Muscovy duck with swollen one sided abdomen

My almost three year old female Muscovy duck began showing one sided swelling of some sort around her bum about a week ago. A few days later she began laying her next round of eggs. But the lopsided bum stayed. It hangs low on that side. Today she made another egg in the early morning but by the night she was swollen and low again on the same side, and looked like She was to make another egg soon. But she won't sit down. I think it hurts her or is uncomfortable.
I have tried massaging her and i have tried putting oil up in her opening with a plastic syringe. i have also applied heat. i just checked on her now and she still isnt sitting and there is not egg.

Does any one know what this could be? Is this just from her laying? She is normally a good layer but has experienced a few difficult eggs when laying.

She is not very hungry at the moment eating just a small bit, but she never usually eats much until she lays. she is still drinking water and acting fine, just a bit more tired like she is when shes laying.

Help please!!! I can't find any info online.

How's she doing? If you could post pictures of it it would help narrow it down.
Is the lump thin and look like a roll of access skin? Or is it round and feel like it's full of fluid like a cist? Is the lump soft and squishy or firm and lumpy? Have you parted her feathers to check for discoloration? Is it more in between her legs or closer to her vent? Could she have maybe given herself a hernia? Is she pooping, if so what does it look like?

Any information you can give us well help us give you accurate advise.
I hope it's nothing serious and she recovers just fine. I know how hard it is when a pet isn't doing well and you don't have a vet who will look at them

Brenna

The lump feels kind of squishy but not lumpy and is to one side of her vent. I haven't parted the feathers for discolouration but I will be sure to do so. I don't remember seeing discolouration. She is still pooing but it is watery. Yesterday morning she was pooing but not as much as usual so we took her to the avain vet. He checked her out and took a sample of her poo to look at. He said there is way too much bacteria in her poo. After he mentioned this I remembered she had REALLY stinky poo around the same time her lump showed up. The smell was like nothing she had done before. He thinks she has a bacterial infection in her gut.

She is now on antibiotics day and night for about a week. The vet said if she doesnt show improvement within the next three to four days to bring her back for further investigation. He said it could be some sort of tumour or growth if the antibiotics do not work.

However I feel optomistic about the infection diagnosis and I think the antibiotics should clear her up.

I will try to take some photos and out them up.

Thanks for your help.

No, problem. I'm glad you have an avian vet near you that you were able to take her to.

One thing you could probably do along with the antibiotics is Apple Cider Vinegar. (A.C.V.) ACV kills bad bacteria in the gut while promoting good bacteria to help raise their immune system. (It's also good as a natural de-wormer) We add it to their food or water since it's easier that way for both of us. It might depend on the antibiotics the vet gave you whether it will interfere, so definitely ask him if it's fine before you use it.

If she's still giving you problems with eating you can mix a little cayenne pepper powder in with moist food, ducks love peppers and it's a good appetite increaser and should cause her to perk up and eat more.

If she doesn't clear up it could be that her immune system was low so she just happened to pick up the bacteria as well. So if you haven't already, you should check that her oil gland isn't clogged and that it's in good working order. The most common ways ducks get bacteria infections is from unclean bedding, dirty swimming water, (we all know ducks ) or no swimming water which clogs the oil gland, cause their immune system to lower, and introduces it into their systems. (Also, New birds, people, or dirt that is carrying bacteria they aren't use to can cause it as well as getting into spoiled food)

There is also cysts (and in rare cases tumors) that respond to Penicillin, so if that's what he gave you and it shrinks but then comes back you might want to ask him about those.

I hope your vet is right and the antibiotics fixes everything, keep us updated and good luck.

Brenna

Thanks for all the tips. I will be sure to try the apple cider vinegar but maybe after her antibiotics are finished.
I have checked her oil gland and it looks normal. Its yellow and oilly and doesn't seem clogged in any way.

He gave me Amoxyclav 500. When I looked it up this is what I found:
Pharmacor Amoxyclav 500/125 and Pharmacor Amoxyclav 875/125 tablets contain two active ingredients. One of these is from the penicillin group of antibiotics and is called amoxycillin (from amoxycillin trihydrate) and the other is clavulanic acid (from potassium clavulanate).

So it is a form of penicillium. The lump seems to be going down a bit. Also she is pooing slightly more solid and the smell is gone.

I will keep you updated and thanks again for all the help.

sbono said:

Thanks for all the tips. I will be sure to try the apple cider vinegar but maybe after her antibiotics are finished. I have checked her oil gland and it looks normal. Its yellow and oilly and doesn't seem clogged in any way. He gave me Amoxyclav 500. When I looked it up this is what I found: Pharmacor Amoxyclav 500 /125 and Pharmacor Amoxyclav 875/125 tablets contain two active ingredients. One of these is from the penicillin group of antibiotics and is called amoxycillin (from amoxycillin trihydrate) and the other is clavulanic acid (from potassium clavulanate). So it is a form of penicillium. The lump seems to be going down a bit. Also she is pooing slightly more solid and the smell is gone. I will keep you updated and thanks again for all the help.

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Clavamox is a good drug to start with. -Kathy

Hi guys.
She has finished her antibiotics and from what I can tell that have helped. Her swelling has gone down quite a bit but is still there.
Today during her bath, as I washed her bum she started breathing really heavy and scared me a bit. She stopped soon after, a few minutes.

But now whenever I touch her bum she moves away and doesn't like it. Even with the slightest touch.

She stopped laying eggs a few days ago as well.

Not sure what to do. My avian vet that I took her to for the infection didn't seem to know much about ducks at all. I am confused and scared.

Any help will be appreciated.

sbono said:

Hi guys.

She has finished her antibiotics and from what I can tell that have helped. Her swelling has gone down quite a bit but is still there.
Today during her bath, as I washed her bum she started breathing really heavy and scared me a bit. She stopped soon after, a few minutes.

But now whenever I touch her bum she moves away and doesn't like it. Even with the slightest touch.

She stopped laying eggs a few days ago as well. 

Not sure what to do. My avian vet that I took her to for the infection didn't seem to know much about ducks at all. I am confused and scared.

Any help will be appreciated.

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Can you share pictures? When she stands does she stand normally or more vertical then normal? If her stance is more vertical that means her abdomen is uncomfortable or in pain. Is the lump a sphere or irregular shaped? If it's irregular it may go up to her oviduct system, it may be pressing on it and making egg laying difficult, she may be egg bound. There also may be more lumps inside her that aren't connected. Is she pulling feathers anywhere? Birds will pull feathers if there's internal distress. Is she eating okay? Is she still pooping fine?

If there's any other possible symptoms you could think of it may help.

I hope she feels better soon,
Brenna

I have tried to take some photos but she wont let me come very close to her bum.
She isn't acting normal, she is running away from me and last night she was jumping on her water bowl and a chair, which is unusual.
She has also stopped eating like normal. She seems to be standing normally and the lump is like sphere. She is not pulling any feathers out and she is still pooing but it is liquidy.
I thought she might be egg bound but not too sure.

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sbono said:

I have tried to take some photos but she wont let me come very close to her bum. She isn't acting normal, she is running away from me and last night she was jumping on her water bowl and a chair, which is unusual. She has also stopped eating like normal. She seems to be standing normally and the lump is like sphere. She is not pulling any feathers out and she is still pooing but it is liquidy. I thought she might be egg bound but not too sure.

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Is the lump the same size as it was before she stopped laying or is it bigger? If it's bigger she may be egg bound as well. Also to try to get her to eat something you can try moistening her feed with luke warm water and add cayenne pepper powder and dried meal worms. Have you or the vet checked to see if she's anemic? It's fairly easy when they don't fight, but from what your saying it may be kind of difficult. Catch her and hold her on your lap, hold her body down with one arm and hold her head in your hand. Pull her bottom eyelid down so you can see the color of the inner skin that rests against her eyeball. If it's pink she's not anemic, if it's white that means she is anemic. If you can get an assistant to hold her it will be much easier. It looks similar to a chicken hen we got for free off of an older lady who could care for them anymore. When we got the chickens home we did a full physical on them. They in general had a lot of problems, but one hen had a lump on her abdomen about 2 inches from her vent. She was also anemic and for the 4 days that we had her she only pooped liquid and didn't lay eggs. She walked extremely upright, but eventually only crawled when not rushed. She also didn't eat much so we had to put her down to end her suffering and did a necropsy. When i opened her up I saw what looked like a 5 inch tumour plus a bunch of other problems. At that point I stopped and bagged her up cause I figured that's what it was. I later found out through research that it may have been an ovarian cyst, she was a red sex-linked of some sort and was about 1-3 years old (the previous owner didn't know but knew it was youngish) Some hatchery birds have this problem due to a lot of early strain on the oviduct system. There are many reasons why cysts form and not all are known, but strain seems to be the main one. Cysts are formed when fluid leaks in between tissue. You (or the avian vet) can use a syringe to try and see if it's filled with fluid. I really don't know if that's what it is or if it's something else. I can't think of anything it could be other than a cyst or tumour. I hope someone with more experience can offer some advice. Good luck and I hope she feels better soon. Brenna