Pekin Duck stomach sounds

[Eekeeky]

Hi I have 2 Pekin ducks, both females who are about 6 months old. They both are laying 1 egg per day. A day ago I noticed one of them had very odd sounds coming from her belly. It literally sounds and feels like “crunching”. She acts just fine but the sound is loud and makes me worry. I saw a couple threads on here regarding this but I cannot get a clear idea of what it could be. Do I need to be concerned? Any help is appreciated!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Birds have a crop, and a gizzard. The gizzard grinds grains up with the help of stones or grit that the bird eats. I've never heard that sound, but I also don't get that close to my birds usually unless necessary. What do you feed?

 

[Eekeeky]

Dumor layer feed, normally mixed with a little whole grain uncooked oatmeal. They forage a lot in the yard. They get meal worms as treats and kale everyday.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I fed uncooked oatmeal two winters ago until I started to get sick birds. Apparently the oats can form a sludge like mass if they aren't cooked down, so just sharing what happened to me. Whole oats are a better option.

 

[Isaac 0]

Great advice by @oldhenlikesdogs .

If I might add. I notice you're feeding Dumor Layer Feed, which only contains around 19.14mg of niacin per pound when in reality Pekins should be getting around 55mg to 70mg of niacin per kg of feed. To promote healthy legs, you may want to switch something with a higher niacin content, and that's formulated for ducks or all poultry, such as All Flock feed, Purina flock raiser, manna-pro, or Mazuri.

Out of curiosity, is there a reason you're adding oats to their feed?

 

[Eekeeky]

I fed uncooked oatmeal two winters ago until I started to get sick birds. Apparently the oats can form a sludge like mass if they aren't cooked down, so just sharing what happened to me. Whole oats are a better option.

These are just Quaker Oats and it says whole oats. Is that not a good option? There isn’t much in each feeding. Maybe a handful.

 

[Eekeeky]

Great advice by @oldhenlikesdogs .

If I might add. I notice you're feeding Dumor Layer Feed, which only contains around 19.14mg of niacin per pound when in reality Pekins should be getting around 55mg to 70mg of niacin per kg of feed. To promote healthy legs, you may want to switch something with a higher niacin content, and that's formulated for ducks or all poultry, such as All Flock feed, Purina flock raiser, manna-pro, or Mazuri.

Out of curiosity, is there a reason you're adding oats to their feed?

Thank you for the reply. I do give brewers yeast to them at every other feeding but I will definitely switch up the food to ensure they are getting the proper amount. I only added oats because after researching what ducks can eat it was an option. Is this something I shouldn’t do? It is a handful of Quaker Oats whole rolled oats. They weren’t really eating their feed so I thought maybe it would entice them a little.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

These are just Quaker Oats and it says whole oats. Is that not a good option? There isn’t much in each feeding. Maybe a handful.

That's what I used. I had the problem with my chickens. After stopping them my deaths that winter stopped. I will never feed birds oatmeal oats again personally. Regular old feed oats is what I would use if I wanted to feed oats.

These were just my experiences. I didn't have problems feeding oatmeal oats that were moistened. I decided to feed them dry. Now I won't feed them at all to my birds.

 

[Eekeeky]

Thank you for that. I will stop adding oats. I had no idea it could make them sick. I still wonder what the crunching sound is coming from her belly. It has been going on for almost 3 days. She seems happy and healthy otherwise.

 

[Isaac 0]

Thank you for the reply. I do give brewers yeast to them at every other feeding but I will definitely switch up the food to ensure they are getting the proper amount. I only added oats because after researching what ducks can eat it was an option. Is this something I shouldn’t do? It is a handful of Quaker Oats whole rolled oats. They weren’t really eating their feed so I thought maybe it would entice them a little.

Be sure to check the brewer's yeast niacin content, I did some research and found several common brands that lacked niacin (only contain 5mg of niacin per two tablespoons). You want to have something around the 15mg per two tablespoon mark. As long as you're feeding them a nutritionally complete diet, I would see no reason to add oats.