Fluffed up duck?

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BlueMoon-N-Farm

BlueMoon-N-Farm

Chirping
6 Years
May 17, 2013
144
1
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Alright, one of my Anacona's has been acting strange today.
He is still eating, drinking, walking around, quaking, and running up to me, but every now and then when I know he cant see me, hes all hunched up with fluffed neck feathers.
I hatched him out with the others, and hes the only one acting like this.
His stool appears to be normal, his breast bone is not pointy, and he is pretty bright eyed.
Ran away from just fine as well.
He does free range however and we do have some paint berry's on the property.
Any suggestions? Should I just sit back and wait to see what happens, or has anyone ever seen this before and know what I should do to treat him?
I have never had a fluffed duck before, in fact I have never have a sick duck before.
 
Last edited:
Well I'm glad to see I'm not the only one confused and unable to explain the problem, however I do have good news.
My duck has not fluffed himself since last night, is still doing very well, and eating like a pig.
I will be going around the yard to pull up any paint berry plants and other toxic berry plants to prevent them from accidentally munching.
I will also bee keeping a very close eye on his weight and eating habits to make sure he remains ok.
 
700


Well hes doing it again, and now I am a tad concerned. He is eating very well and drinking well.
Should I try de-worming him?
And if so what should I give him for a de-wormer?
 
Also, his vent is clean so he does not appear to have diarrhea, but from what I am reading that will cause the hunched up appearance.
How do you tell if a duck has diarrhea? There poop is wattery to begin with?
 
BlueMoon-N-Farm said:
Also, his vent is clean so he does not appear to have diarrhea, but from what I am reading that will cause the hunched up appearance.
How do you tell if a duck has diarrhea? There poop is wattery to begin with?
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Something appears to be going on but if he is eating drinking and good then not sure what it could be. Water fowl rarely get parasites[ their body temps for one thing] unless kept in very unsanitary conditions I doubt it's parasites. but you could take some poop to a vet for check. I usually worm my chickens when I see the first round worm and use Wazine in their water which means the whole flock gets wormed because they all drink out of the same buckets and waterers. but that's usually a couple times a year. Maybe get some poultry vitamins and start adding to his water, and also unpasteurized ACV is another good thing for poultry[water fowl] especially in the heat most of us are experiencing. To me if a duck had Diarrhea they'd have to be going constantly to know that's what it is since most of their poops are pretty runny and watery. I doubt I've helped but not sure what else could be going on. How does he feel weight wise when you pick him up compared to the one next to him?
 
Miss Lydia said:
Something appears to be going on but if he is eating drinking and good then not sure what it could be. Water fowl rarely get parasites[ their body temps for one thing] unless kept in very unsanitary conditions I doubt it's parasites. but you could take some poop to a vet for check. I usually worm my chickens when I see the first round worm and use Wazine in their water which means the whole flock gets wormed because they all drink out of the same buckets and waterers. but that's usually a couple times a year. Maybe get some poultry vitamins and start adding to his water, and also unpasteurized ACV is another good thing for poultry[water fowl] especially in the heat most of us are experiencing. To me if a duck had Diarrhea they'd have to be going constantly to know that's what it is since most of their poops are pretty runny and watery. I doubt I've helped but not sure what else could be going on. How does he feel weight wise when you pick him up compared to the one next to him?
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His weight feels good compared to the others, pretty much the same, and just now I did notice something that could be the problem.
He appears to not only be eating his food in the duck house, but the sheep grain. He has been stealing the sheep grain every chance he gets as well as the goats sweet feed.
Could that be just making his gut upset since sheep and goat grain are two completely different things compared to his crumble?
 
BlueMoon-N-Farm said:
His weight feels good compared to the others, pretty much the same, and just now I did notice something that could be the problem.
He appears to not only be eating his food in the duck house, but the sheep grain. He has been stealing the sheep grain every chance he gets as well as the goats sweet feed.
Could that be just making his gut upset since sheep and goat grain are two completely different things compared to his crumble?
Click to expand...
It could be, I have seen where some folks will use sweet feed in the winter months along with reg feed with their flocks but that would be mixing the 2 together. Is there anyway to keep the sheep's grain out of reach? that way you could at least rule out their feed as his source of discomfort.
 
Miss Lydia said:
It could be, I have seen where some folks will use sweet feed in the winter months along with reg feed with their flocks but that would be mixing the 2 together. Is there anyway to keep the sheep's grain out of reach? that way you could at least rule out  their feed as his source of discomfort.  
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I can, i'll just keep them locked up for a week or two so they only get there food.
I picked him up and listened to him breath also, no gargling, no rasping, no weezing.
Good clear breathing sounds, very good quacking sounds, and his crop at the time was full.
I am stumped..
I've never had a problem with my ducks before so this is a first. Even my hens are all in good health.
 
Hello! Did you ever figure out what was wrong with your duck or did he get better? I am currently having this exact same problem with my ~4.5 week old duckling.
 
aekoon said:
Hello! Did you ever figure out what was wrong with your duck or did he get better? I am currently having this exact same problem with my ~4.5 week old duckling.
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hi! did you ever find out what was wrong with your duck? im currently having the same issue I believe
 

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