Duck breathing loudly

[RJKnott]

So a friend has runs a.m duck rescue and took in a khaki Campbell female that was very over mated, a minor case of bumblefoot. And their prior owner had dumped her in a park and she got tangled in a fishing line that had cut into her neck a bit

she had a large amount of ducks at the moment and asked if I could take her In. I have her now and she is in the house and separate from my flock

when I or my wife is there, she breaths very heavily. To the point you can hear it across the room. If I put a blanket over her temp pen, and move to where she can’t see me and thinks I’m gone. She stops the heavy breathing. Was giving her an Epsom salt bath and my cat walked into the room and the duck froze and her breathing got even louder. Like Darth Vader loud. Til the cat left and her breathing was back to normal

At first I was concerned that it was a respiratory infection. Now I’m thinking it might just be stress?

 

[KaleIAm]

So a friend has runs a.m duck rescue and took in a khaki Campbell female that was very over mated, a minor case of bumblefoot. And their prior owner had dumped her in a park and she got tangled in a fishing line that had cut into her neck a bit

she had a large amount of ducks at the moment and asked if I could take her In. I have her now and she is in the house and separate from my flock

when I or my wife is there, she breaths very heavily. To the point you can hear it across the room. If I put a blanket over her temp pen, and move to where she can’t see me and thinks I’m gone. She stops the heavy breathing. Was giving her an Epsom salt bath and my cat walked into the room and the duck froze and her breathing got even louder. Like Darth Vader loud. Til the cat left and her breathing was back to normal

At first I was concerned that it was a respiratory infection. Now I’m thinking it might just be stress?

Thank you for helping save her!

I think you are right and it could just be stress. My duck is taking meds right now and she's upset about it. When she sees the syringe she starts to do a loud breathing thing. My cat broke into the bedroom and my duck started breathing dramatically louder than her, "medication is evil," breathing. I think it is kind of like a misguided hissing.

My duck was just at the vet and had a full exam with bloodwork. If she had a respiratory illness with lung sounds they would have noticed when they listened to her with a stethoscope. Her bloodwork also came back with no signs of infection.

It could be a different situation for your rescue duck. Maybe you could take a video and I could tell you if it is the same thing.

Edit: My duck also had body radiographs (I can't believe I forgot that) so for us it surely isn't a respiratory infection!

 

[RJKnott]

She’s stopped doing it when I’m just near by, but will start if I go to reach for her. And she does it when my wife is around. So I’m thinking it’s stress related at this point. Trying to get her a bit more relaxed around me and hope that helps

 

[95eanimal]

ok, is she breathing hard still at bed time?
if she is then she has a cold!
symptoms are : open mouth on a not hot day, sneezing, strange honking sounds, and when they sleep they start shaking and breathing hard/ or/ just sleeps breathing hard.
you need med if most of the symptoms are there.
https://www.amazon.com/DPD-VETRX-Po...1&keywords=chicken+med&qid=1618578241&sr=8-21

 

[95eanimal]

so chickens : just put the med in 1-2 shredded up grapes
and ducks : a cupple of drops in a small cup and let the ducks drink it.( do not let ducks swim in it.)

 

[95eanimal]

I looked it up!! you can let the ducks swim in it to get rid of eye worms!!