Duck with large chest, and tipping forward while waddling

[Greenbird0709]

My duck is having issues with her chest. I am not knowledgeable enough about ducks to know her breed. We got her and her partner from someone else. Upon taking them in, we noticed right away that her chest was lopsided. She has always had this tick if you will she holds her head back farther than the other ducks and does this kind of sideways jerking motion with her head/neck. She lays regularly, and the boys love her...a lot. Her mate disappeared during a storm, and since then she has spent a significant amount of time nesting under the porch. She will stay there for 3 to 5 days at a time. We tried to put food and water nearby for her, but since our birds are free range (until we finish their enclosure), the others get into it. Unfortunately that makes it difficult to track her intake. When she emerged this evening, I noticed that her chest was significantly larger, and she tipped forward several times while trying to waddle away. She is still doing the jerking motion and, well, looks like she's trying to chew her face off. Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be going on with her?

 

[AngelinaThePekin8]

She's a blue swedish. @Miss Lydia

What does her crop feel like?
Have you checked her feet and what are they being fed?
How many drakes do you have?

The way you said shes been moving her head makes me think she has something stuck in her throat and she's trying to clear it, how often does she do that movement and what had she been doing before that?

I'm not very knowledgeable but hopefully this helps, she is a beautiful duck I hope all goes well for her and you.

 

[AngelinaThePekin8]

Maybe @New duck mommy 2021 @Quatie @IvysAnimals will be able to give some advice or share their thoughts on what they think may be going on with her?
How long have you had her for?
What's she doing today?

In case you didn't know, the area you described as her chest is the general area of where the "crop" is.
Hope this helps.
"Food is moved into the esophagus, which in most birds including the duck leads into a specialized expansion of the esophagus known as the crop, which aids in the temporary storage of food. From the esophagus, the food enters into a thin-walled structure of the glandular section of the stomach called the proventriculus."

 

[Miss Lydia]

She def needs to be kept where you can monitor her feed and water intake and her poop. Matter of fact how does her poop look?I have a Buff duck who gets a huge chest by end of the day. Does your ducks chest look like this morning and evening?

 

[Quatie]

With a big crop, it is possible it is an impacted a crop or sour crop. How does her crop feel? Does it feel squishy or super hard? It could also be nothing. Some ducks do get very large crops when foraging. One of my swedes looks massive every night. At night, is when they empty their crop, so looking first in the morning for it to shrink is the best way to see if food is properly moving along.

The tipping sounds possibly odd. Can you get a video of her? To upload a video you, you first need to upload it to another website like you tube or Vimeo.

 

[IvysAnimals]

My duck is having issues with her chest. I am not knowledgeable enough about ducks to know her breed. We got her and her partner from someone else. Upon taking them in, we noticed right away that her chest was lopsided. She has always had this tick if you will she holds her head back farther than the other ducks and does this kind of sideways jerking motion with her head/neck. She lays regularly, and the boys love her...a lot. Her mate disappeared during a storm, and since then she has spent a significant amount of time nesting under the porch. She will stay there for 3 to 5 days at a time. We tried to put food and water nearby for her, but since our birds are free range (until we finish their enclosure), the others get into it. Unfortunately that makes it difficult to track her intake. When she emerged this evening, I noticed that her chest was significantly larger, and she tipped forward several times while trying to waddle away. She is still doing the jerking motion and, well, looks like she's trying to chew her face off. Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be going on with her?

She's a Blue Swede! I agree with everyone else... Monitor her activity, food intake and , and make sure her legs and feet aren't injured or anything. Make sure she has enough water around her so if something is stuck in her throat, she can dislodge it. There might also be a problem with her diet if she's not getting the right nutrition from it or getting the wrong feed. Make sure you're not giving her bread because bread isn't good for ducks. Corn can be good for ducks but should be used in moderation during the summer. How does her crop feel? If it's hard, that could mean that it's impacted. Impacted crop usually means they could be starving themselves. Sour crop can lead to infection and even death...In general, she might also just have a large chest. This might sound weird, but smell her breath to see if she has a sour crop. If it smells off, then she should be taken to the vet for treatment. Ducks breath don't normally have a "smell" to it. With her being broody and molting season, you'll want to make sure that she's getting enough fresh duck food and plenty of clean water and a clean area to sleep, walk and lay on. Hope that helps!