panting duck

[Just_Ducky_In_NH]

Hi...our Khaki Campbell duck yard "floozy" is not suffering from prolapse but is in some kind of trouble where she pants and trembles from time to time. Yard has shade, Drakes are separated from her, clean water mostly and she eats Mazuri Waterfowl Maintenance. She lays an egg a day. Her two sisters are just ducky. She hunches down into her shoulders a lot and is very jumpy. She was just standing in the shade of the hut today....with her tail pointed down....panting...for sometime....then she got tired of me watching her and went about duck business. Any ideas? Vet is an hour away....and self proclaimed non-duck savvy.

 

[bt03]

What is the temperature where you are? I have 2 ducks that pant constantly if they are not in the pool or under the mister that we set up for them. If she is otherwise fine she may just be a bit hotter than the other ducks. Just like people they are all different and some need extra help staying cool.

 

[Amiga]

ditto bt03 on differences between ducks. Sieben and Funf HATE cold weather - for them, cold is below 35F. They hunch down and shiver and grumble, which Zehn trots merrily along chuckling about the brisk breezes.

Your duck may need a big cold pan of water. The tail down is something I see when there's an egg that needs to be laid - in fact, we're working through a low-calcium situation probably brought on by a combination of foraging for low-calcium foods and not eating enough oyster shell (they are served organic laying mash, by the way).

Often when one of my ducks (it's usually one of three who tend toward the calcium issue) has her tail down, within an hour or so she lays a soft-shelled egg and then a few minutes later happily trots around the yard.

Just some thoughts, I hope something helps.

 

[Just_Ducky_In_NH]

It is warming up from our usual northern buggy cool summer....but only 60 this morning. You know...I thought she was trying to lay...but standing. We usually get a nice little nest of three eggs every morning but this morning just one.

I waited and found one in the yard (Libby) and the duck that was nesting to lay was Katy not the ill duck, Claire. I gave them shell last night...it is like candy for them but Claire was late to the fest...still got some. They do forage once a day and that is a good point that they fill up on less nutritional food.

I'll go home this afternoon and cool everyone down with a clean pond and see how she is.

thanks. any other thoughts about the hunching and actually her mouth is always open...tongue panting out weather she is panting or not.

 

[Amiga]

Hmmm - are her nares stopped up? Maybe she's got something packed in there.

 

[Just_Ducky_In_NH]

CAN it be that simple?.....why...maybe....I look for things like runny nose ...they've always loved the water...i just assume they are all cleaning their beaks...maybe she can't maybe it's dried on like cement!

egg shell can do that....it is like glue sometimes.

BTW...we don't let them eat their own eggs.....we do save the shells and dry them and then put them in a little grinder and sprinkle it in their water for calcium.

 

[Amiga]

One day the ducks were messing around, I don't remember just where, but I do remember several little ducky faces looking up at me with organic matter just CAKED onto their bills. They were mouth breathing, as they couldn't use their nares. I pulled the gummy stuff (think of the consistency of modeling clay) off their bills and they cleaned the rest in the water bucket.

 

[Just_Ducky_In_NH]

just reporting back that it was indeed, a clogged beak...i let her play in the hose in a sandy puddle and she cleaned it off.

 

[newbyduckmom]

Okay, terminology I have not heard before "nares"?

The equivalent of duckie nostrils maybe?? Assume the little holes in their bills?

 

[Amiga]

Yup. Nares are ducky nostrils.

Off topic - ever notice that a duck's bill looks like a dog mask?