Sick ducks-coughing. Please help?

[ThePolishPrincess]

My two big 'Scovy girls are sick for the first time in their 2-year-old lives. The call ducks and chickens they've been living with and eating and drinking with are not sick (yet

) but I don't know what to do. The only symptoms are coughing (kinda like hacking) and that my black Muscovy, Lucy, has some feather loss on her head. Not sure why. Her sister looks fine, and we have no large males that mate with either of them. The chickens don't seem to bother them either. And they never have.

Can I treat them with anything while they stay in with the chickens? Snow is still on the ground and they stay in with the chickens during the winter. If this thing was going to go away, it would have by now. I don't know what this illness is and how to treat it. There's no mucus, eye-crust or goo, nose-crust or goo, or anything else. Just violent coughing fits and feather-loss on one of my girls.

 

[chickensioux]

This is so weird. A friend of mine and I were talking about this the other day. I have 2 scovy girls that I got from her and she has all scovies. Both of my girls make that coughing sound and so do hers. I have calls, mandarins and khakis (all kept together) and no one else does this.....just the scovies. Do you suppose this is a scovy thing? No other symptoms, still eating and swimming, etc. I'm beginning to wonder. I hope someone else chimes in and says something because this is a strange coincidence, don't you think?

Regarding the feather loss on the back of her head - when my scovies were with my chickens the chickens picked the feathers off of one of my girls heads. It stopped when I seperated the ducks from the chickens.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

If this is a 'Scovy thing, my girls must have found out late.

I've never seen either of them do this before. All I know is that I feel badly for them. They get their little mohawks up when they have these fits and it looks like it is causing them discomfort. I notice that it's worse in the morning and that the coughing is more subdued when they have total access to fresh water right away. I'll be adding some VetRX to their water and see if they feel better. They're my babies. I hate to see them hurt.

As for the feather loss, it would surprise me quite alot if any of my chickens even had the GUTS to get close to my Muscovies. The two of them terrorize the chickens and the newer additions-the call ducks-when they are in the way of their food or even the water they all share! Actually, the Muscovies usually go after the chickens, even the top dogs of the flock, and hold onto their tails for dear life if either of them are particularly hungry or upset. Lucy, my balding black 'Scovy, is even meaner than her sister.

And I don't think it could be my little Call drake. As said before, it's highly unlikely anyone is pecking-or...eer...-mating with my girls. They were moulting out their head feathers a few weeks ago. I thought they were all back in but maybe I was just seeing things?

I'll keep a lookout.

 

[chickensioux]

My scovies also are about 2 years old and just started this coughing this summer. Maybe about 2 months ago actually. I have antibiotics in their water just to cover all bases but......I dunno.
Good luck with yours, this is baffling to me.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Once again, more weird stuff. I've been dealing with this since the end of the summer, too...strangely, about 2 months-give or take. I wish you luck with yours as well. If either of my girls take a turn for the worse (Oh, I hope not!) or get better, I'll let you know.

 

[kari1981]

I know this is old thread but my female pekin has been coughing alot sounds just like how yours were, did anything work?

 

[shannong139]

I have a rouen, a little over 5 months old who started coughing about a month ago, after 2 weeks I had taken him to the vet to get dewormed. A week later he is still coughing, when they had done the original fecal test thinking it was gapeworm the vet informed me he hadn't found any worms but there was a lot of feather particles.

Anyway, lately I've noticed he's been preening a lot and accidentally picking up, and most likely swallowing, his down. He is an inside duck, so obviously clean up is constant but I've been trying to make sure when he preens near me to move the down away from him and out of his mouth... look to see if maybe they're molting and accidentally swallowing feathers while preening. I was pretty freaked out when my May was coughing but since I've realized what was going on I've been much more at ease. Also, make sure they have plenty of water available to sooth their throat.

Hope this helps some!

 

[apricotvalleywf]

Could be a breathing problem related to aspergillosis or it could just be the way that they act around humans? Some 'wild' domesticated ducks I have seen tend to do this as a defense mechanism.