Duckling's crop is bigger and hardened

[ivytalks]

Hello, everyone!

I have two ducklings that a neighbor of mine couldn't care for anymore, and he couldn't tell me their exact ages but I reckon they're just a couple of weeks old.

So, yesterday evening I noticed the youngest one's crop looked a bit bigger than usual but I thought maybe it had eaten too much and it would be fine by the morning. That wasn't the case, and now that I tried to take a better look I also noticed the crop feels a bit hardened. I compared it to my other ducking and they're not the same at all. It's not very noticeable but to me it looks like the left side of the crop is wider than the right.

I only left water for them overnight, and a few roman lettuce leaves as a treat by the way.

Since it was a spontaneous adoption I still don't know much about ducklings, I'm trying to find a specialist to take them to get checked but in the meantime I hope some of you can help me figuring out what to do.

Thanks a lot!

 

[SilverBirds]

He may have an impacted crop. Gently massage his crop to try and break up any food that is in there. See if he'll eat any coconut or olive oil.

Since you are feeding them lettuce, do they have any grit? Grit is needed to break up food in the crop before passing to the stomach. I'd stop feeding him and the others treats for a few days.

Also,

 

[nchls school]

If the duckling is acting normally, try just massaging the crop to loosen the food in the crop. Encourage it to drink after the massage and keep plenty of drinking water available. Massage the area every hour or so to help break up the lump. The lump should dissolve fairly fast.

 

[picklestheduck]

Hello, everyone!

I have two ducklings that a neighbor of mine couldn't care for anymore, and he couldn't tell me their exact ages but I reckon they're just a couple of weeks old.

So, yesterday evening I noticed the youngest one's crop looked a bit bigger than usual but I thought maybe it had eaten too much and it would be fine by the morning. That wasn't the case, and now that I tried to take a better look I also noticed the crop feels a bit hardened. I compared it to my other ducking and they're not the same at all. It's not very noticeable but to me it looks like the left side of the crop is wider than the right.

I only left water for them overnight, and a few roman lettuce leaves as a treat by the way.

Since it was a spontaneous adoption I still don't know much about ducklings, I'm trying to find a specialist to take them to get checked but in the meantime I hope some of you can help me figuring out what to do.

Thanks a lot!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/duck-crops-always-in-the-center-of-neck.1438579/

this may be helpful as its interesting to see how their throats are different. Hopefully you duckling's crop empties soon.

 

[ivytalks]

He may have an impacted crop. Gently massage his crop to try and break up any food that is in there. See if he'll eat any coconut or olive oil.

Since you are feeding them lettuce, do they have any grit? Grit is needed to break up food in the crop before passing to the stomach. I'd stop feeding him and the others treats for a few days.

Also,

They do have grit!
I'll try to do just that, thanks a lot

 

[ivytalks]

If the duckling is acting normally, try just massaging the crop to loosen the food in the crop. Encourage it to drink after the massage and keep plenty of drinking water available. Massage the area every hour or so to help break up the lump. The lump should dissolve fairly fast.

I forgot to mention he seemed to be chirping and shaking for around 30 minutes at night, like hiccups in humans, but he stopped and hasn't done it since. That's the only behavior I found to be unusual.

Thank you

 

[ivytalks]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/duck-crops-always-in-the-center-of-neck.1438579/

this may be helpful as its interesting to see how their throats are different. Hopefully you duckling's crop empties soon.

I'll check it out, thank you!