Does my duckling have a distended abdomen, or am I paranoid? (Pics)

[Orca5094]

Hi everyone! I just wanted some opinions on my new little Cayuga here. She is 4 days old, and I feel like her lower abdomen is bigger than it should be. Her umbilicus area is completely healed and hard to find now, so there is no swelling or infection at that site. (She also has a touch of spraddle leg in one leg, hence the hobbles.)





She was an assisted hatch (pipped on wrong end of egg, then unable to turn and zip herself so I had to help her out). Her yolk sac was completely absorbed at hatch, but she did have her little umbilical cord out and stuck to the shell. She detached that herself pretty quickly with no bleeding. Her umbilicus was open a little bit at hatch as well, but it closed up very nicely by the time I took her out of the incubator 12 hours later.

Am I paranoid, or could she possibly have a yolk sac infection going on inside?? She eats really well and is active, no other signs of being ill. I would appreciate any insights, she is a very special girl and I need her to make it.

 

[Orca5094]

No opinions? Does that mean you think she looks normal? I'd feel better if I had other ducklings to compare her to at the moment, but unfortunately she's the only one that hatched.

 

[Orca5094]

I'm going to go ahead and bump this and see if anyone has any insight. She is now 12 days old and still has what I would consider a large abdomen. She is very active, eats and drinks great and is growing every day.

Should I be concerned there is some underlying medical issue going on here? Have you seen ducklings shaped like this before? It doesn't seem right. My previous Cayuga ducklings did not look like this.

Updated pic from today:

Don't worry, she didn't swallow the shoelace. (Still working on the little leg issue as you can see.)

Thanks for any help!

 

[Orca5094]

Is there any way to move this thread to the Duck Forum to maybe get some responses?

Also wanted to note that she definitely does not have any problems pooping.

 

[casportpony]

It does look distended and it's definitely not normal. I've lost a few like that and I suspect that they had either a yolk sac infection or ascites due to a heart defect. The fact that it's pooping is a good sign, but be prepared in case it is an infection or heart defect.


-Kathy

 

[Orca5094]

Oh wow, that's not good at all.

Would she live this long with no symptoms if she had an infection going on inside? She'll be two weeks old tomorrow. I had no idea it could be a heart problem, I was just hoping maybe she was shaped weird and would be ok.

Did you ever have any like this that made it?

 

[casportpony]

Oh wow, that's not good at all.

Would she live this long with no symptoms if she had an infection going on inside? She'll be two weeks old tomorrow. I had no idea it could be a heart problem, I was just hoping maybe she was shaped weird and would be ok.

Did you ever have any like this that made it?

At two weeks she might be okay... the longest I had one with a belly like that was 10 day, but he was really sick. If she make it to six weeks I'd say something else is wrong. Any chance you could take her to a vet? For a duckling I wouldn't bother, it's just way too expensive, but if you have extra money it might be a good idea.

-Kathy

 

[Orca5094]

Unfortunately, we are a bit on the poor side. I'm not sure I could find a vet around here that would look at her anyway. :/

Thank you so much for your response, though! I will try to stay optimistic, but I do appreciate knowing how serious the situation could be. I really hope this girl makes it (her name is Nutmeg). She is very special and has a great spirit.

 

[casportpony]

Unfortunately, we are a bit on the poor side. I'm not sure I could find a vet around here that would look at her anyway. :/

Thank you so much for your response, though! I will try to stay optimistic, but I do appreciate knowing how serious the situation could be. I really hope this girl makes it (her name is Nutmeg). She is very special and has a great spirit.

Try not to worry too much... If she able to poop and isn't breathing through her mouth she might live.

-Kathy

 

[Orca5094]

Yep, she poops alot and I've only seen her pant when her brooder got too warm from the heat lamp. We just got back in from catching grasshoppers and tiny snails, she loves those.

Anyway, I will try to remember to give regular updates in case anyone else has this issue/concern in the future. So far so good for little miss Nutmeg!