Question about Duckling - is it sick? What can I do?

[Jacinth]

I have a flock of 8 ducklings that were born on June 16th and delivered to me via air mail on June 18th.

One of my ducklings is having some trouble. I noticed about two days ago one of the ducks seemed lethargic - while the others walk around and go into their swimming pool to play, this one would lay down and seem to have trouble staying awake.

Today I found the duck separated from the rest of the flock when I got home from work. The others were all but ignoring it. It's still laying down 95% of the time. When it tried to stand or walk, it seems like it has a balance problem. It just stumbles around.

I separated it and placed it in a box by himself (with a heat lamp). It will drink and eat (at least a small amount). But it is still mostly laying down and sleeping.

Is it sick? If it is, is there anything I can do? Should I keep it separated from the rest of the ducks? Please help!

As a side note, when I first received the ducks, one of them had trouble staying upright - it would flip itself onto its back and thrash its legs around (it would push itself backwards). I positioned it into a corner to stop it from flipping itself, and later that day, it was fine. I couldn't tell which one had had the problem. Could that be related?

[Susie]

Hey there, it sounds like you have a weakling..You have done the right thing by putting it by itself, see if you can get it to eat some shreded lettuce or a sweet type of green, add a little brown sugar to its drinking water for a picker-upper.You may have to get a viti-pack, this will make him want to get up and go, if these don't make a difference in a couple of days, you may have a sick baby...Some of my goslings have done the back flop thing, but its usually after they eat alot..The mothers are quick to turn them back over, and its never caused any problems.Since YOU are the Moma now, just watch to see if it becomes a habit or was a one time thing.Good luck with your new babies..They are such a joy, Susie

[KrisDack]

Is your flipper doing any better? We have the same thing going on here, and wondering what we can do to help this little one. Our duckling is one week old on Sunday....

[Jacinth]

We had it put down. The duck got worse - he seemed to be having seizures every 20 minutes or so (he would flip around and bang into the side of the box). The duckling also had a kind of constant 'tick' in its neck - it was always moving its head back and forth.

I took him to the vet and he had said it was most likely a neurological problem due to a genetic defect or trauma. Since there hadn't been any ducky trauma, he said it was most likely genetic. He did mention that it could have been an ear infection, but he thought that was the least likely cause. He said the most humane thing to do was to put it down, so we did.

I hope your ducky is doing better. We were very sad to put Pancake the duck down.

[skycladfaerielady]

So sorry to hear that! Poor little thing! But he is no longer sufferring.

[BarbL]

Oh I am so sorry to hear that and I would guess with the severity that you definately did the right thing. Hate to hear it though always hard.

[KrisDack]

Oh I'm so sorry to hear this.......they are just the sweetest little things.....

Blessings,

Kris