Sick duck!

[Avian Allie]

I got three ducklings from tsc early last month. They have been in my bathtub because my coop build had to be delayed. About three days ago I noticed one was a little raspy, assuming it was just a voice change I let them in the current duck run for the day. Last night she broke a blood feather and lost a lot of blood and I noticed she was really hot. Her lungs were crackly and breathing was labored. There is no way to get antibiotics or go to a vet, what can I do? She already has poultry RX on her beak, colloidal silver and ACV in the water and I just added a little GSE. She is laying down and having trouble breathing. She has eaten and drank all day, but I’m really worried, she doesn’t look so great. TIA.

 

[DuckyDonna]

@MasterOfClucker can you please help her? I just don't know what to tell her to do other than keep her apart from the others, warm, dry and have water and food nearby

 

[Isaac 0]

Can you post a video of her breathing? In my experience crackly breathing usually means fluid build up inside the lungs/throat, although its hard to tell without a video. For now, keep her in a warm/quiet place with food and water as mentioned above and don't try to administer any fluids orally just yet.

 

[Isaac 0]

A few more questions, What kind of bedding are you using? What are you feeding? How old? What's the temp in the brooder? Do you have deep enough water so they can clean their nares out with?

 

[Avian Allie]

A few more questions, What kind of bedding are you using? What are you feeding? How old? What's the temp in the brooder? Do you have deep enough water so they can clean their nares out with?

We are using pine or aspen bedding over cardboard. For feed I have non-medicated chick starter with brewers yeast added in.
They have a pan that’s plenty big enough for them to clean narres out in, and it gets cleaned a few times a day. I believe almost two months, they are mostly feathered, except their backs, and wings growing in. I don’t have a thermometer in my bathtub, but they seem very comfortable. It got a bit wet in there because they learned how to dump their water (apparently they weren’t getting enough baths in a day) and then they started laying in their water pan. It’s fixed now so they are staying dryer.
You can’t hear crackling unless your ear is right over her lungs, but you can hear wheezing while she is just laying down. She also keeps gaping her mouth, almost like she’s choking, but there’s nothing in her throat. They have been overheating with a light for about two weeks, but I turned it on tonight for a short time and she seemed happy for it. Thank you guys so much, I love my ducks and don’t know how to help them.
They usually get a bath everyday and then dried off, but I couldn’t today because of the broken blood feather, I didn’t want it to start bleeding again!

 

[Isaac 0]

Could you get them in a bigger brooder so they can move away from the heat as needed ? Do you have a video of her breathing ?

 

[Avian Allie]

Could you get them in a bigger brooder so they can move away from the heat as needed ? Do you have a video of her breathing ?

I can’t get a video right now. I’m afraid my bathtub is the only place we have for ducklings right now. We are almost a month behind on building their house, but I should have it built in the next week. I have chicks in my current brooder (which is smaller then the tub anyway) and the largest dog kennel is already taken by a chicken with an eye infection. I don’t believe the heat is a problem because even with the heat lamp off my bathroom is still pretty warm and they seem comfortable. Which believe me they will let you know when they aren’t happy about something.

 

[Isaac 0]

Try putting them in a basket and set them in room temp for a little bit and see if the panting stops, If you could get us a video today as well that would be great!

 

[Avian Allie]

Thank you for your help. Even at room temp she was having trouble breathing. It wasn’t panting like when they’re hot but almost a heaving. I added fresh garlic along with the other stuff, said some prayers and she was breathing better the next morning. I continued the vet RX poultry aid yesterday just because. Today she is breathing like normal and happy. I think we just had a minor bout of pneumonia.

 

[Isaac 0]

Glad to hear it resolved itself, make sure to keep us posted if any symptoms start to reoccur.