3 year old duck suddenly not acting right. Please help!

[cheezenkwackers]

My 3 year old Welsh Harlequin was happy and healthy, chasing bugs, a week ago. Five days ago she started acting strange. She was hiding by herself in the bushes with her mouth strangely open. My first thought was that she had a hidden nest and was going broody on me. That night though, she still had her bill open and she did not want the treats (tomatoes and arugula) that I had brought. Still she was drinking the water and poking at the Arugula, so I put her to bed.

By morning she was doing better so I thought maybe she had tried to eat a bee and been stung. It has now been 5 days and she is some better but still not right. She no longer holds her mouth open. She seems pretty normal in the mornings but she spends her days sleeping in shade alone and I do not think she is eating although she pokes around in the dirt. Tonight I took her in the house and let her take a bath in the tub. She swam around happily and pecked at the lettuce I floated in the water. But, she did not eat any (or poop in the water). She would mouth the lettuce and break it into little pieces but not swallow it. I have looked her over from head to toe several times. I can't find anything wrong. No lumps or bumps. I looked inside her mouth, it looks ok to me but maybe the back of her tongue is little swollen?!

Her crop doesn't feel like it has anything in it. Any ideas? She is usually a big bug catcher, could she have eaten a bee or wasp? Swallowed something inedible?

 

[shawluvsbirds]

My 3 year old Welsh Harlequin was happy and healthy, chasing bugs, a week ago. Five days ago she started acting strange. She was hiding by herself in the bushes with her mouth strangely open. My first thought was that she had a hidden nest and was going broody on me. That night though, she still had her bill open and she did not want the treats (tomatoes and arugula) that I had brought. Still she was drinking the water and poking at the Arugula, so I put her to bed.
View attachment 2739271
By morning she was doing better so I thought maybe she had tried to eat a bee and been stung. It has now been 5 days and she is some better but still not right. She no longer holds her mouth open. She seems pretty normal in the mornings but she spends her days sleeping in shade alone and I do not think she is eating although she pokes around in the dirt. Tonight I took her in the house and let her take a bath in the tub. She swam around happily and pecked at the lettuce I floated in the water. But, she did not eat any (or poop in the water). She would mouth the lettuce and break it into little pieces but not swallow it. I have looked her over from head to toe several times. I can't find anything wrong. No lumps or bumps. I looked inside her mouth, it looks ok to me but maybe the back of her tongue is little swollen?!
View attachment 2739321
Her crop doesn't feel like it has anything in it. Any ideas? She is usually a big bug catcher, could she have eaten a bee or wasp? Swallowed something inedible?

Inside if the mouth looks normal to me. That hole you see back there is her trachea and That raised area around there looks normal to me.
Has she been laying?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Good question and always the first that I think of when one is off. Is she laying and when was the last time?

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Inside if the mouth looks normal to me. That hole you see back there is her trachea and That raised area around there looks normal to me.
Has she been laying?

I think one egg this week but the egg was green?!

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I think one egg this week but the egg was green?!
View attachment 2739542

Has it been super hot?
Could be just a combination of molting, being hot, maybe she wants to be broody...
How is she today?

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I think one egg this week but the egg was green?!
View attachment 2739542

Is that color not normal for her?
A lot of duck eggs may have a tint of color when they start their laying cycle over again for the first few eggs and fades to cream color or white in time. It's just kinda like..a heavier bloom.
Like my Cayuga eggs, the first few after a break from laying are black.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Has it been super hot?
Could be just a combination of molting, being hot, maybe she wants to be broody...
How is she today?

I just let her out and she looks better than she has all week. She ran out with her silver Swedish friend. Poked through the grass for stuff. Took a bath in the pool (1st time this week). She even started head bobbing at her friend for practice mating. So, she obviously feels some better.
It was hot this week but not horrible (low 90s). I considered egg bound but she wasn't tail pumping and I could not feel any eggs?! I guess she could want to go broody, but she kept changing where she was hiding (always in the shade though) but not always covered or under something. She is not molting although her feathers look less kept up. You don't think she could have injured her mouth or throat? In the beginning she was trying to drink water with her mouth open. Like when they dribble it everywhere but on steroids, but then she would lift her head and drink normally. You should have seen my bathtub last night. It was full of tiny flakes of lettuce (like fish food) where she broke up all the lettuce but didn't swallow it. I don't know, so strange. I guess I will keep watching her, I am not quite ready to pay for a vet for vague symptoms. I appreciate both of your help!

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Is that color not normal for her?
A lot of duck eggs may have a tint of color when they start their laying cycle over again for the first few eggs and fades to cream color or white in time. It's just kinda like..a heavier bloom.
Like my Cayuga eggs, the first few after a break from laying are black.

Never! I know what you mean about heavier bloom, sometimes my eggs have more of a light brown bloom. This is different, a blue-green egg. But, she is with two other girls so I can't be sure whose egg is was. I suspected her because her eggs have always been more golf ball shaped, like this one, than the other two.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I just let her out and she looks better than she has all week. She ran out with her silver Swedish friend. Poked through the grass for stuff. Took a bath in the pool (1st time this week). She even started head bobbing at her friend for practice mating. So, she obviously feels some better.
It was hot this week but not horrible (low 90s). I considered egg bound but she wasn't tail pumping and I could not feel any eggs?! I guess she could want to go broody, but she kept changing where she was hiding (always in the shade though) but not always covered or under something. She is not molting although her feathers look less kept up. You don't think she could have injured her mouth or throat? In the beginning she was trying to drink water with her mouth open. Like when they dribble it everywhere but on steroids, but then she would lift her head and drink normally. You should have seen my bathtub last night. It was full of tiny flakes of lettuce (like fish food) where she broke up all the lettuce but didn't swallow it. I don't know, so strange. I guess I will keep watching her, I am not quite ready to pay for a vet for vague symptoms. I appreciate both of your help!

Who knows. Very possible with the way they drill into the ground and try to swallow everything that moves.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

My pretty girl died this morning. Yesterday she was more quiet but with the group. She even ate a couple of little earthworms. This morning she was clearly dying. I teach Biology so I opened her up, after she died, before I buried her. It was as if her gut leaked all over her inside. Very smelly and full of brown liquid. I could not find any sign of eggs or anything hard (metal or plastic). Because she went from happily running catching bugs to hiding in the bushes so quickly, I am thinking she ate something. Blocked intestine maybe or poisoned insects. I did not look very hard, it was too difficult. Any ideas? Popcorn will be missed.