Please help, Sick duck!

[Rebeccagane]

I have a female call duck, 7 months old, who hasn't started laying yet. She has one other companion who is completely fine.

She's showing signs of:

- lethargy
- loss of appetite
- laboured breathing
- a tiny bit of diarrhoea (but that may just be the rain watering it down)
- she just looks worn down

She's still walking around, preening and swimming occasionally but very slowly. The only thing I could find that matches her symptoms is Avian cholera but surely the other duck would have it too?

Should I clean out her pond as a precaution?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have a female call duck, 7 months old, who hasn't started laying yet. She has one other companion who is completely fine.

She's showing signs of:

- lethargy
- loss of appetite
- laboured breathing
- a tiny bit of diarrhea (but that may just be the rain watering it down)
- she just looks worn down

She's still walking around, preening and swimming occasionally but very slowly. The only thing I could find that matches her symptoms is Avian cholera but surely the other duck would have it too?

Should I clean out her pond as a precaution?

If you suspect the pond then by all means clean it out. I am going through most of this right now with a Muscovy duck all but the diarrhea, Mines problem was an egg, I brought her in yesterday put her in the tub with nice warm water and let her float around for about 2 hrs, putting warm water in when it would start cooling down, then after she soaked for that time I drained all the water, I made her a bed in the tub with clean towels put her food and water in there [vitamin water] this morning she didn't seem much better but after I was up about an hour she laid an egg it wasn't super soft but wasn't hard shelled like most are but was intact. She still isn't eating but she has drank some vitamin water. Has your duck ever laid an egg yet? do you think this maybe her problem? My duck was breathing different than normal also. Just a thought of might maybe going on.Bacteria can build up inside a pond or pool also so there is a possibility it's something else, but when i was researching egg bound ducks they said when they first start up laying this can happen. I hope you can figure it out.

 

[Amiga]

I would suspect egg yolk peritonitis, or perhaps, since she is just getting to be old enough to lay, some kind of oviduct problem. Ideally, you would have access to a vet who understands ducks, or even chickens, since some of their laying problems can be similar.

If it is peritonitis, that can sometimes be successfully treated with the right antibiotic.

I don't want to make you feel worse, but if it is a serious problem with her egg laying system, there may not be much to do other than help her feel more comfortable and give her vitamins and keep her relatively warm, with plenty of fresh water.

What kind of pond does she have? We have kiddie pools that I dump and rinse out at least every couple of days.

 

[Rebeccagane]

I've fenced it off for now. She hasn't started laying yet no. Though she keeps laying down as if she were going to. When she did lay down she pooped a tiny bit of diarrhoea, could that possibly be her trying to push an egg out? It crossed my mind that she may be having trouble with her first egg since she's the right age to start. I've avoided handling her in case I make it harder for her to lay one but if it carries on I may have to try your idea. The only problem would be the other duck but he'll have to make do. I'll keep you posted. Thanks so much for your help

 

[Amiga]

Another thought - one drake, one duck. Is he overmating her?

Also, I would definitely give her an extra calcium boost. Is she getting layer pellets? Free choice oyster shell?

I would separate her from him by a fence so they can still sit right next to each other, and start giving her a teaspoon of 23% calcium gluconate per half cup of water in her drinking water. Also, a quarter teaspoon of Ca gluconate mashed into four tablespoons of peas, and give her one tablespoon of that per day (the rest in the frij for next time).

This is based on information from my vet, and my own experience.

(good grief - I dislike the spell checker and I forgot to proofread before submitting the comment. gag)

 

[Rebeccagane]

I never really see him mating with her. He's aggressive with us though. Since we only have two of them I guess maybe she's taking more than she can handle. I've been feeding her 'Just Natural' Grower and maintenance. I did ask the shop attendant whether it's suitable for laying ducks, could that be an issue? She does oyster shell in her pen, but both her and her mate are funny about food... they won't eat anything that isn't their pellet. Could I grind it up finely into water?

I'll try everything you've suggested, Amiga thank you!

 

[Amiga]

My ducks are so different from one another. Some eat oyster shell some don't. Some seem fine with layer feed only. Some I hand feed calcium-laden treats or their eggs are soft.

 

[Rebeccagane]

This is an extremely late reply! Very sorry!

Turns out she was egg bound. I rushed her over to a friends house who managed to carefully 'excavate' a lot of yolk... but no egg shell. So I, like advised, kept her cosy in the bath and a few hours into the night she laid this rather crumpled looking eggshell!

Thank you all for the help, I'm forever grateful and so is she!