Please help, duckling at stake!

[Kelticd]

We got three ducklings at our local farm and ranch store today, all three looking healthy and fine when we picked them out.
We got home and one of them seems to be drinking a lot more water than the other two, as well as doing a neck bob that makes me think it's trying to swallow down something. It also occasionally has bubbles coming out the sides of it's beak when it tries to wash whatever it is down with water.

If anyone has any ideas what is going on or how to help please let me know! We don't want to lose it, let alone the very day we bring it home

 

[MGG]

We got three ducklings at our local farm and ranch store today, all three looking healthy and fine when we picked them out.
We got home and one of them seems to be drinking a lot more water than the other two, as well as doing a neck bob that makes me think it's trying to swallow down something. It also occasionally has bubbles coming out the sides of it's beak when it tries to wash whatever it is down with water.

If anyone has any ideas what is going on or how to help please let me know! We don't want to lose it, let alone the very day we bring it home

Welcome to BYC! I'm sorry about your duckling! Can you post a video of it? It's hard to know exactly what's going on over the internet.

 

[Xouie]

Are his nostrils clear? Sometimes at the store they don’t have deep enough water to wash out their bills, and the chick crumble can clog the nostrils and cause them to drink a lot when a good water source is later made available.

 

[Isaac 0]

Could you take a video of the duckling doing the action, upload it to youtube, or Vimeo, and copy/paste the link here?

Ducklings, and other young fowl, may occasionally eat shavings, or other fibrous material that can get stuck in their espagous, and cause limitation to the amount of feed/water that can enter down, resulting in food, and water buildup back up into to the mouth. If you hold the duckling and try feeling along its neck, do you feel anything? You can gently try moving your fingers along its neck to help the forward progression of the object if there is a blockage.

If you are using shavings, or straw, as a precautionary measure, I would switch that out for paper towels, or puppy pee pads in case the duck is ingesting the material. Ensure the duckling has nare deep water.

 

[Kelticd]

Welcome to BYC! I'm sorry about your duckling! Can you post a video of it? It's hard to know exactly what's going on over the internet.

Yes, I took a short video just now. The poor thing is seeming exhausted and has been struggling like this for a little bit.

Isaac I didn't know that about the pine shavings, they were what was suggested to me by folks I've talked to before about ducklings. They do have shavings for bedding

 

[Kelticd]

I've checked and there is a lump present on that duckling that is not there for the others right nehind the bottom of the bill

 

[Isaac 0]

Yes, I took a short video just now. The poor thing is seeming exhausted and has been struggling like this for a little bit.

Isaac I didn't know that about the pine shavings, they were what was suggested to me by folks I've talked to before about ducklings. They do have shavings for bedding

Thanks for the video - the head movements, and overall behavior the duckling is doing is indicative of a blockage. Please refer to my post above as far as what you can do to help. Shavings are suitable bedding for ducklings, but in some cases, they try to eat them. It's often suggested to keep them on towels until they are older and have associated what feed is.

Do gentle massages along the neck, and hopefully, that will encourage whatever is stuck downward. With such a young bird, unfortunately, that is pretty much the extent that you can do at home, sometimes the bird needs to resolve the problem itself. If you see improvement afterwards, I would consider vitamin therapy afterward using a poultry vitamin such as Nutri-dench.

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

Welcome to BYC. Sorry to hear about your duckling.

 

[MGG]

I 100% agree with Isaac, I was going to say the same thing until I saw he did.
Poor baby. Can you switch the shavings out for towels or puppy pads for a bit? Just so none of the others eat any.

 

[Kelticd]

We swapped the bedding and have tried the gentle massaging. The lump is still stuck and hasn't moved much if any.