Duck swallowing non stop and making weird squeaking noise.

[Natashamcbride25]

No drainage. If she wasn’t doing the swallowing motion you would think she was perfectly healthy. She even laid an egg yesterday.

Also, I gave her smaller pieces of cucumber yesterday to help dislodge anything just in case there was anything stuck and she ate them up with no problem.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Do you have any snakes, toads, frogs or mice around? My ducks will do this when they eat something larger like a snake or a frog because they are much bigger they take longer to digest and they will adjust their crop much more than they would with eating something like crickets or feed. They also will be much slower in general, calmer and sleep more similar to how you would be after eating a large meal like thanksgiving dinner.

 

[Natashamcbride25]

We do have mice. And this would cause her to look like she is just constantly swallowing? I also noticed when I let them free range from the run she isolates herself from the rest of the ducks.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

We do have mice. And this would cause her to look like she is just constantly swallowing? I also noticed when I let them free range from the run she isolates herself from the rest of the ducks.

Mine do. They will adjust their crop by opening their mouth and swallowing then find a quiet spot to sit away from everyone else usually for a day or so because it’s such a large meal. If she is showing other symptoms I would not say she ate something big, but if her mouth is clear and she presents no other symptoms that could be a potential reason why.

 

[Natashamcbride25]

Ok. I will keep a close eye on her. That puts my mind at ease. Google was not helping at all. Thank you!

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Ok. I will keep a close eye on her. That puts my mind at ease. Google was not helping at all. Thank you!

It looks like she has aspirated. I can't think of anything you can really do, it'll hopefully work itself out on it's own.
Gapeworm is *possible*
Ducks can get them. You could try and google to see how common they are in your area.

I can see ducks doing this if they swallowed something large and trying to get it down.. but after this length of time it should have stopped. Ducks don't have a true crop like a chicken, their esophagus just expands. You would see her chest bulging and hanging low if their were anything very big in there.
Other than a trip to the vet... i can't think of anything to do.
I'd try and pry her bill open and look specificially at her air passage (i forget the technical name of it) to see if you can see anything in there. It's that hole in the back of her tounge.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Can you get a good look inside of her beak for any obstructions?

@Miss Lydia @shawluvsbirds @ruthhope

Hey WR person. Just a friendly reminder that dux have a bill not a beak.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hey WR person. Just a friendly reminder that dux have a bill not a beak.

You're right!
That's why I tagged Duck Folks, so you can keep me straight

 

[Natashamcbride25]

It looks like she has aspirated. I can't think of anything you can really do, it'll hopefully work itself out on it's own.
Gapeworm is *possible*
Ducks can get them. You could try and google to see how common they are in your area.

I can see ducks doing this if they swallowed something large and trying to get it down.. but after this length of time it should have stopped. Ducks don't have a true crop like a chicken, their esophagus just expands. You would see her chest bulging and hanging low if their were anything very big in there.
Other than a trip to the vet... i can't think of anything to do.
I'd try and pry her bill open and look specificially at her air passage (i forget the technical name of it) to see if you can see anything in there. It's that hole in the back of her tounge. View attachment 3920569

I am able to see down her bill and see the hole that you are talking about and their is no obstruction. I have been checking on her frequently without trying to stress her out more than she probably already is. And she is “wheezing” and I don’t know if it’s just because her body is working hard to do whatever it is that she is doing.

I will do some research to see if gapeworm is a possibility in my area.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I am able to see down her bill and see the hole that you are talking about and their is no obstruction. I have been checking on her frequently without trying to stress her out more than she probably already is. And she is “wheezing” and I don’t know if it’s just because her body is working hard to do whatever it is that she is doing.

I will do some research to see if gapeworm is a possibility in my area.

I hate to say this, but I had a duck several years ago exibiting these same symptons and she didn't make it.
I wondered if mine had Aspergillosis.