Help please.

[ipie68]

Can a duck "lose its quack"?

 

[Amiga]

Oh, my goodness, that happened to our Carmella in May.

What's going on?

There are several possible reasons, and I am sure I don't know all of them. Parasites, infection, hardware disease, internal or external injury, virus are some.

Is it a girl? Do you have a drake? Is she making any sound? How is her breathing? Health, otherwise?

 

[ipie68]

When she tries to quack all that comes out is a wheezing sound, on occasion she can get a quack or two out. I do not have a drake, all three of my ducks (raised together) are about a year old. She seems to be acting just fine otherwise.

 

[Amiga]

She may have an injury from swallowing something big and scratchy, or it could be any of the above.

With Carmella, after a few days of no improvement, I took her to the vet to be sure there was nothing in her throat, including gapeworms.

She looked fine, lungs clear, all that.

So I took to home remedies. I had some colloidal silver liquid, so I put a teaspoon of that in a couple of gallons of water overnight. It could be coincidence, but the next day she had a little squeek. In about four days she was quacking again. There is a caution not to use c.s. for very long, I would not use it more than a few days.

And the disclaimer here is I am not a vet, just a duck person, I cannot say the colloidal silver did anything. So do some research and see if you want to try it. I use it on myself from time to time.

Another thing to try would be apple cider vinegar in the water. I use that as a tonic from time to time. A weak solution is what I would try, since if she's got scratches inside her throat I would not want to cause it to burn.

Some very moist rolled oats might also soothe the throat. If she eats dry pellets, I would moisten them for a week to prevent scratching. Be sure not to let the food get moldy, though. You could combine water with just a little (teaspoon) of apple cider vinegar and add that to their food.

Those are my thoughts. It was really worrisome, and I am glad her quack came back.

 

[ipie68]

Ok. Thank you for the advice!

 

[ipie68]

Just thought of this...could eating bees be an issue?

 

[Amiga]

Yes, I think so. Has she been doing that? Now I wonder what would be safe for her to eat that might help with a sting in her esophagus. Right away I am thinking antihistamine, but have no clue what would be safe, or how much.

Can you contact a vet?

The colloidal silver might help that. Not sure.

I was looking around the 'net, and some home remedies for bee stings are oatmeal. So that may be worth trying. I don't see how a nice, very wet moistened oatmeal could hurt. Make it so it's not lumpy. In fact, watch out - if her esophagus is swollen, choking is a big risk. Keep close eye on her - don't want her to choke.

 

[ipie68]

I'm not sure she actually ate a bee...but I do see several kinds of bees flying around there pen (wasp, yellow jacket, honey bee, etc.). I went out to check on her and she had some improvement with quacking. I will try the oatmeal remedy, and I'm not aware of any vet offices that care for birds in my area...but I will check!

 

[Amiga]

I woke up thinking about her this morning. Hoping she doesn't have any swelling in her throat. Even an oatmeal gruel, which is the water from soaking oatmeal overnight may be helpful. I would definitely keep her feed soft and moist for a few days.

 

[ipie68]

I just went outside to check on her, she seems to have most of her quack back....but just to be safe I will keep her feed soft for the next few days and a close eye on her.