Runner Breathing Kinda Hard

[Aunt Angus]

So Figgy, my 1yr old Runner, seems to be breathing kind of hard this evening. She is sitting with her sisters next to their pond and her whole body is rocking as she breathes. Def not hot - only 50° out there. Poop is 100% normal. I picked her up and looked her over. Everything looks fine. Her crop was normal, and her eyes and nares were clear. She laid an egg this morning.

Should I be concerned? Or am I being paranoid?

I feed all flock pellets with added nutritional yeast mixed in. They get cooked crushed egg shells for calcium freely available. Theh also have access to forage (grasses, dandelions, clover, worms, bugs, etc). Their water buckets are deep, and they get clean water 1-2x a day. Their pond gets cleaned every 2-3 days.

 

[Quatie]

Even if she laid an egg, she could still have egg laying issues. I would give calcium gluconate or calcium citrate just in case.

Does her beak feel warm? Does she keep panting if you put her in cool water?

 

[Aunt Angus]

Even if she laid an egg, she could still have egg laying issues. I would give calcium gluconate or calcium citrate just in case.

Does her beak feel warm? Does she keep panting if you put her in cool water?

I will check right now.

Here's a video. It's kinda dark, but you can kinda see she's moving as she breathes, which seems off to me. She seems to be laying down quite a bit, too.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Even if she laid an egg, she could still have egg laying issues. I would give calcium gluconate or calcium citrate just in case.

Does her beak feel warm? Does she keep panting if you put her in cool water?

Her bill feels as warm as everyone else's (I felt all 5 for comparison). I put her in her pond, but she's pretty upset at me for harassing her, so her breathing is rapid anyway. She's the hardest of my ducks to handle.

How should I administer the calcium? I can pop it in a chicken's beak, but I've never before given it to a duckie. And she's mad at me right now.

 

[Quatie]

So it doesn't sound like she has a fever. I can't hear her very well in the video. Is she croupy at all? I personally lean towards egg laying issues, but there are potentially other possibilities. Do you know how good the shell quality was on her egg today?

@Miss Lydia and @HollowOfWisps any other potential thoughts

On a side note, the more you handle a duck the easier and more comfortable they become with it. The duck that is the most distrustful of us has finally warmed up and stopped biting because we have to handle her every day due to a slipped tendon leg injury. But I totally get it, we all live busy lives. That is easier said than done.

.

 

[Aunt Angus]

No croupiness at all.

I can get gluconate if I go to tsc right now. Otherwise, I have tablets. Do I just give it to her straight? I found a post by @casportpony with dosage.

 

[Quatie]

Yes. You just give it straight. I always give these orally. You want them to get as much as possible.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

I am not sure this is what is going on, but it certainly will not hurt.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Ok. I'm on it.

Should I bring her inside tonight? Watch for her egg, etc?

And her ehh quality has been fine. My ducks only laid one sift egg right when they started laying. It might have been Figs because I couldn't tell their eggs apart at the time.

 

[Quatie]

I personally would bring mine in for the night to keep an eye on them. If anything other possible symptoms show up, you will know.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I personally would bring mine in for the night to keep an eye on them. If anything other possible symptoms show up, you will know.

Gave her calcium. I can hear her breathing now.