Cayuga Duck Respiratory Infection

[boopsqueak]

Our almost one-year-old Cayuga, Flora McDonald, has been coughing for about a week. We didn't think much of it at first (she had a weird little cough last year, that went away eventually), but the day before yesterday she started to have trouble breathing. Now her breathing is audible and more deep than normal, and she pants after exertion.
We have been giving her VetRx to help her breathe, and today we started nebulizer treatment with an Oxine/water solution. (I'm not sure how well this will work—the humidifier we have does not seem to produce as much vapor, so we will probably end up getting a different sort of nebulizer.) We also have Baytril on hand, but I hesitate to use that as it might make things worse if this is a fungal ailment, or not do anything if it is viral. The Oxine, on the other hand, is more broad-spectrum and will kill fungi and viruses.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't think we could get her in to the vet today or tomorrow. (Also, how likely would it be that she would end up being tested for avian flu? I don't think she has that, but apparently a large number of birds were killed in our state somewhat recently because of an avian flu scare. It turned out to be a false alarm. I wouldn't want her to test positive whether she has the flu or not and lose our entire flock!)

 

[Evadig]

I am sorry no one has responded to your post yet. I love your duck's name and she is a beautiful quacker! I hope she's still going strong. @KathiQuacks I don't know if you can help? (I don't want to have to tag Miss Lydia all the time, and I can't remember the other lady's name - it's like newduckmommy21 or something....)

 

[boopsqueak]

Hello, and thanks for responding!
The Black MacDonald just had her nebulizer treatment. She was looking really bad on Sunday (I thought we were going to lose her), but rallied and seemed to be feeling a bit better. We are using the Oxine treatment and also treating her for gapeworms just in case. I'm leaning toward aspergillosis or pneumonia at this point, though.
She was having a rough time yesterday (the weather was in the 70's, and some of our ducks don't take sudden warm spells very well). She was panting and breathing audibly this morning, but seemed a bit better after being fogged. She also seems to be coughing more, and there were audible crackling sounds coming from her lungs yesterday. She also shakes her head occasionally (usually after coughing), perhaps this is a sign that mucus is loosening up. I think we caught this early on, so hopefully we can get her back to her normal gurgly, cuddly, bossy self soon!

 

[boopsqueak]

I figured that an update was in order, and I'm very sorry about not providing one earlier! (The schedule lately has been crazy!)
Flora initially showed some improvement, and seemed almost back to normal a couple of days after my last post. However, she took a sudden turn for the worse, so we decided to take her to the vet. The vet figured it was bacterial pneumonia (apparently that's more common than aspergillosis in this part of the country, which is good to know). She prescribed antibiotics (Clavamox) and an anti-inflammatory (Meloxicam). Flo started to improve right away, and after two weeks of the antibiotic, she is back to normal! (She did have really bad laryngitis for a little while, though!) She is back to being bossy and loud, and her appetite is great. And, in case anyone is wondering, Avian Flu wasn't even mentioned at the vet's, let alone tested for.

The Gallant Black MacDonald​