Sudden Duck Death Syndrome

[BirdNerd101]

A lady contacted me today about finding a home for a pekin drake who lost his hen a few weeks ago. I was told she was normal all day and then was found on her back dead. She talked to a vet who said it was "sudden duck death syndrome". It has been a few weeks now and he is lonely. I was wondering if he could have a disease and pass it on to my flock if i took him.Any help/ stories are appreciated. Is it worth the risk to take him?
Thanks
BirdNerd101

 

[buff goose guy]

No if you get the duck it needs to be examined throughly by a veterinarian, just to be careful.

 

[Amykins]

Um, yeeeah...that vet sounds like a quack to me. No pun intended. There are lots of reasons why a duck will up and die when seeming otherwise normal, but to call it "SDDS" is ridiculous. I doubt it was a communicable disease, although it could have been, if the woman simply didn't know her birds half as well as she thinks she did. I agree that she needs to be autopsied, but considering that it's been a few weeks I doubt that's possible.

If the drake is lonely, and he hasn't shown signs of anything but you're still worried, you have two options: 1) Take him to a vet and get a full spectrum fungal/viral/bacterial screen just to be put at ease, or take the risk and introduce him to your flock. It's not fair to just keep him in by his lonesome when he's obviously majorly stressed out.

 

[BirdNerd101]

So i shouldnt take him into my flock?

 

[Amykins]

I wouldn't go that far. I'm just saying that given the length of time passed, if he looks healthy I'd wager that it wasn't any sort of disease. But a checkup may be in order, perhaps she had fatty liver disease, or her heart gave out (yes, heart attacks can happen in ducks too!) It could even have been predation, it's not unheard of for a predator to snap a bird's neck but get scared off before it's able to take a bite out of its victim.

Either way the poor drake is lonely and afraid, so if you're not going to take it, let the woman know so she can re-home it with someone else ASAP.

 

[BirdNerd101]

Can you check out my most recent thread please! Im really worried @amykins

 

[Amykins]

Can you check out my most recent thread please! Im really worried @amykins

I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific...there are a lot of threads on your profile. This one? The neosporin one? Lyson one? Prolapse one?

 

[BirdNerd101]

The polysporin one

 

[Amykins]

I think she'll be fine. Just keep an eye on her. Any decision on the pekin drake yet?

 

[BirdNerd101]

Ok thanks, will do. No not yet i will talk to the vet and let the lady know tommorow