Common Duck Diseases: Part One

Ducks are some of the finest and most enjoyable birds to raise in the backyard, proving many hours of enjoyment along with plentiful eggs. However, although these remarkable birds are quite hardy and mostly disease-resistant, they are susceptible to a number of diseases. You should educate yourself about these diseases in order to ensure that your backyard flock remains healthy and active.

Fowl Pox

Two forms of fowl pox occur, dry and wet. The dry form results in lesions that occur on non-feathered areas, while the wet form causes cankers to occur in the mouth and other areas. The disease is easily spread between birds through a variety of means including through the infected scabs that can enter through the bloodstream. It can also be passed along through infected mosquitoes. Unfortunately, there is no current treatment for the disease, although it is slow to spread, so you can usually implement a vaccination plan to ensure that the disease does not wipe out your flock. Prevention usually involves either vaccination (which should only be implemented if the disease is known in the area),

Fowl Cholera

Fowl cholera is a truly devastating disease that results in a number of unpleasant symptoms for your birds, including a discharge from the mouth, lack of appetite, and labored breathing, which then move on to loss of weight, lameness (the joints begin to swell), and rattling noises while breathing. The disease is spread via a number of channels, including wild birds and predators. Treatment usually involves a sulfa drug (which, in addition to not being approved by the FDA, also leave reside in mil and eggs), while antibiotics can also be used (though these require longer treatments). Prevention involves vaccination and rat control.

Botulism

Although most people probably have some familiarity with this disease in humans, it also occurs in duck populations, largely as the result of eating spoiled food, which is host to a deadly species of bacterium. Paralysis is the most obvious sign and usually occurs soon after ingesting the infected food. The paralysis moves throughout the body, affecting the wings and the feet, with affected birds also becoming sleepy. Death can occur within twelve to twenty four hours if the amount of the infection is strong enough. You can treat botulism by flushing your flock with Epsom salts, as well as antitoxin injections. Prevention is fairly simple and involves ensuring that food does not become wet or spoiled and avoid feeding your birds canned vegetables that have spoiled.

If you plan on raising ducks in the backyard, it is vital to educate yourself about the number of diseases that can afflict our feathered friends.

Sources
University of Florida Extension; Common Poultry Diseases.