Sexing

[Speceider]

I am a little unclear how old the duckling was, and how they already knew it's sex......on necropsy, there wouldn't be any urine in the body cavity because birds do not produce urine...there are lots of possible reasons for retaining fluid.....I'd have to look some stuff up to hazard a guess.....in the shape described and depending upon age, the testis (if it was actually a drake would have been something like a mm and extremely hard to find if you didn't know exactly where to look and didn't damage them on necropsy....also the penis would be extremely small, and again, unless they knew exactly where to look it could be extremely hard to find.....

Clint

 

[Speceider]

finally found some of my books (I'm moving so much is boxed up)...sounds like the bird had ascites....which just means fluid retention...generally caused by toxins (vPCBs and Dioxin, creosol and coal tar products), viruses, and bacterial infection, but without culturing, there is no way to say which bacteria...if it was associated with liver disease yellow or green feces may be seen....if tumors, the masses may be seen. The fluid results from increased blood pressure and vessel permeability. Also, if a bird is too fat, the pressure on the heart and internal organs can cause ascites. The only way to know for sure is to have a trained patholigist conduct the necropsy and send samples for culturing.

Clint

 

[learycow]

I agree with Clint.

Birds do not produce urine. And even if the bird had no reproductive organs, it doesn't mean it couldn't poop. And depending on age (I asked this question earlier and never got an answer) it probably would've passed a lot sooner if it couldn't pass feces. They cannot live long if they can't poop.

It sounds like it had some sort of abscess in the abdomen. This can be from a number of reasons. Your duck could've swallowed a nail or other sharp object that could've punctured an organ or abscessed that way.
It could be from eating something toxic or an infection from eating something bad

There are many reasons but I do not think the reason it passed has anything to do with it's gender.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Dragonfly- are you going to have a necropsy performed? I bet it would tell you some interesting and useful info. You State Ag college should be able to do it, but they'll have specific instructions for you. I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[Shikoba70]

It would be too late now for a necropsy as the body has to be kept chilled , plus it has already been cut open so organs will be decomposing . You can get ascites in the abdomen through heart failure and the duck was said to have an enlarged heart and fluid in lungs. Ascites is slightly yellow in colour so thats where the thought of urine came from . It can also be caused by peritonitis /pancreatitis or liver failure. From the description it sounds like it was a young duck so probably was born with some congenital problem that meant it would never thrive