Galaxyfalcon
Songster
Hello!
I'll try to keep this short but there might be a little background info required to get a clear picture of what's wrong with our old lady. We call her Momma duck, and she came to live with us a couple of years ago. Before that, she had been at two other homes. She spent about 5 or 6 years with some acquaintances as an egg-layer, but they eventually got rid of their ducks so this little lady and some of her friends went down to my in-laws farm and lived on the pond there for a year or more. Historically, the pond had been very safe and there were many other ducks and geese down there, but they suffered a river otter attack and lost most of the birds.
Momma Duck here survived, but suffered a fractured toe during an otter attack. She came to live with us after that, and she laid eggs for about a year before starting to have "egg problems." She started laying fairy eggs, skipping days, and sometimes laying just yolk or passing soft shells. We took her to the vet and were told that she's just an old duck and these things are fairly normal for a duck of her age. We make oyster shells available to the girls all the same.
She would have good days and bad days, but generally would recover and pass any egg issues on her own. This spring/summer, she hasn't laid any eggs although we've seen her pass a few soft eggs or yolks etc it's been pretty scarce.
She's currently, by best guess, about 8 or 9 years old. She has arthritis in her bad foot and a recurring case of bumble on the better foot since she favors it more. She's been doing good in Spring and Summer so far despite not laying anything, quite perky and chatty. We've been keeping her separate from the drakes since she is their favorite and were over-mating her, so we had been letting her out in the morning and evening and locking the boys up during those times so the girls could go around all together. About 4 or 5 days ago she started having problems consistent with "egg problem" time — a lot of sitting, pumping her back side, heavy breathing etc. Since then she seems to have been getting more lethargic and I haven't seen her eating much, but she is drinking.
On Friday, I found her sitting alone a lot which is unlike her, and she wouldn't resist being picked up (also unlike her). She was also somewhat tense/stiff when I picked her up. Yesterday and today we've been giving her warm ebsom salt baths and last night we lubed up and massaged around her vent area to see if we could help her pass any egg material. She was really tense at first and was standing in the bath bowl, so we brought her inside and put her in the bath tub. She managed to poop twice and after that seemed a little more perky and energetic, but no eggs or egg material or anything.
Today she still seems subdued, and we have her fenced off by herself. She wasn't getting in to her water, but we put her in her 50 gallon tank to swim around in, and she was in there for a few hours just floating around. When she got out, she sort of just stood around in her little area not really relaxing.
At this point I'm not sure what's wrong—I'm not sure if it's egg issues, a bacterial infection, parasites, or just old age. I know she doesn't seem to be feeling good because she didn't come out of her area when we offered to let her out into the yard (she loves the yard) and she's really quiet and subdued, normally she chats quietly and happily. She's also refusing her favorite treats: meal worms.
I'm a bit worried but not sure what to try. Sorry for such a long post. Here are some photos from yesterday, last night soaking, and then this morning in her fenced off area:
Found her in a private place in a overgrown part of yard:
Sitting quietly under the willow:
Soak time:
Saturday morning:
I'll try to keep this short but there might be a little background info required to get a clear picture of what's wrong with our old lady. We call her Momma duck, and she came to live with us a couple of years ago. Before that, she had been at two other homes. She spent about 5 or 6 years with some acquaintances as an egg-layer, but they eventually got rid of their ducks so this little lady and some of her friends went down to my in-laws farm and lived on the pond there for a year or more. Historically, the pond had been very safe and there were many other ducks and geese down there, but they suffered a river otter attack and lost most of the birds.
Momma Duck here survived, but suffered a fractured toe during an otter attack. She came to live with us after that, and she laid eggs for about a year before starting to have "egg problems." She started laying fairy eggs, skipping days, and sometimes laying just yolk or passing soft shells. We took her to the vet and were told that she's just an old duck and these things are fairly normal for a duck of her age. We make oyster shells available to the girls all the same.
She would have good days and bad days, but generally would recover and pass any egg issues on her own. This spring/summer, she hasn't laid any eggs although we've seen her pass a few soft eggs or yolks etc it's been pretty scarce.
She's currently, by best guess, about 8 or 9 years old. She has arthritis in her bad foot and a recurring case of bumble on the better foot since she favors it more. She's been doing good in Spring and Summer so far despite not laying anything, quite perky and chatty. We've been keeping her separate from the drakes since she is their favorite and were over-mating her, so we had been letting her out in the morning and evening and locking the boys up during those times so the girls could go around all together. About 4 or 5 days ago she started having problems consistent with "egg problem" time — a lot of sitting, pumping her back side, heavy breathing etc. Since then she seems to have been getting more lethargic and I haven't seen her eating much, but she is drinking.
On Friday, I found her sitting alone a lot which is unlike her, and she wouldn't resist being picked up (also unlike her). She was also somewhat tense/stiff when I picked her up. Yesterday and today we've been giving her warm ebsom salt baths and last night we lubed up and massaged around her vent area to see if we could help her pass any egg material. She was really tense at first and was standing in the bath bowl, so we brought her inside and put her in the bath tub. She managed to poop twice and after that seemed a little more perky and energetic, but no eggs or egg material or anything.
Today she still seems subdued, and we have her fenced off by herself. She wasn't getting in to her water, but we put her in her 50 gallon tank to swim around in, and she was in there for a few hours just floating around. When she got out, she sort of just stood around in her little area not really relaxing.
At this point I'm not sure what's wrong—I'm not sure if it's egg issues, a bacterial infection, parasites, or just old age. I know she doesn't seem to be feeling good because she didn't come out of her area when we offered to let her out into the yard (she loves the yard) and she's really quiet and subdued, normally she chats quietly and happily. She's also refusing her favorite treats: meal worms.
I'm a bit worried but not sure what to try. Sorry for such a long post. Here are some photos from yesterday, last night soaking, and then this morning in her fenced off area:
Found her in a private place in a overgrown part of yard:
Sitting quietly under the willow:
Soak time:
Saturday morning:
