found a dead mallard in the pen tonight

[bgmamacline3]

we went in to do our nightly routine of feeding and changing the water. One our females mallards has been acting a little strange the last couple of days. She hung back from the crowd. she looked like her feathers were wetter than the other ducks( if thats possible) and she just had not been herself. We took her body out of the duck enclosure and buried her in the yard. We are new to the duck and chicken world and i was not sure what did this? We have six ducks in this enclosure. they were male/female pairs of peking( 1 set) and mallards ( 2 sets).thank you for your time and let me know what info anyone will need..

 

[Mvpitzki]

My magpie acted the same way so I bought niacin and missed 1 1/2 pills with a gallon of water. Then I took a spoon full of honey and mixed it with 1/4 of the niacin/water mix and stirred it together. It took about 3 days for her to return to normal. When they act that way it most than likely has to do with something they ate.

 

[Amiga]

It's tough to lose a duck, I know. The only way to be sure would have been to keep the body cool and get it to where a necropsy can be done. In my state, the ag school does them.

She could have had a virus, a bacterial or fungal infection, if she had just reached maturity, she could have had oviduct issues that would not appear till she was laying age, or sometimes there are congenital problems that don't show until they are a little older.

If she is laying age, it could have been egg yolk peritonitis. There are just so many things that can happen, in spite of ducks being pretty hardy, disease-resistant animals.

So sad to read of your loss.