a diet of leafy greens, seeds, some fruits, and oats.

 

[Pyxis]

Excellent! Very glad to hear she made a full recovery