Duck crops - always in the center of neck?

[grolschie]

Hi. My 2.5 month old Pekin/Rouen is a bit puffy in the neck more on one side than the other, presumably the crop. Have felt it this morning and it's soft and squishy, can't feel anything. Does the crop bulge out off-center or should it be dead-center?

 

[Eggcessive]

Hopefully @Isaac 0 or @Miss Lydia and some of the other duck people will respond. The reading I have been doing says that ducks don’t have a crop like chickens do, but the esophagus can expand with food before the food moves to the gizzard. Here is an article that states that, but it surprised me:
https://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowl-research-science/understanding-waterfowl-duck-digesti

 

[Isaac 0]

With birds, the crop is located on the right of their body. Ducks do possess a crop, but it not as well developed as other birds such as chickens, or turkeys. The crop is not totally absent in ducks, unlike the Strigiformes group.

You can see how the structure of the crop varies in different birds here:

Due to the anatomy of their crop, and extra feather down it can sometimes be hard to see their crop by a glance, but on occasions, you may have a bird where the crop is extremely pronounced. Normally, that would be seen at the end of the day when the crop is most full of food. Only offering them feed a couple of times a day, can cause them to "overgorge" on the feed, resulting in a bloated crop. If you're seeing the crop filled in the morning, there could be crop stasis going on.

 

[grolschie]

Thank you both for replying. That's very interesting. And yes, it's on the right side. I put the duck to bed last night with a heap of food, and when I checked mid morning not a skerrick was left. His voice is currently raspy like he's been eating a lot of grit. He wasn't really all that hungry today.

 

[Isaac 0]

Thank you both for replying. That's very interesting. And yes, it's on the right side. I put the duck to bed last night with a heap of food, and when I checked mid morning not a skerrick was left. His voice is currently raspy like he's been eating a lot of grit. He wasn't really all that hungry today.

With ducks, when feed is offered, water must be offered as well or choking, or an esophageal obstruction can occur. That bulge should be empty by tomorrow morning, if it's still full, let us know, or see a vet experienced with poultry.

 

[grolschie]

With ducks, when feed is offered, water must be offered as well or choking, or an esophageal obstruction can occur. That bulge should be empty by tomorrow morning, if it's still full, let us know, or see a vet experienced with poultry.

Thank you. He has a huge container to drink from (and jump in).