Sneezing Runner Duck?

[MolliMonster99]

Hi everyone!

My almost 3 year old runner duck Hannibal was making a weird sneezing sound today when I let the flock out. They were foraging together and I kept noticing she was making this weird sneezing sound. I picked her up and gave her a check over. She had nothing in her nostrils, nothing stuck in her mouth, her feet were fine and I even checked around her tummy to see if maybe she was egg bound but I couldn't feel anything. She had some water and after a while it did stop, but I'm still concerned. She seems a little quiet, but she has been doing her rapid headbobs and short quacks, she's been foraging, eating, drinking, preening and still mingling with the flock. One of my other runners has just started laying again and I'm thinking maybe she's quiet as she's going to start laying, and the sneezes are totally separate? I'm not too sure, but if anyone could offer some advice I'd be very grateful!

-update-

I have ordered some medicine off Amazon that had some good reviews. It's arriving tomorrow so I will start her on that straight away. Other than that, she is still eating, drinking, preening, foraging and pooping as normal. I will update after a few days of treatment.

 

[MolliMonster99]

So last night she had stopped making the noise. However, the second I let her out of the run to forage on the grass she started up again! She is the only one out of the flock doing this.

 

[MolliMonster99]

Maybe keep an eye on her a couple of days and see how she does. From my experience, it's one bird that gets it at a time, maybe 2. But thankfully I've never had the entire flock sick with respiratory stuff at once.

I've ordered medicine which will arrive tomorrow so I'm really hoping that will help!

 

[MolliMonster99]

I have another update!
VetRX cured my baby girl! She is no longer coughing! However, my males must have caught her cough but I am treating them with the same medicine twice a day and have been since this weekend so that should cure them too. I definitely recommend it for anyone experiencing the same thing.

The boys are also eating, drinking, preening, washing, foraging and mating as usual, they just have the occasional cough. The medicine is definitely helping them though! Thank you everyone for your help!

 

[Lauraduck]

I have 5 runner ducks and have been through so many respiratory problems with them. All the respiratory infections I've dealt with started with the squeak sneezes and progressed to hoarseness, more sneezing etc. if the vet is an option I would highly recommend it. If not, you can try medicating her and see if she gets better. Baytril works on most bacterial infections. You can order it online. When I've used it on my runners I did .3mL twice a day with an oral syringe. If you need help with this there are some great tutorials here and on other websites.

Per other BYC users' advice, I have recently started using Oxine to keep the duck pen clean, and I have read a lot about how it can be used to treat respiratory infections if caught early. I hope this helps!

 

[MolliMonster99]

I have an update for you all!
So my female runner has been coughing less, however the second I let her out to forage she started up again! To make matters worse, I noticed my male runner also coughing slightly. I'm worried that maybe it's their coop? I noticed it is a bit dusty in there and there are some cobwebs so tomorrow it's getting a full clean out! Also we ran out of straw last week so I had to substitute with some shredded paper, which maybe has affected them? I really don't know, but I will be calling the vet on Monday morning.

The vetRX has been doing good and my female runner duck wasn't coughing until we let her out to forage. My male runner has only just started coughing this evening though. I'll give the coop a good clean out tomorrow, I'll give them some more vetRX and update after calling the vets.

 

[MolliMonster99]

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGe5BeUnq/

I just made a tiktok of it, so I'm hoping this link will work!

 

[KathiQuacks]

I haven’t seen a duck do it before, but it almost looks / sounds like she’s hiccuping

 

[Lauraduck]

So last night she had stopped making the noise. However, the second I let her out of the run to forage on the grass she started up again! She is the only one out of the flock doing this.

Maybe keep an eye on her a couple of days and see how she does. From my experience, it's one bird that gets it at a time, maybe 2. But thankfully I've never had the entire flock sick with respiratory stuff at once.

 

[Lauraduck]

Keep us posted. And read up on using Oxine! We just got over a rainy period here and I heard a few sneezes. I've been misting the ducks with the Oxine solution a couple times a day and it seems
to have cleared it up