Sick duck.

Date sort Score sort
runners

runners

Hatching
5 Years
Jan 13, 2015
6
0
7
Nottingham, England
Hi there,

Help needed!!

I have 2 pet runner ducks, that are both usually quite vocal and happy.
Today tho, the female is not right
1f614.png

She's quiet, is moving quite slowly, appears hunched and her feathers are fluffed out.
She hasn't eaten anything and is pooing a thin white gooey substance.
I have checked her over for any injuries, nothing seems wrong.
We have an enclosed garden with high fences and they get locked up in a house at night.
Any ideas what could be wrong ?
 
She may be egg bound. Let her swim in a tub of lukewarm water for an hour or so, and give her some extra calcium.

You can dissolve calcium citrate (supplements) in water and put about 50 mg worth in a treat, like mashed peas. Or you can do something similar, adding calcium gluconate liquid to peas.

If you can get her to a vet that would be a good idea.
 
Hello, this sounds pretty serious. Since she is a pet, it is much worth a visit to the vet. To me (and I'm no expert, that's for sure) it sounds like possibly a block in the digestive tract. Here's a good resource to learn more: http://kingofdoodles.blogspot.com/2011/06/signs-of-intestinal-blockage-in-pet.html

Could be that she's egg bound, could be peretonitis, could be that she just doesn't feel good and will be better tomorrow. Who knows what could be wrong, it's not worth it to keep guessing because it's so hard to diagnose these things. But the fact that she is not eating and is hunching can be a bad sign.

If you are not comfortable taking her to the vet just yet, watch her closely for the next 24 hours to see if you notice any other symptoms or to see if she is getting better.

This is where my perspective is coming from: I usually take a 24-48 hour period to see if the problem will subside, but there's greater risk involved obviously when you "wait it out." I also don't like putting undo stress on a duck who already doesn't feel good (catching them and inspecting etc.)... but that would change if I thought it was a life/death scenario. I also don't like starting a treatment if I'm not 90%-100% confident in my diagnosis for fear of making the problem worse. But everybody is different, and every duck is different. My ducks are not full on pets, they are somewhere between pets and livestock... and vets are not in the budget for us. I have 8 runners who are 9-10 months old.
runners said:
Hi there,

Help needed!!

I have 2 pet runner ducks, that are both usually quite vocal and happy.
Today tho, the female is not right
1f614.png

She's quiet, is moving quite slowly, appears hunched and her feathers are fluffed out.
She hasn't eaten anything and is pooing a thin white gooey substance.
I have checked her over for any injuries, nothing seems wrong.
We have an enclosed garden with high fences and they get locked up in a house at night.
Any ideas what could be wrong ?
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Hi again,
Thank you for your comments, this is our first time keeping ducks, and only now one is poorly has it become so worrying.
She's up and about this morning, still slow moving, still quiet, but I have seen her eating and foraging about in the garden, and there is a fresh egg in the duck house.
Am going to keep an eye on her today, and take her to a vets if she's no better by the morning.
Should I be keeping her away from the other duck?? He is being very protective of her, hardly leaving her side and running up and down between me and her if I go out to them.
 
Oh it's good to hear that you think she's making small improvements and is eating a foraging a bit. It sounds like a good sign that she has also laid another egg. I think you have a good plan.

This is my opinion but I personally would not separate the two because they are each others companions and separating them could cause too much unnecessary stress. He's probably bringing her a lot of comfort (as long as he isn't picking on her or over-mating her!). I know some people like to "quarantine" sick birds, but I don't think it's necessary since you only have the two. People generally quarantine sick birds to protect a larger flock against potentially contagious illnesses, or to protect the sick one from being picked on.

I hope she continues getting better, they look like lovely ducks. Runners (as all ducks I'm sure) have a way of getting near and dear to our hearts. Keep us updated if you can.

P.S. Do you keep anything around that the ducks could be getting into that isn't necessarily good for them to eat?

- Could the neighbors be feeding them bread or something else that's not good for them?

- I had a duck who was behaving similarly to yours, she was hunching, not eating, and just kept her head tucked behind her wing for hours that day. I put a handful of straw in their duck house the night before, and noticed that it had been mostly eaten by morning. My best guess is that she had eaten it and was having a difficult time passing it through her system (or she was just sick that day). She got back to normal within 4-6 hours though.

- I also had a duckling I'm pretty sure got into some organic fertilizer that made her very, very sick. Like vomitting, wobbly, super lethargic, not eating or drinking, really unhealthy looking poops. Luckily she pulled through after I separated her and gave her time and space to heal and some special treatment.
 
Last edited:
runners said:
Hi again,
Thank you for your comments, this is our first time keeping ducks, and only now one is poorly has it become so worrying.
She's up and about this morning, still slow moving, still quiet, but I have seen her eating and foraging about in the garden, and there is a fresh egg in the duck house.
Am going to keep an eye on her today, and take her to a vets if she's no better by the morning.
Should I be keeping her away from the other duck?? He is being very protective of her, hardly leaving her side and running up and down between me and her if I go out to them.
Click to expand...

How's she been doing lately? Better, I hope.
 

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