LuvMyDucks777
In the Brooder
- Jan 3, 2016
- 10
- 1
- 26
Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone can shed light why what seemed like a perfectly healthy duck would all of a sudden become ill and die in less than 24 hours.
She was a 2 year old pekin. She laid an egg that morning and when I let the chicks and ducks out yesterday morning, she and the other 5 pekins headed straight to the pond like usual. A few hours later we realized we were missing a duck. We walked to the pond and found her alone in the brush. We brought her to the coop but she didn't eat or drink. She just walked to a corner and stayed there. I checked on her throughout the night and saw she was getting worse. I looked at 5am and saw she was gone
She had no outward signs of injury. I noticed one time a very white liquid diarrhea.
I am going to miss her terribly. She was Francisco's (the drake) favorite girl.
I am wondering if hardware disease can show symptoms and kill so quickly? Would you know of anything contagious that could cause this? We had a similar experience with a chicken last month. We assumed she was eggbound, but could not confirm. I would think if it is something contagious, the time would be closer together.
Thank you.
Rosie's mom
I was wondering if anyone can shed light why what seemed like a perfectly healthy duck would all of a sudden become ill and die in less than 24 hours.
She was a 2 year old pekin. She laid an egg that morning and when I let the chicks and ducks out yesterday morning, she and the other 5 pekins headed straight to the pond like usual. A few hours later we realized we were missing a duck. We walked to the pond and found her alone in the brush. We brought her to the coop but she didn't eat or drink. She just walked to a corner and stayed there. I checked on her throughout the night and saw she was getting worse. I looked at 5am and saw she was gone
She had no outward signs of injury. I noticed one time a very white liquid diarrhea.
I am going to miss her terribly. She was Francisco's (the drake) favorite girl.
I am wondering if hardware disease can show symptoms and kill so quickly? Would you know of anything contagious that could cause this? We had a similar experience with a chicken last month. We assumed she was eggbound, but could not confirm. I would think if it is something contagious, the time would be closer together.
Thank you.
Rosie's mom
The stiffness is called "rigor mortis" and it is a chemical reaction in the muscles myofibrils. This happens to all animals when they die and unfortunately can only help approximate time of death, but not the cause. If you still have the body and place it in the fridge right away to keep it from decomposing any further you can contact your state veterinary lab to send the body to for testing.
