Duck opening and closing bill and making rasping sounds

[austroberta]

This morning, I heard my 15 month old Welsh Harlequin, Solrikka, making rasping noises and was opening and closing her bill to breathe. The opening and closing of the bill has gotten more frequent and her bill is opening wider. I opened her bill to check her mouth/cloaca and I didn't see anything. I also gently massaged her throat to see if there was any obstruction and didn't feel anyting. She's still eating and drinking and acting normally, but I'm concerned. It's not hot today, so I don't think it's panting. Does anyone know what it might be?

She has always hiccuped quite a LOT, but she seemed healthy, and the hiccups usually went away once she took a drink, so I didn't think much of it. Could the hiccuping (and mouth breathing now) indicate that there be something up with her genetically?

 

[Isaac 0]

If she's still having a hard time breathing, I think it would be in the best interest of your duck, to see a vet.

Heavy breathing like that, could be due to a blockage in the airway, a fungal problem, a reproductive disorder such as EYP which will build up pressure in the body, leading to pressure against the lungs which can result in a hard time breathing, respiratory disease is a possibility, but it's unlikely as you'd expect to see other symptoms.

 

[SebrightMix]

the rasping I’m sure is fine, it’s just an identification that it’s a boy becuase male ducks rasp and female quack. Not sure about the breathing and hiccups

 

[DucksOhio]

She's female, so the rasping is definitely not normal for her.

We're in California, so air quality was really bad for a while. I hope her lungs have not been compromised.

It could be a respiratory infection. If a vet is not an option, VetRx at TSC might be worth a try. Miss Lydia recommends putting a few drops under the nares.

 

[austroberta]

When my welsh harlequin had a respiratory infection the only initial sign was a frequent hiccupy noise. The vet could hear slight respiratory noises with a stethoscope after several months passed, and then after a few more months passed we could see changes in her x-rays. After about a year she was open mouth breathing and we could hear her breathing noises without a stethoscope. She did have aspergillosis, diagnosed by the vet via necropsy. We live near Seattle where it is very wet.

I'm not saying I think your duck has aspergillosis, just that this is my experience.

Oh my. That's exactly what she does. That's bad news for her, as, from my understanding, Asperpillosis is very difficult to completely get rid of. Did the vet indicate Asper before she died or was it just diagnosed with the necropsy? If the vet did indicate Asper, was there a protocol.

Thanks so much for the video and info. Even though it's bad news, it's incredibly helpful.

 

[austroberta]

When my welsh harlequin had a respiratory infection the only initial sign was a frequent hiccupy noise. The vet could hear slight respiratory noises with a stethoscope after several months passed, and then after a few more months passed we could see changes in her x-rays. After about a year she was open mouth breathing and we could hear her breathing noises without a stethoscope. She did have aspergillosis, diagnosed by the vet via necropsy. We live near Seattle where it is very wet.

I'm not saying I think your duck has aspergillosis, just that this is my experience.

My Solrikka looks so much like Gingersnap, with that beautiful flash of blue/purple feathers on her wings.

 

[KaleIAm]

Oh my. That's exactly what she does. That's bad news for her, as, from my understanding, Asperpillosis is very difficult to completely get rid of. Did the vet indicate Asper before she died or was it just diagnosed with the necropsy? If the vet did indicate Asper, was there a protocol.

Thanks so much for the video and info. Even though it's bad news, it's incredibly helpful.

My pleasure, but I'm very sorry to hear the symptoms sounds the same.

So, with Gingersnap it progressed very slowly and at first my vet thought she was just eating her food too quickly. The frequency of the noise increased, and I brought Gingersnap back to the vet a few months later. Then the vet could hear some faint noises but not see anything on the x-rays. They started Gingersnap on a month of antibiotics. That didn't help so they gave her a month of antifungals. That also didn't work so they gave her a more serious antifungal that isn't allowed for ducks. At this point the noise stopped increased in frequency, but didn't decrease in frequency. This is also when they started seeing a mass in her respiratory system. They weren't sure if she had aspergillosis or not, they suspected it as an option. They wanted to scope her, but we afraid to dislodge the potential fungal plug. I think we did the more serious antifungal for a few months until the noise started increasing again. The x-rays showed that the mass was much larger. We started nebulizing an antifungal medication for her 3 times daily and that helped her a lot. She was actually getting better, but then she began getting worse again. Eventually it got to where she was clearly miserable, breathing was very difficult, and we had her euthanized. The vet was surprised with how entirely full half of her chest was with aspergillosis. The diagnosis was only entirely confirmed with necropsy. I should point out that in the last 3 months of Gingersnap's life alone I spent about $8,000.

However! When my other duck, Pigweed, started making that noise I made an emergency appointment at the vet the next day. I asked that they give me itraconazole - the medication that worked to stop Gingersnap's noise from increasing. Pigweed made less of that noise within a week. I gave her the medication for 6 weeks only. A year later she's fine. The total necessary cost was about $300. I opted for extra blood testing to monitor organ function. The drug can be hard on the liver and I wanted to give it for as long as possible without hurting her. Obviously my ducks are pets.

My understanding is that aspergillosis can grow at different speeds. Sometimes medication just keeps it from growing, but doesn't shrink or kill it. It is REALLY hard to treat - but acting quickly is critical. I really hope your duck doesn't have this.

 

[austroberta]

If she's still having a hard time breathing, I think it would be in the best interest of your duck, to see a vet.

Heavy breathing like that, could be due to a blockage in the airway, a fungal problem, a reproductive disorder such as EYP which will build up pressure in the body, leading to pressure against the lungs which can result in a hard time breathing, respiratory disease is a possibility, but it's unlikely as you'd expect to see other symptoms.

I'll definitely take her to the vet, but the next open appointment is 11/6.

 

[austroberta]

Got Solrikka to the vet, which in the age of covid, which was even more stressful than it usually is, as I couldn't go in with her and it took forever for me to get her back when I surrendered her at the vet. Vet suggested both antibiotics (sulfa) for any possible respiratory infection and Itraconazole for any possible Aspergillosis. I've already starting giving her the antibiotics, but had to order the Itraconazole. She also told me that Solrikka seems to have lost weight. Not good. I do see that she has slight in-appetance. She's still eating, but not with gusto. The only thing she attacks are the black soldier fly larvae I am giving her. She's molting now (I can see her pin new pin feathers coming in), so I am also giving her cat food, which she has quite an appetite for. She's turning her nose up at her maintenance food and only has somewhat of an appetite for peas, tomatoes and lettuce. She'll eat them but not attack them, as she usually does.
It was supposed to be windy and cold outside today, so I kept her in one of those large plastic totes with a heat lamp and gave her nutri drench and homemade ACV in her water. She absolutely hated it and didn't rest the whole time and wouldn't eat much of anything. Unfortunately, my house is such that she can hear her sisters outside no matter what room I put her in. The other Welsh Harlequin she grew up with was quacking for her the whole time and she was quacking back. I tried to cover the top of tote with a flannel sheet, but I could tell she still wasn't settling down to rest and seemed stressed. My husband said that since the wind stopped and it was sunny outside, we should let her see her sister, which I decided to do. Once I did, and she saw her sisters, she started joining them in meals. It's so much easier to keep ducks inside when they are really quiet and sick. If they even have a bit of energy left, they just seemed stressed by it all. It is supposed to get cold tonight, so she's staying in. Her sisters will be sleeping and quiet and I'm hoping that with the dark, she'll just hunker down to rest.

I noticed that when she was inside that she didn't 'hiccup' at all unless she ate something or started foraging in the pine shavings I had lined her tote with.

Everyone say a prayer to the saint of not quite healthy ducks for me.

 

[HappyDuckie]

Could you try to post a video?