Drake has trouble breathing after eating and drinking

[sjm123456]

My drake who has has nerve damage for 6 months has recently been opening his mouth and bobbing his neck up to 2 hours after eating and drinking. Sometimes he even makes a gargling noise. He also shakes his head a lot. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

 

[sjm123456]

He also seems to stick out his tounge a little while gasping

 

[Orca5094]

Sounds like he might be overeating and choking on all the food. Does he have access to food all the time, or just a couple times a day? He might be so franctic for food that he just eats too much at once. You can try giving him very small amounts of food more times a day and see if that helps?

I actually had a clutch of ducklings that, for some reason, would overeat and fill their crops completely up. Then continue to eat until their throats were full and they could no longer breathe and started gasping/choking. Lost one of them since it happened when no one was around, but was able to save two others by suctioning the food out of their mouths/throats when they started to choke. This all happened in the same day (they were only a few days old), so after that we just limited the amount of food they got at each feeding so they couldn't overeat. Never had that problem before or since with ducklings. Such a strange clutch.

I also have one adult Cayuga who used to overeat after it rained and there were just hundreds of snails all over the place. She'd eat so many she'd start to gasp and desperately try to push them down by bobbing her head up and down. Just like your guy. I had to start only letting her out of the pen to forage for a few minutes at a time during "snail season". Now, two years later, there are basically no snails left on our property (due to the ducks), so it's no longer an issue.

 

[sjm123456]

I will try to give him food throughout the day. Usually he gets let out to eat 3 times a day for about 30 min each. Maybe if he always has access he wont eat as fast and wont have trouble breathing

 

[Orca5094]

Yes, that might help. Just be careful that he doesn't overdo it at first. Once he realizes he has food all the time though, he should hopefully calm down about it.

 

[chickens really]

I free feed my Ducks...Food access all day...Water at all times to dunk their heads....
I feed a bowl of mostly water, grains, and fresh veggies once a day...You can rub its crop and throat...Give it a wet treat like watermelon to wash down the lump...That works here....Water deep enough is very important...

Cheers!

 

[sjm123456]

I tried giving him a little food thought the day but for some reason he is now breathing funny constantly. I think I'm going to take him to the vet after school today just to be safe

 

[chickens really]

I tried giving him a little food thought the day but for some reason he is now breathing funny constantly. I think I'm going to take him to the vet after school today just to be safe

That is a great idea...Best wishes...

Cheers!

 

[Orca5094]

I tried giving him a little food thought the day but for some reason he is now breathing funny constantly. I think I'm going to take him to the vet after school today just to be safe

Yes, that sounds like a good idea. Maybe he has something else going on. Let us know what the vet says!

 

[sjm123456]

The vet believes it could be bacteria,virus, fungus, or parasite. We put him on antibiotics for bacteria and we bought an nebulizer for him that the vet recommended. We also got his stool samples for parasites. If it is a virus there is nothing we can do and if its fungus there is a procedure that can be done but there is a low chance he will survive being put under due to his injured spin and nerve damage. Im just really hoping that its either bacteria or parasites cause I care a-lot about him and since his spinal injury he's been to the vet 7 times which is quite pricey but I love him to much to not try everything.