Persistent yawning in duckling--illness?

[etthos]

Longtime reader, first-time poster.

I currently have three 4wk old ducklings, two appleyards and a golden cascade. The group has been eating duck all-flock supplemented with Nutri-Drench, but today we're switching to duckling and gosling starter supplemented with Nutri-Drench and brewer's yeast + a probiotic for poultry.

One of the appleyards arrived to us as a day-old with an issue where she would frequently yawn (what looks like yawning), stretching her neck upward and opening her bill while tilting her chin down. Her nose has always sounded stuffy, but she isn't showing any other signs of respiratory or physical distress. She isn't tail pumping or doing any open-mouth breathing. She's growing at the same rate as the other ducklings, eating just as much, and has the same energy level.

I've attached pictures of the affected duckling, Gator. I've included images of her nares, ears (I considered ear infection as a possibility), and stills from a video of the yawning behavior from this morning. She's been too wiggly for me to check the inside of her mouth. The yawning behavior seems more like gagging when she's sitting down like in the stills, but the only sound is from her nares and she doesn't vomit.

Has anyone experienced this before? Is there something that can be done about it?

 

[ruthhope]

Very nice photos, Ty

I have not experienced a persistently yawning duckling. As you have checked everything, including the ear meatuses, (I am impressed by those photos!) and as the duckling is otherwise behaving and developing normally, I think this is a wait and see situation.

Keep a close eye and repoet back to us if there are any developments. Good luck!

 

[Goosebaby]

Longtime reader, first-time poster.

I currently have three 4wk old ducklings, two appleyards and a golden cascade. The group has been eating duck all-flock supplemented with Nutri-Drench, but today we're switching to duckling and gosling starter supplemented with Nutri-Drench and brewer's yeast + a probiotic for poultry.

One of the appleyards arrived to us as a day-old with an issue where she would frequently yawn (what looks like yawning), stretching her neck upward and opening her bill while tilting her chin down. Her nose has always sounded stuffy, but she isn't showing any other signs of respiratory or physical distress. She isn't tail pumping or doing any open-mouth breathing. She's growing at the same rate as the other ducklings, eating just as much, and has the same energy level.

I've attached pictures of the affected duckling, Gator. I've included images of her nares, ears (I considered ear infection as a possibility), and stills from a video of the yawning behavior from this morning. She's been too wiggly for me to check the inside of her mouth. The yawning behavior seems more like gagging when she's sitting down like in the stills, but the only sound is from her nares and she doesn't vomit.

Has anyone experienced this before? Is there something that can be done about it?

It sounds like crop adjusting, ducks don’t really have a crop in the way that chickens do, ducks and geese have more of a super stretchy esophagus, but sometimes, particularly if they’re a binge eater, they can get a little too full and they’ll adjust their esophagus by stretching the neck and yawning.