Spinal damaged pekin? what to do

Mother_hen · **Posted:** Fri Jan 04, 2013 10:30 pm

My poor pekin has been having health issues more to do with walking than anything else I took him to a local carer and she said he has spinal issues :cry:

I am at a loss as to what could have caused this... it is our first time with ducks and we have to pairs (1pair pekin & 1pair Bantam Saxony) Pekins are the only ones we have raised from a day old. Could it have been an underlying issue from an egg or did something happen? The other pekin is fine. I have contacted the person I bought the pekin from and asked for another as I have been told to knock him on the head before he gets bigger as it will end up hurting him as he gets bigger and heavier :cry:

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

Hi Mother Hen,

She could have had an early trauma, calcium deficiency or a combination of the two.
Whatever the cause, if the bird is still young and growing, the deformities are likely to become more exaggerated as it grows which would only lessen its quality of life.

Without seeing the bird or how bad it is, I would still consider euthanasia as a fair option for this bird.

oozcorpse · **Joined:** Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:15 am **Posts:** 2715

parvo = have you ever heard of this before?
I dont like the sound of the long term for this bird but it is very strange that a duckling would have spinal damage from the shell wouldnt it?

I too am assuming early trauma or calcium deficiency as you can sometimes see (very rare but been reported) this in the larger breeds of geese

Mother_hen · **Posted:** Wed Jan 09, 2013 12:31 pm

it appears we were wrong it isn't spinal at all, it's musclur it was suggested that he has a slipped disk? conf665

Gunnerdoo · **Joined:** Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:34 pm **Posts:** 2

Have you had a qualified vet look at him and diagnose the issue?

Mother_hen · **Posted:** Wed Jan 09, 2013 8:11 pm

Not yet; I have rung around and none of the local vets want to try their luck with a duck; duck33

Will be a perth job I think :-?

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

Mother_hen wrote:

it appears we were wrong it isn't spinal at all, it's musclur it was suggested that he has a slipped disk? conf665

How do you know this?

Birds in general don't suffer from "slipped discs".

I'm a bit confused about what is actually going on with this bird. How old is it and how long has it been affected?
What is it actually doing when it tries to walk?

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

Mother_hen wrote:

Not yet; I have rung around and none of the local vets want to try their luck with a duck; duck33

Will be a perth job I think :-?

I would suggest Dr Tim Oldfield at Wattle Grove ( from memory). He is an excellent avian vet with lots of experience.

Mother_hen · **Posted:** Thu Jan 10, 2013 1:50 pm

thank you I will have to give him a call and see how much he charges and go from there as sadly money is tight with a young baby and a sick partner

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

Good luck mother hen!

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