Egg bound, vent gleet, motility problem story

[Kbduckmom]

Update:
Goldie is officially broody. Up until this point she was producing 4 eggs every 4 days. She had 2 eggs Monday which I left and I only extracted 2 eggs today (Wednesday). YAY!!! So she went 2 days without producing eggs. Her vent is also much cleaner and tighter. I think the healing has already begun.

She sits on her nest most of the day. It is now to the point that I can let her roam when she wants without shooing her back to the nest. She does the high pitched, annoying quack. She’s eating very little. Officially broody!

I know this journey is far from over, but my plan is to have her sit on the nest as long as she wants this summer. I’ll give her at least a few weeks before opening her larger pen area up so she can roam with friends on her breaks. I’ll continue to offer calcium in her food and probiotics in her water.

My hope is that she won’t produce any more eggs this summer, then we’ll see next year whether she’s able to pass them on her own again. If not, I’ll have her go broody every year until her body transitions out of producing eggs.

This started about March 24, when she looked a little sluggish compared to her normal self. Since that day, she has been unable to pass any eggs on her own, while producing about an egg per day. Even treating her for egg binding with calcium and an epsom salt bath has not helped. All eggs she has produced have had to be broken and extracted by myself or the vet. Any eggs left in her break from being crushed by other eggs entering the oviduct. She could carry 3 without breaking, but when there were 4, they broke every time. I believe the pressure from the eggs inside has caused stress on the oviduct that won’t allow it to properly push the eggs out. It is now May 10 and she (hopefully) has stopped producing eggs so her oviduct can have a break.

Thank you all for your advice and support. This has not been easy to go through and I really hope I’ve been able to save her life.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Update:
Goldie is officially broody. Up until this point she was producing 4 eggs every 4 days. She had 2 eggs Monday which I left and I only extracted 2 eggs today (Wednesday). YAY!!! So she went 2 days without producing eggs. Her vent is also much cleaner and tighter. I think the healing has already begun.

She sits on her nest most of the day. It is now to the point that I can let her roam when she wants without shooing her back to the nest. She does the high pitched, annoying quack. She’s eating very little. Officially broody!

I know this journey is far from over, but my plan is to have her sit on the nest as long as she wants this summer. I’ll give her at least a few weeks before opening her larger pen area up so she can roam with friends on her breaks. I’ll continue to offer calcium in her food and probiotics in her water.

My hope is that she won’t produce any more eggs this summer, then we’ll see next year whether she’s able to pass them on her own again. If not, I’ll have her go broody every year until her body transitions out of producing eggs.

This started about March 24, when she looked a little sluggish compared to her normal self. Since that day, she has been unable to pass any eggs on her own, while producing about an egg per day. Even treating her for egg binding with calcium and an epsom salt bath has not helped. All eggs she has produced have had to be broken and extracted by myself or the vet. Any eggs left in her break from being crushed by other eggs entering the oviduct. She could carry 3 without breaking, but when there were 4, they broke every time. I believe the pressure from the eggs inside has caused stress on the oviduct that won’t allow it to properly push the eggs out. It is now May 10 and she (hopefully) has stopped producing eggs so her oviduct can have a break.

Thank you all for your advice and support. This has not been easy to go through and I really hope I’ve been able to save her life.

Thats good news!
How long in total did it take her to start sitting on the sitting on the eggs full time?
My Sprightly is still only sitting during the night and hasn't stopped laying yet. I'm hoping she'll properly go broody soon

 

[Kbduckmom]

Thats good news!
How long in total did it take her to start sitting on the sitting on the eggs full time?
My Sprightly is still only sitting during the night and hasn't stopped laying yet. I'm hoping she'll properly go broody soon

It took about 2.5 weeks. I think it would have been shorter if I was able to set her up in a smaller space and had started with more light throughout the day. As it is though, it finally worked out.

The article I read on Tyrant Farms said 5-7 days, but they had her in a pet crate in the house, letting her out several times a day. I have Goldie in our duck house that has more space and probably not as much light. Plus, she’s a Khaki Campbell and they’re not well known for their mothering instinct. Don’t know if that plays into it.

Thanks for asking, I really hope you can give Sprightly a rest. Her ordeal has not sounded fun.

 

[Kbduckmom]

Update:
Goldie has been setting her nest for about 2.5 weeks now. Her feathers have grown in again really nicely and she seems to be in great health overall. She had been looking skinny and not very fluffy for a long time, but now looks really well. Her vent is nice and tight, has no signs of gleet, some scarring, but no scabs, and the feathers around it have grown in (yay fluffy butt!).
She still has very sour stinky, runny poop. I’ve read overall that’s fairly normal for broodiness, but I’m still wary of it. Those who have paid attention to what the poop is like for broodies, does this sound normal? I asked my vet about it and she said she doubts there is any sort of infection. I’m giving her probiotics in her water and she prefers to forage over eating pellets, so I don’t give her anything in her food. Any thoughts there would be helpful.
Big question, I’m thinking that since she’s done such a good job setting a nest, I’d bring in some ducklings for her to raise. I feel this may also extend her healing period and ease the transition back to normal. I’ve only read one place where someone has been successful with it, but I wonder if anyone here has done it. What went well, what when wrong, what can I prepare? My initial plan would be to get 3 day-ish old ducklings, place them on her nest during her morning break, watch via camera how it’s going, and take the ducklings away if she decides to reject them.
We’ve had two girls set a nest and raise ducklings before, with different mothering styles, so I’ve had some experience as to what is normal. Anyway, please share if you’ve had any experience with this, even signs of rejection so I’m ready to jump.

 

[Kbduckmom]

Goldie was having some trouble again. Her feathers were all wet around her vent starting a couple days ago. I gave her a soak yesterday and discovered a soft shell egg inside her, not quite to the vent. I administered a calcium citrate tablet right down her throat (avoiding the glottis) and put her back on her nest. Nothing yet this morning but I’ve got her soaking again. I plan to give her a dose of calcium citrate daily for the next while. I haven’t been able to get a hold of the calcium gluconate. Will the citrate tablets work well? She hasn’t quite finished her 28 day sit, so I’m surprised she’s producing eggs again.

She’s been so healthy and happy up to this point. She’s still energetic, but she’s taking more breaks from the nest, I think because of the pressure from the new egg.

I’m due to have a baby any day now and I want to get her stable before I have to go in. I’m just worried she’ll get egg bound again or not pass the egg before I’m in the hospital.

Anyway, any support would be helpful. Thanks so much!

 

[Kbduckmom]

I checked her again after her soak. Turns out the egg I felt was in her shell factory still. It’s a hard egg and I’m really hoping she passes it. Time will tell

 

[Kbduckmom]

Bad news. She’s not able to pass the eggs on her own
I’ve extracted three broken eggs from her and I know that there are more now. I wonder if the original burst egg cut an opening between her digestive tract and her oviduct. This has made it impossible, even with calcium supplements, for her to pass any egg, no matter the size.
Due to some major life changes, I’m not able to continue to care for her as I was before. I plan to put her down. It just breaks my heart that I’ve tried to keep her alive and she seems mostly healthy when there are no eggs. I have a friend locally that is going to help me cull her. I’m not ready to do it myself.
Thank you all for your thoughts and advice. They will be so helpful in taking care of my remaining girls. My duck first aid kit has definitely been beefed up. I hope I never see this happen to any of my ducks again. I’ve learned so much.
I’m so grateful I was able to get her to go broody so she could at least enjoy a few weeks without pain.
Thanks again for your support. I really appreciate it!