3 Ducks....3 different issues: Puffy cheek......heavy strange breathing after pooping and very little to no voice.....

[Brings Plenty]

Background: I have 13 domestic duck rescues....I clean their pen daily, thoroughly....fresh water and sometimes even twice daily (including 3 kiddie pools).....Kelp Crumbles added to their feed (Purina Duck Feed), Meal Worms and Romain Lettuce....DAILY. I turn them out in the yard for grass and bugs for at least an hour every day. That said, I have three girls having some issues.......

Case 1: Bae-Bae' (Blue Bibbed Call Duck) has a puffy cheek below her eye to her bill. Its soft and squishy. No nasal discharge and she seems to like it when I gently rub on it. Any ideas????

Case 2: Betty (Black Swedish) over the last couple months has started panting and looking worried on occasions. Especially after she poops. She will stop what she's doing and pant....her entire abdomen and lower abdomen area looks like it's labored breathing. She does get hot due to her color and size but I'm afraid it may be something else. Not an impact because she eats great and poops. I de-wormed her a couple weeks ago thinking that may be an issue but nothing changed. She gets real excited sometimes and jets around in the pools and will have to stop and pants hard. Afraid it may be some sort of tumor???? I truly hope not but am concerned about her lower abdomen. She lays eggs (though large) daily. Her vent is looking better after de-worming. Just wondering if someone else had a similar issue???

Case 3: India (female mallard....yes, yes, an actual mallard but domesticated) She is a tiny gal, pretty much lost her voice. She's super dedicated to her nest right now, no males with her, just scratchy, barely there voice. Acts perfectly cute and feisty otherwise. ?

Thanks for any information y'all can share. These are all rescues that I love dearly....they're like my kids.
Sara Ann

 

[Blue Raptor]

Background: I have 13 domestic duck rescues....I clean their pen daily, thoroughly....fresh water and sometimes even twice daily (including 3 kiddie pools).....Kelp Crumbles added to their feed (Purina Duck Feed), Meal Worms and Romain Lettuce....DAILY. I turn them out in the yard for grass and bugs for at least an hour every day. That said, I have three girls having some issues.......

Case 1: Bae-Bae' (Blue Bibbed Call Duck) has a puffy cheek below her eye to her bill. Its soft and squishy. No nasal discharge and she seems to like it when I gently rub on it. Any ideas????

Case 2: Betty (Black Swedish) over the last couple months has started panting and looking worried on occasions. Especially after she poops. She will stop what she's doing and pant....her entire abdomen and lower abdomen area looks like it's labored breathing. She does get hot due to her color and size but I'm afraid it may be something else. Not an impact because she eats great and poops. I de-wormed her a couple weeks ago thinking that may be an issue but nothing changed. She gets real excited sometimes and jets around in the pools and will have to stop and pants hard. Afraid it may be some sort of tumor???? I truly hope not but am concerned about her lower abdomen. She lays eggs (though large) daily. Her vent is looking better after de-worming. Just wondering if someone else had a similar issue???

Case 3: India (female mallard....yes, yes, an actual mallard but domesticated) She is a tiny gal, pretty much lost her voice. She's super dedicated to her nest right now, no males with her, just scratchy, barely there voice. Acts perfectly cute and feisty otherwise. ?

Thanks for any information y'all can share. These are all rescues that I love dearly....they're like my kids.
Sara Ann

@Goosebaby can you help with ducks, too?

 

[Goosebaby]

Background: I have 13 domestic duck rescues....I clean their pen daily, thoroughly....fresh water and sometimes even twice daily (including 3 kiddie pools).....Kelp Crumbles added to their feed (Purina Duck Feed), Meal Worms and Romain Lettuce....DAILY. I turn them out in the yard for grass and bugs for at least an hour every day. That said, I have three girls having some issues.......

Case 1: Bae-Bae' (Blue Bibbed Call Duck) has a puffy cheek below her eye to her bill. Its soft and squishy. No nasal discharge and she seems to like it when I gently rub on it. Any ideas????

Case 2: Betty (Black Swedish) over the last couple months has started panting and looking worried on occasions. Especially after she poops. She will stop what she's doing and pant....her entire abdomen and lower abdomen area looks like it's labored breathing. She does get hot due to her color and size but I'm afraid it may be something else. Not an impact because she eats great and poops. I de-wormed her a couple weeks ago thinking that may be an issue but nothing changed. She gets real excited sometimes and jets around in the pools and will have to stop and pants hard. Afraid it may be some sort of tumor???? I truly hope not but am concerned about her lower abdomen. She lays eggs (though large) daily. Her vent is looking better after de-worming. Just wondering if someone else had a similar issue???

Case 3: India (female mallard....yes, yes, an actual mallard but domesticated) She is a tiny gal, pretty much lost her voice. She's super dedicated to her nest right now, no males with her, just scratchy, barely there voice. Acts perfectly cute and feisty otherwise. ?

Thanks for any information y'all can share. These are all rescues that I love dearly....they're like my kids.
Sara Ann

I’ll try to help if I can but @Isaac 0 knows more than I.

If you can answer a few questions that might help.

What kind of bedding do you use?

How long has Bae Bae had the puffy cheek?

How long has India had the faint scratchy voice?

What kind of wormer did you use?


From what I know puffy face can be a sinus/respiratory infection, or it can be a sting/bug bite.
The faint voice can be a symptom of a respiratory infection or it can be just broody duck behavior, they tend to be very quiet on the nest.

Those two might have separate conditions, possibly nothing really concerning, or it could be one disease manifesting differently in all three.

Betty’s symptoms are concerning, she might have some sort of reproductive problem like salpingitis, or a tumor, a liver or heart issue, or an infection like aspergillosis that’s inhibiting her ability to breath and can cause voice changes, respiratory problems among other things. Typically from my own expierience with my gander that had Asper is their energy levels are low and they tend to not want to eat.
Betty should probably be seen by a vet to get to the bottom of what’s wrong if that’s at all possible for you.

 

[Goosebaby]

Also could you post a picture of Bae Bae’s cheek?

 

[Brings Plenty]

I’ll try to help if I can but @Isaac 0 knows more than I.

If you can answer a few questions that might help.

What kind of bedding do you use?

How long has Bae Bae had the puffy cheek?

How long has India had the faint scratchy voice?

What kind of wormer did you use?


From what I know puffy face can be a sinus/respiratory infection, or it can be a sting/bug bite.
The faint voice can be a symptom of a respiratory infection or it can be just broody duck behavior, they tend to be very quiet on the nest.

Those two might have separate conditions, possibly nothing really concerning, or it could be one disease manifesting differently in all three.

Betty’s symptoms are concerning, she might have some sort of reproductive problem like salpingitis, or a tumor, a liver or heart issue, or an infection like aspergillosis that’s inhibiting her ability to breath and can cause voice changes, respiratory problems among other things. Typically from my own expierience with my gander that had Asper is their energy levels are low and they tend to not want to eat.
Betty should probably be seen by a vet to get to the bottom of what’s wrong if that’s at all possible for you.

Thanks for all the info! I was still feeling kinda iffy about Bettys issue. A few years back I had a goose that had a tumor back there. It began causing her discomfort to where she didn't want to sit down anymore and I had to put her to sleep. Im dreading it may be a similar case with Betty.

India has pretty much gotten her voice back....it was strangely squeaky. Better though, now.

We do use hay (which I know grows mold fast) which is why I completely scrape and change it out of their pen daily. What do you think is the best bedding for ducks though?

A fellow waterfowl rescue friend/ who has a flock of over 100 (ducks, geese, guineas, muscovies etc.), who is also a vet tech. brought me 5 little syringes of I believe Ivomectrin to give daily for 5 days. Which Betty took perfectly.

I have a call in to my avian vet. Just waiting to hear back and hopefully get her in to be seen asap. If I don't hear back from them, I may try to find another.

 

[Goosebaby]

I use pine shavings for my geese and ducks.