Female duck with hard abdomen

w8tin4raptur

Chirping
5 Years
Apr 7, 2014
25
0
65
Windsor, pa
Hello all,

I put this thread in the disease thread first and am moving it here after someone suggested it might be better placed here. so I apologize if that is not allowed.

I have a 3 year old female pekin that is not doing well.

Here are Her symptoms:

Hasn't laid any eggs in a few weeks, even given the time of year, for the past two years she has laid all through out winter, though the weather has been snowy and cold lately and she is getting older so I attributed it to that.

Her abdomen last night was very hard and distended, this morning it was fairly hard but I was able to push into it more.

She feels very heavy composted to her normal weight and looks like she had actually lost some weight in the breast area, probably from the staph infection I found in her foot.

She is still pooping but it's always a brown runny consistency. I will try to get a picture of that.

I think I feel an egg in there but I am not sure.

She is losing her feathers rapidly and given its still winter it's a little early for that and she is the only one in my flock doing so.


She will not let me lay her on her back. And is very agitated today, not a normal thing for her.

I have found two spots on her foot that may have been bumblefoot that is now healing. I did not notice her limping but we just got through a 3 foot snow storm and I injured my foot so I wasn't able to be out there much. So I was considering the possibility of two issues occurring. The staph infection and maybe egg bound? Or is a late term systemic infection from the bumble foot. And if that is the case will antibiotics even be effective? I have applied vetrycin, Hence the vet wrap on her foot.

I have placed her in warm water and she had no problems preening. Though she seems to keep pulling at Her feathers underneath.

She is eating.

She is feeling warm.but I've never taken a temp from a duck.

I have never done a vent exam so I am leary to do that though I will if needed, I just don't want to do any damage.

She also is having difficulty breathing when I lay her back to examine her stomach so I can't hold her there long. She starts wheezing and sort of moaning.

We have no vets in the area that will take ducks.

I included a frontal picture , a lower body picture,a picture of her most recent poo,She had peas last night so this morning it was green and not brown and now she passed the white and clear poo. and in the picture of me holding her, my fingers are placed on either side of a hard lump (maybe egg?), you can see the placement of it, though obviously when she stands it appears much farther down the body, and I can shift it a little though I don't want to in case it causes damage or pain.

Anyone have some suggestions? Better diagnostic procedures?

400

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Gee, I honestly have no idea. What type of food and snacks does she eat?

I'm going to tag some other people that might be able to offer some thoughts or suggestions.

@casportpony
@jtn42248
@caesargirl
@Miss Lydia
@Amiga
 
@w8tin4raptur

She may be egg bound. She may also have a systemic infection.

Preferably, there might be a vet willing to see her, but sometimes I know it's difficult to find someone.

For egg binding, time in lukewarm water, floating, can help, but a strong dose of calcium is also often recommended. Tums has about 400 mg calcium per tablet, I think. I use calcium citrate tablets, 250 mg. Crush it up, add it to a treat she likes. I might consider 400 mg at first, then 200 mg a day afterward.

If she's got an infection, get some antibiotics. Duramycin 10 is often available at feed stores. Meanwhile, make her some mild oregano tea to add to her water - it ought not to hurt, and may help just a little - it is antimicrobial and often fed to chicken flocks to reduce their need for antibiotics.

@casportpony
@Orca5094
 
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I took a closer look at the pictures and I'm wondering if this is her breast bone. If it is, how pointy is it?





-Kathy
 
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Thank you for all the info.

She eats blue seal egg layer crumble. For treats they get cracked corn, and a mix of black oil sunflower seeds, white and red millet and oats, and primarily only get peas or raisins this time of year and any left over veggies the rest of the year. However, she is my more adventurous duck and my daughter reminded me of the fact that she will sneak feed from my sheep. So I am going to dig up a label from that to see what that contains.

I had her laying on her back ( sort of anyway, she was at more of a 45 degree angle) for that picture and could feel her breast bone as well as the hard mass. The mass is fairly low on the left side, lower than the breast bone. It looks higher in the picture than where it actually is. When she is standing I feel it more in the middle but still low in the abdomen closer to the vent area.

She has been going in and out of a low tub of water I gave her. Preening ,eating and drinking. I have been refilling with warm water every so often and since she is in my shower :-( , she has been playing in the water coming down on her.

Will the calcium be bad for her if she has any liver damage or if her gizzard is packed?

We have no vets in the area to take her to and the animal hospital will only euthanize not treat ducks.

I will try the tea.

I'm not big on over medicating with antibiotics but i will head out tomorrow and purchase the antibiotics if she is not better.


Thank you all so much for taking time to answer my post. She is from the first flock of ducks we purchased and is very special to us.
 
Thank you for all the info.

She eats blue seal egg layer crumble. For treats they get cracked corn, and a mix of black oil sunflower seeds, white and red millet and oats, and primarily only get peas or raisins this time of year and any left over veggies the rest of the year. However, she is my more adventurous duck and my daughter reminded me of the fact that she will sneak feed from my sheep. So I am going to dig up a label from that to see what that contains.

I had her laying on her back ( sort of anyway, she was at more of a 45 degree angle) for that picture and could feel her breast bone as well as the hard mass. The mass is fairly low on the left side, lower than the breast bone. It looks higher in the picture than where it actually is. When she is standing I feel it more in the middle but still low in the abdomen closer to the vent area.

She has been going in and out of a low tub of water I gave her. Preening ,eating and drinking. I have been refilling with warm water every so often and since she is in my shower :-( , she has been playing in the water coming down on her.

Will the calcium be bad for her if she has any liver damage or if her gizzard is packed?

We have no vets in the area to take her to and the animal hospital will only euthanize not treat ducks.

I will try the tea.

I'm not big on over medicating with antibiotics but i will head out tomorrow and purchase the antibiotics if she is not better.


Thank you all so much for taking time to answer my post. She is from the first flock of ducks we purchased and is very special to us.
The gizzard is located sort of low and on the left side, so maybe that's what you're feeling? If you have another duck, compare her against it. Calcium will be fine for her liver, but no need to give it if she isn't egg bound. To me her poop looks like she has anl infection, worms or coccidia.

Do you have a kitchen or postal scale? If not can you get one? Would be best to get a baseline weight on her, then weigh every few days.

-Kathy
 

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