Duck shaking head and having a new quack

[bubbyduck]

How is your ducky?

 

[CoriM]

She is much better but maybe not completely back to normal with her quack - although she tries. I didn't end up taking her into the vet - though I sent him some video and reviewed what he would do. Most of the potential treatments were pretty invasive, and since this is only a 4 pound duck, I felt like it was taking a pretty big chance - and very expensive as well. Instead, I put her in a tent with Oxine OH a couple times a day for a week and added some fresh garlic to her food in case it was fungal. I de-wormed her in case it was gape worms. After her molt she regained her old energy and now personality-wise she seems to be fully back to herself. She stands on my step every morning asking for peas! I don't see her shaking her head anymore. Sometimes it seems like she's swallowing hard or something, but she eats normally and I think I'm going to be okay with not knowing exactly what's going on, since she seems to be doing alright.

 

[bubbyduck]

I’m just coming back to this thread. How is she? My ducks have done the head shake as well, one consistently has a long term issue. I’m curious how long it had gone on for your girl before you started the Oxine? My belief is this is chronic aspergillosis presenting as trachea obstruction.

 

[CoriM]

Interesting, perhaps you know more about duck health than I do. Have you seen or had chronic aspergillosis diagnosed before? My duck still does shake her head, just not as much. I haven't done the oxine for her since I posted this thread, and I didn't try it until a month or so after she started. Maybe I should try it again. If you have any information I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

 

[bubbyduck]

Interesting, perhaps you know more about duck health than I do. Have you seen or had chronic aspergillosis diagnosed before? My duck still does shake her head, just not as much. I haven't done the oxine for her since I posted this thread, and I didn't try it until a month or so after she started. Maybe I should try it again. If you have any information I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

I could certainly be wrong but I have done a lot of research into aspergillosis, vet papers etc, because one of my ducks has had the issue as long as yours. I went to the vet and did blood test and X-ray. His lungs were clear. Most of the ducks with severely affected lungs seem to have the acute version. The vet pointed out the possibility of something in the trachea however she wasn’t certain. She really wasn’t worried about him until I showed her the footage of this head shaking which to me is like choking. The bloods showed infection and antibiotics didn’t improve the situation. They wanted to do an endoscope which would be the best way to try and visualize.. but pushing it all to over $1500 in diagnostics, invasive procedure and knowing the length of time my duck has been sick it would be very unlikely to be able to resolve aspergillosis. I think it has gone to his bones as another vet pointed out that his bones looked affected from the X-ray and he always stands on the same one leg and will end up going down to a sitting position if he’s preening a hard to reach area due to I assume weakness or discomfort. His beak is also always peeling to a severe degree and I did see that dileminating beak is a sign of aspergillosis. I have had two of my other ducks do the head shake once. A one off may be nothing, however the two females have started to make a sound when they fluff up and changes to vocalization is definitely a listed symptom. My boy hasn’t had a change of voice however given there are anatomical differences between the voices of the sexes that may explain that. I did nebulize my boy with F10 for about a week months ago and know of a lady who did this for her ducks while treating, but I don’t think it’s really curative on its own without antifungals. But if the duck doesn’t mind the experience.. it could be worth a shot. It’s hard because when they aren’t doing the head shake/choking presentation they appear to me quite normal and happy, it’s only in those moments that give me cause for concern. Originally my boy would do it quite infrequently then it increased, it actually improved when we returned from the vet even though he had no treatment, now it’s back to on and off. I’m not sure what is going to happen, but it certainly seems to be a risk of asphyxiation. I’m going to nebulize the females just in case and ideally put them on antifungals before it becomes too late. The other ideas the vet had were foreign body and tuberculosis, but they don’t seem to fit with the symptoms or with multiple birds. If I do suffer a loss I will get a necropsy because it’s been absolutely horrible and I would definitely like to know for sure.

 

[CoriM]

Wow, that's a lot of valuable information. Thank you so much! Will you try anti-fungals on your boy as well? Do you know if that is something you can get over the counter or do you need a prescription? With my duck, I had thought it was maybe something she was eating that had hurt her throat because she was constantly running into my garden or putting her head in my planters and eating those little white fertilizer pieces, plus she never comes around for water breaks near as much as my other ducks do when they're outside. When I nebulized her I put my other welsh in who was making a peculiar squeak/hiccup several times a day, which @KaleIAm told me her duck with aspergillosis made. She doesn't make that sound anymore, so possibly the oxine did something. I guess I am going to start again with Mable this week and see if it might help her. She does everything else as normal and seems healthy, so it has been mysterious to me, but living in the Pacific NW it's so wet all winter and hard to keep things dry - I'm sure the mold and fungus is plentiful, as dry as I try to keep it. Please keep me updated on your ducks and what you end up doing. Thank you!

 

[CoriM]

It's almost unbelievable, but I just went out to let my ducks out of the coop and into the run, and I heard Mable, my head-shaker, make that funny hiccup sound, which I've never heard from her before. The timing can't be a coincidence. I will definitely start nebulizing her today, it did decrease her head shaking quite a bit last time.

 

[CoriM]

Some interesting information on this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-safe-cure-for-aspergillosis.1474415/page-2