A worrying bulge on my Khaki Campbell

[alicelouise]

Hi everyone.
I have 4 ducks. One is a drake. One of my ducks has a bulge along her breast area. I have never seen this before. The ducks came up to forage in the grass in my front garden. My duck lay on the grass while the others foraged. After a bit she got up and it was only when they all walked across my driveway to the other grass area I saw her bulge. She stood in the middle of my driveway and after a minute out popped an egg onto the ground - this being approx. 7.15pm!! She then went and joined the others on the grass and lay down again. All but one duck also lay down. I went over to them to have a look at her and they got up. She was walking her normal wobbly self and was not distressed or appeared to be in any pain.

I guided them to the back garden where it was in the shade. This time her bulge was more prominent. her breast area had dropped down. To put it bluntly without meaning to offend anyone. Her breast area resembled that of a middle aged man with a beer belly.

I put them in to their hut just after 8pm. I went out to them again at about 9pm to top up their water bowl and saw that a new egg had been laid which wasn't there when I had put them in. This egg had no hard shell on the outside. The duck was lying on the ground together with the other ducks and again no obvious signs of distress or pain.

My dad thought its possible it could be a form of cancer that could have been working on her for some time and therefore I wouldn have noticed it and said she could be trying to lay as many eggs to preserve her species of something but the whole thing is so odd. The timing of the eggs between 7.15-9pm the lack of hard shell and the bulge.

Im going to see if the bulge is there in the morning but I hope to take her to a vet either way. Although it will be very tricky trying to catch and contain her.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hi everyone.
I have 4 ducks. One is a drake. One of my ducks has a bulge along her breast area. I have never seen this before. The ducks came up to forage in the grass in my front garden. My duck lay on the grass while the others foraged. After a bit she got up and it was only when they all walked across my driveway to the other grass area I saw her bulge. She stood in the middle of my driveway and after a minute out popped an egg onto the ground - this being approx. 7.15pm!! She then went and joined the others on the grass and lay down again. All but one duck also lay down. I went over to them to have a look at her and they got up. She was walking her normal wobbly self and was not distressed or appeared to be in any pain.

I guided them to the back garden where it was in the shade. This time her bulge was more prominent. her breast area had dropped down. To put it bluntly without meaning to offend anyone. Her breast area resembled that of a middle aged man with a beer belly.

I put them in to their hut just after 8pm. I went out to them again at about 9pm to top up their water bowl and saw that a new egg had been laid which wasn't there when I had put them in. This egg had no hard shell on the outside. The duck was lying on the ground together with the other ducks and again no obvious signs of distress or pain.

My dad thought its possible it could be a form of cancer that could have been working on her for some time and therefore I wouldn have noticed it and said she could be trying to lay as many eggs to preserve her species of something but the whole thing is so odd. The timing of the eggs between 7.15-9pm the lack of hard shell and the bulge.

Im going to see if the bulge is there in the morning but I hope to take her to a vet either way. Although it will be very tricky trying to catch and contain her.

I'm not sure what maybe going on with your duck, she could have an some kind of infection on her chest, the only way your going to find out is by examination which means catching her and looking her over real good down to skin. she could have gotten a wound that has gotten infected. Or it could be cancer but lets not think the worst yet. Taking her to the vet will help to determine what is wrong, and I hope you can. as far as laying as many eggs as she can to preserve her species is not probable, since it takes 24 hrs from one egg to the next. She maybe having a laying issue also since you think she laid the soft shell egg too, a good vet maybe able to tell you all of this. Please let us know what you find when you examine her and also if you take her to the vet. Putting her into a warm bath will help her to relax and you can sit and watch how she acts which may tell you alot also. Getting her at night after you put your ducks to bed would probably be a good. you could put her into her own house or a large dog crate with bedding inside a building [garage] then you'd have her in the morn to examine of take to the vet.

 

[jdywntr]

Okay, to be sure that there is a problem and not a normal issue: are you 100% sure that it was the same duck that laid the egg then had the bulge?

Here is a random duck picture. Basically, a bulge behind her legs is, most likely, normal, an "egg bulge". A bulge in front of her legs on the horizontal part of her body is abnormal. If there is a bulge in the front vertical part (in this pic around where the bill is ), below her throat, it is most likely due to having eaten a lot.

How old are they? Especially when ducks are just starting to lay, their systems can have some kinks to work out. It is always assumed and said that ducks lay early but I have had ducks lay at all hours of the day and usually never first thing in the morning. Because you have several females, the soft shelled egg was likely laid by another. \

What are you feeding them? Are you offering a calcium supplement?

 

[Amiga]

Good move to get her to a vet. Sieben once had what looked like a "spare tire" in the front, very pronounced. It was gone the next morning, so I think she had some kind of temporary digestive problem. It looked scary.

 

[desertdarlene]

Good idea to get her to the vet. If its swollen in the crop area (near the front under her neck in front of her legs) and its been staying swollen for more than a day, then she might have an impacted crop and will need to be treated. If she's swollen just in front or between the legs, it could be ascites and a sign of a liver problem, which will also need to be treated.