Aspergillosis
Symptoms: laboured breathing, which can also be a symptom of pneumonia.
Cause: spores from mouldy bedding, especially hay, which should be avoided.
Treatment: Aspergillosis can be treated with fungicides - but these are
expensive and unlikely to be successful. Avoid this disease by good management.
Aflatoxin poisoning may show similar symptoms. In this case, the moulds
that grow on cereal grains and oilseeds produce toxins which are very damaging
for ducks. Store food in dry, cool conditions. Never use mouldy food.
Botulism
Symptoms: loss of muscular control of legs, wings and neck - hence the term
limber-neck. Birds are unable to swallow.
Cause: toxins produced by bacteria (Clostridia) in decaying animal and
vegetable waste. The toxins cause the problem.
Treatment: avoid problems by keeping ducks out of muddy/dirty areas and
stagnant pools, especially in hot weather. The bacteria multiply rapidly in
warmer temperatures in anaerobic conditions (where oxygen is excluded). Give
affected birds fresh drinking water. If necessary, introduce water into the
mouth and throat with a syringe (no needle). A crop tube could be used with the
advice of a vet. Add Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate, available from the high street
chemist) to the water. This is an old remedy which is still used. Recommended amounts vary from 1
tablespoon in one cup of water to 1 ounce per 50 fluid oz ( two and a half
pints) of water.
Coccidiosis
Symptoms: red blood in the droppings; thin
birds because coccidia attack the lining of the gut and nutrients from food
are not absorbed. Birds may be ill for some time: weeks, not days.
Cause: ground dirty with droppings of birds which carry coccidia.
Coccidia are protozoa and cannot therefore be eliminated with antibiotic.
They are more common in summer in hot, wet conditions.
Treatment: anticoccidial medication in the drinking water e.g. Harker's Coxoid,
obtainable from your vet or Interhatch. Follow instructions about withdrawal
times. The coccidiostat added to poultry (hen) grower
pellets is not a suitable treatment. Avoid problems by growing young ducklings on clean
ground, moving their protective coop on to a new patch each day. Coccidiosis is not
a common disease with ducks, especially if you have clean water
and feed wheat and pellets. Geese are more likely to get it from grazing on
dirty grass.
Enteritis
Inflammation and bleeding in the gut can be produced by bacteria or duck
viral enteritis. DVE is rare, but will kill most affected birds. Prompt
treatment with a vaccine obtainable from Holland, obtained through your vet, is
the only solution.
Symptoms: if birds are listless and suffering from pinkish droppings in hot
spells in summer, this is more likely to be a bacterial form of enteritis. Watch
the wild birds. If blackbirds etc. are ill too, then your ducks do not have DVE.
Cause: the bacterial disease is probably transmitted by the wild bird
population.
Treatment: bacterial enteritis is easily treated by using soluble antibiotic
powders from the vet, in the drinking water (but you must
catch this early.) No other water should be available. Move
the birds on to clean ground a couple of days after treatment has commenced. Make
sure the birds get eight days treatment. Follow the instructions about dosage and withdrawal times.
Lameness
Symptoms: hot leg, swollen ankle or swollen hock. .
Cause: bacterial infection.
Treatment: course of antibiotic injections from the vet.
Maggots
Symptoms: dirty vent. Maggot infestation may not be readily noticed.
Cause: birds do not have enough water for keeping themselves clean, particularly
at the vent, during hot weather in summer. Injured birds may also have flies'
eggs deposited at the injury.
Treatment: pick the
maggots off the affected area; use ointment, then fly spray; check the birds
each day for several days - any fly eggs already on the bird will still hatch.
This is a rare affliction in Runners.
Mites
Symptoms: birds scratch a lot. The Northern mite lives on the bird and
sucks its blood.
Cause: mites are caught from other birds at bird shows, and from new birds you
may have introduced. It is possible that they can also be caught from wild
birds.
Lice, which are insects, also live on the birds. These live on bits of feather,
and are grey in colour instead of red.
Treatment: use pesticides such as pyrethrum or Ivermectin (see the web pages
on Worms and Mites
for the dosage of Ivermectin which is a systemic
treatment for pests).
Always follow instructions about withdrawal times which come with these
products.
Lead
poisoning
Symptoms: lack of co-ordination, loss of weight
.
Cause: lead shot from cartridges of air gun pellet.
Treatment: make sure the source of lead cannot be accessed. Provide grit
for the birds so that they do not pick up bits of lead for the gizzard.
Pasteurella
Symptoms: loss of appetite, increased thirst, watery
(then green) droppings, loss of co-ordination.
Cause: bacteria in the environment.
Treatment: prompt treatment with antibiotic from the vet may save larger birds. Smaller birds
usually succumb.
Eliminate carriers, such as rats.
Prolapse
Symptoms:
Males - the penis is dropped externally from the body. Make sure
the bird is kept clean - plenty of access to water, Sometimes the bird resolves
the problem itself. More often, in Runner drakes (perhaps because of their
upright posture), the penis cannot be retracted. The bird should be 'put down' if
the problem persists; a general infection can develop.
Females -
the lower part of the oviduct protrudes. This is caused by difficulty in passing
an egg (often only seen when the flesh has dried and become dirty). Birds are
usually best put down. Avoid this condition by feeding a good pelleted layers'
diet, which has the correct proportions of calcium and phosphorus. A bird having
difficulty in passing an egg should be kept warm at 20 degrees C and given a
calcium supplement. This can be oral (Calcivet from The Bird Care
Company) or by injection by a vet (calcium borogluconate, administered
with oxytocin by a vet).
Respiratory problems
Symptoms: the bird sits hunched up and bobs its tail up and down to assist in
breathing.
Cause: bacterial infection, especially in spells of intensely wet weather. Bear
in mind that the symptoms of Aspergillosis are similar, but this will not
respond to antibiotic treatment.
Treatment: a long course of antibiotic in the case of a
bacterial infection. Consult your vet. Birds' lungs are complicated, because of
adaptations for flight, so an infection is difficult to resolve.
Sinus Problems
Symptoms: weeping nostrils and puffed up cheeks.
Cause : bacteria in the environment infect the sinuses; more prevalent in Calls
than Indian Runners, where it is rare.
Treatment :appropriate antibiotic injection from the vet.
Treatment should be immediate to be effective. If left, the cheeks harden and
the bird cannot be cured. The sinuses can be flushed with antibiotic by a vet.
Slipped wing
Symptoms: the primary feathers of the
wings in young birds turn outwards. They may also just drop.
Cause: the ducklings are fed a diet too high in protein and grow too fast. The
blood in the quills is too heavy for the wings to support correctly.
Treatment: Feed growing birds a lower
protein diet while they develop the primary feathers. Change
the breeding stock to stop this problem developing.
Worms
- Parasitic
Only
veterinary medicines authorised for use by the Veterinary Medicine Directorate (VMD)
may be
administered to animals (including birds) in the UK.
Each medicine is authorised for administration to a specific species for
the treatment of named conditions.
If no suitable authorised medicine exists to treat the condition your
birds are suffering from, your veterinary surgeon may prescribe a product for
use “off label” under what is known as the prescribing cascade.
Any other form of off-label use of a veterinary medicine is an offence
under the Medicines (Restrictions on the Administration of Veterinary Medicinal
Products) Regulations 1994.
If there is no suitable UK authorised veterinary medicine, your Vet may
apply to import a medicine from overseas.
This is the only way a medicine may legally be imported into the UK.
When a veterinary medicine is administered, a withdrawal period must be observed
before the animal or animal products may enter the food chain.
For authorised medicines this will be indicated on the product label.
If a product is used off-label a minimum period of 7 days since last
administration must be observed for eggs.
For further information on the use of veterinary medicines please contact your
Vet or visit the website of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate www.vmd.gov.uk
who are the regulatory authority for veterinary medicines in the UK.
