firenkyo
Chirping
- Sep 7, 2018
- 31
- 34
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Hello, I've noticed something strange about one of my ducklings, Daffodil (Daffy). She's a Magpie duck ("blue" magpie) and about 6 weeks old.
Her lower belly seems a bit large/swollen, and she has a different posture than the two other ducklings (Daisy, blue magpie, and Dandy, a mixed breed), sitting back a little bit more. I looked up her symptoms, and the swollen belly seems a lot like water belly, or ascites. I heard that this could be caused by too much protein, and realized that I've been giving them some mealworm snacks maybe too often. Her siblings get the same amount of worms as she does, but they don't seem to be affected. I'm going to be cutting out mealworms from their diet for a while now just to be sure. Other than the mealworms, they have been fed normal poultry starter, plus greens and grass when they go out to forage.
She's still very alert and active though, and doesn't show any signs of decreased appetite (maybe the opposite, she loves food), and her belly is not red. She seemed to grow at a slower rate than the other Magpie, but they could have been different ages when I got them (the mixed breed duck was two days old and was the same size at the two older magpies, so it was hard to tell their exact ages).
Is there anything else I should do? Please let me know!
I don't have any pictures at the moment, but I could post some later this week if it would help at all.
Her lower belly seems a bit large/swollen, and she has a different posture than the two other ducklings (Daisy, blue magpie, and Dandy, a mixed breed), sitting back a little bit more. I looked up her symptoms, and the swollen belly seems a lot like water belly, or ascites. I heard that this could be caused by too much protein, and realized that I've been giving them some mealworm snacks maybe too often. Her siblings get the same amount of worms as she does, but they don't seem to be affected. I'm going to be cutting out mealworms from their diet for a while now just to be sure. Other than the mealworms, they have been fed normal poultry starter, plus greens and grass when they go out to forage.
She's still very alert and active though, and doesn't show any signs of decreased appetite (maybe the opposite, she loves food), and her belly is not red. She seemed to grow at a slower rate than the other Magpie, but they could have been different ages when I got them (the mixed breed duck was two days old and was the same size at the two older magpies, so it was hard to tell their exact ages).
Is there anything else I should do? Please let me know!
I don't have any pictures at the moment, but I could post some later this week if it would help at all.