Egg bound duck?

[tatswell]

Hello-
My 1 year old female duck seems a little sickly. She has recently been through a lot- loosing her buddy after being together since birth, a few ducklings coming into the coop, relocating to a new coop, and basically a whole new agenda.
The last couple of days she has been pooping a lot of clear and or white stringy like poop with occasionally normal poops. She stopped laying about 2 weeks ago after she lost her buddy a month ago and the last egg she laid was a "rubber" egg. She seems to be eating fine, but is quieter, less active, and looks like she is contracting her muscles. Not heavily, just a bit.
Are there other illnesses where ducks may contract their muscles and not be egg bound? I don't feel anything in the pouch area- I feel something egg like but smaller under/next to her leg.
What are you thoughts?
I am very attached to her, particularly after losing her buddy.

 

[Amiga]

If you can get her to a vet familiar with ducks (or at least poultry), they may be able to help.

They can develop egg yolk peritonitis, a scary infection that starts when some egg yolk gets loose in the body cavity. If caught soon enough, it can be treated. But my feeling is that we still have much to learn about this.

Meanwhile, when my ducks have soft eggs, I start them on a teaspoon of 23% calcium gluconate per half cup of water added to their feed. Some of my ducks just don't seem to process calcium very effectively, so I give them extra. Sometimes I need to give Romy a quarter teaspoon of Ca gluconate in a tablespoon of peas as an extra extra treat. I also add a couple of tablespoons of Ca gluconate to a gallon or two of their night-time drinking water.

 

[tatswell]

Thanks for that Amiga- good to know- I hadn't known of peritonitis. Can I get the Ca gluconate from a supply store or must it be a vet?
The only symptoms similar to the peritonitis would really only be the contracting muscles, but even that is hardly visible- as if it is just normal breathing. Only a few times have I seen it look a little like pushing. Otherwise her posture is fine, same weight, appetite fine, no ruffled feathers, no yellow poop, clean vent.
Do you suppose it may be stress? Would that make her lay a rubber-ish egg? Could she be molting?
Also, what could the small golf ball like feel under/besides her left leg be? I really have to push in to feel it so I'm wondering if it's normal?

 

[Amiga]

could it be an egg? I don't know precisely.

@Speceider , any idea on that? I am not an expert at palpation.

Feed stores may have Ca gluconate, some vets carry it. I buy it online at Jeffers - but I think most livestock supply places would have it. Tractor Supply?

Drugstore?

Could be stress related. Molting, I would notice feathers starting to let go.

I must be away from the computer for a while. Will check back tonight if I can…. @Miss Lydia or @HollyDuckFarmer or @subhanalah may be able to help, or search the archives for duck peritonitis or duck eggbound or egg bound, might help.

 

[tatswell]

Could this be a sign of her molting? Notice the wing feathers.
She will be a year old June 10th.
She seems fine in the morning. By late afternoon/ early evening is when she seems unusually tired and will lay down looking as if she is breathing heavy or pushing.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

The feathers do look to me like some stage of molt, but the symptoms don't necessarily line up, at least in my mind.

I would add the Calcium Gluc, just exactly as Amiga advised. I would also add some APple Cider Vinegar to her drinking water (1-2T p/gal) -and- I would float her in a bath. If your are seeing soft shelled, or no shelled eggs, then that tells you that something is up with her body's egg laying. Did you evaluate for gleet? The CaGluc I can find in the cattle aisle at my farm store. You should have no problem finding it at TSC or FFH.

 

[tatswell]

Hi Holly, I have been giving her warm baths daily as well as ACV. I will check TSC tomorrow morning for the Cal.
Just to add her poop is often normal but will a few times a day appear more black. This evening after her bath she napped on my couch then ate her feed as well as drank water with acv, probiotic yogurt, and electrolytes. Afterwards she pooped milky white and then this- notice the strange ridges?

 

[tatswell]

I am really at a loss for what is going on with Tegan- she is, or rather seems, fine all morning- sassy, perky, playful, no labored breathing/ tail pumping. By evening she seems lethargic, tail pumping and labored breathing. I massaged her stomach tonight and immediately after she pooped a cream color which was slimy enough for it to still hang from her vent.

 

[Amiga]

Sounds like Romy when she needs more calcium. I give her a tablespoons of peas partiallly mashed with a quarter teaspoon of calcium gluconate mixed in

 

[tatswell]

There is a hard-ish lump near her abdomen. I wonder if you, or anyone else, could tell me if it is normal- an organ?- or abnormal. Maybe someone could feel one of their ducks? It would be between the center of the belly and left leg, more towards the left leg. Push in just a bit- is where I feel a golf ball like lump.