3 week muscovy, bloated belly and crackling sounds. Please help!

[Jennrab85]

Sunday my duckling started acting a little weird, just out if character. I had some people in another group help me with him and it seemed he was just having an issue with emptying his crop because he didn't have any grit when he started having greens. I cut his feed intake until his crop emptied and then gradually started feeding again. Early today he started acting distressed and was making motion like he was straining to poop. I noticed his belly is a bit bloated and I can feel a few small lumps of what I think is poop. I've done epsom bath. He passes some loose stool that way. But he also poops throughout the day without having any problems. Yesterday I also started him on chick grit and not today I hear a crackling sounds moving through him. Can someone please help me figure out what is happening? Where I live vets will not treat muscovy ducks so I can't even take him anywhere

 

[Isaac 0]

Could you post a video of the duckling doing these motions you describe? To post a video, upload it to a video platform like Youtube or Vimeo, and copy/paste the link here. Without distressing the duckling too much, try to get a few angles on the bird's body, and abdominal area.

Pictures of the poop may also be helpful in determining whats the problem here.

A few more questions,

What is he being fed? How does the abdominal area, hard, watery, firm? How is his feed, and water intake?

 

[Jennrab85]

At the moment he isn't doing it so I will have to come back with video if it happens again. I do have poo pics though. He eats, he drinks just fine and besides the time (twice now) that has happened he is the happiest little guy alive. I didn't even notice his belly until I let him have a short warm soak to help relieve his discomfort. I did just introduce chick grit into his pen yesterday so I wondered if that was the sound I was hearing.

His droppings vary in consistency depending on time of day, water intake, etc. But coloring has always been like this since I got him at 1 day old, aside from here or there when he catches little bugs.

I removed the grit at the suggestion of someone who knows a lot more than I or the person who told me I needed to grit does to begin with. Got a chick booster mix (probiotic, electrolytes and vitamins) so I swapped that out for the save a chick I had been offering and have started adding 2 drops of coconut oil to his mash. He gets Purina flock raiser crumbles at the moment, sometimes I sprinkle some nutritional yeast on top and then I supplement an extra drop of liquid B complete/complex in his water. I'm hoping to switch him over to a new food that was recommended to me.. Murazi? I think it's called, or something similar. He does get the treat of a cricket here and there but not often. All this started this past Sunday when I noticed he was sitting down more and his beak and feet were warmer than usual. But the GI stuff wasn't until this morning. Grit was started yesterday and not offered again today.

His abdomen is firm, like two main spots just above his vent. To me it feels like either maybe inflammation of some glands or hard stool. But everything I've been able to find that it could be, he wouldn't be so healthy otherwise. Just weird.

 

[Isaac 0]

Thanks for the additional information. The feces look O.K, however especially the bottom one, it looks slightly on the drier side.

Post back here once you have a video because that's what I am mainly interested in.

 

[Jennrab85]

He hasn't done it again yet thankfully, I think it had to do with the chick grit before since he passed it all it's stopping.

Thanks for the additional information. The feces look O.K, however especially the bottom one, it looks slightly on the drier side.

Post back here once you have a video because that's what I am mainly interested in.

Sadly he passed away early this morning. He had hot beak/feet again last night but was other his happy little self. He was ok at 4am when I woke up for a bit. By the time I woke at 8am he was gone.

 

[Isaac 0]

I'm very sorry for your loss.