Sick Duck?

[RuralMama]

I have a duck that has been acting strange the last week. I noticed that her breastbone looked a lot lower than the other Pekins and there was a a big dip between her leg and the breast bone. I thought maybe she wasn't getting enough food and had lost weight so I picked her up, she felt fine, plenty of meat. I watched her eat with the flock and she rushed right in and got her fill, so I know she was eating fine. A couple days later she was having trouble keeping her left wing up on her back, and now it kind of drags the ground sometimes. Today I went out to feed and her whole chest seems swollen and she was VERY lethargic and couldn't really run. She also was laying a lot and panting more than my other ducks (it is SO hot here, so EVERYONE is panting during the day). I removed her from the flock and she doesn't even seem to care. She is eating and drinking fine, but she just wants to lay around.


This is my "sick duck" about a week ago, from the side.


This is what my other Pekin look like.


This is my "sick duck" Today after I separated her from the flock. She is standing up not laying down.

Does anyone have any ideas on what this could be? I've never experienced this with any of my past ducks.

Thank you for any information you can provide!

 

[Chick1043]

Hope your ducks gets well soon! And some one knows whats wrong!

 

[RuralMama]

Thank you, I hope so too! I added photos to my post as well, to help give an idea of what I've been seeing.

 

[Amiga]

How is her weight? Is it possible she has parasites (like worms)?

 

[RuralMama]

Her weight appears normal, there is always a possibility of worms, any suggestion on the best product to use in case she has a big load? I wouldn't want to overload her system by killing them off too fast. Today she is doing better it seems. She is still swollen but she is not panting as bad as she was yesterday. She is in a small pen up against the back side of my house that is mostly shade all day plus I have a tablecloth over the pen just in case the sun does come through as it moves. She drank a good amount of water through the night but didn't really eat much, which is odd, I expected it to be all gone. Oh forgot to mention she is only about 3 months old, if that helps any.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Her weight appears normal, there is always a possibility of worms, any suggestion on the best product to use in case she has a big load? I wouldn't want to overload her system by killing them off too fast. Today she is doing better it seems. She is still swollen but she is not panting as bad as she was yesterday. She is in a small pen up against the back side of my house that is mostly shade all day plus I have a tablecloth over the pen just in case the sun does come through as it moves. She drank a good amount of water through the night but didn't really eat much, which is odd, I expected it to be all gone. Oh forgot to mention she is only about 3 months old, if that helps any.

Well that rules out egg bound, could she have eaten something that may have disagreed with her? maybe some molasses in her water for a day or Amiga likes to say Charcoal not the kind you use in grilling but you can buy the capsules at most drug stores, it will help remove any toxin she may have ingested. I use Wazine to worm my flock chickens/ducks/goose but ducks don't usually get worms like chickens because their body temp. is so high it kills off most things. The wazine is for round worms only. I have been using Epernix pour on for all other parasites. Zimectrin gold is another good wormer. But I would give her electrolytes and vitamins and try either molasses or charcoal to help with getting rid of maybe some kind of toxin she may have eaten . maybe try getting a stool sample checked by your vet before worming since she is weak right now. .

 

[RuralMama]

Thank you for all your help, this has never happened to one of my ducks before and I am at a loss at trying to figure out what is wrong.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you for all your help, this has never happened to one of my ducks before and I am at a loss at trying to figure out what is wrong.

Ducks are very hardy, and can usually over come most issues, Maybe just with support of vits and electrolytes she work it out on her own. I hope so. Does she seem worse ,same or slightly improved or much improved?

 

[RuralMama]

I don't think it hurts her, she is just so swollen still. I picked her up and rubbed it and it isn't hard just a really big fluid-like pouch. She doesn't seem bothered by the fact that she isn't with the other ducks and likes the dog house and pen I set her up in and is really relaxed. I added some D.E. to her grain, but she really isn't eating much, just drinking a lot. I hope it is something she can overcome.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I don't think it hurts her, she is just so swollen still. I picked her up and rubbed it and it isn't hard just a really big fluid-like pouch. She doesn't seem bothered by the fact that she isn't with the other ducks and likes the dog house and pen I set her up in and is really relaxed. I added some D.E. to her grain, but she really isn't eating much, just drinking a lot. I hope it is something she can overcome.

have you actually looked at her skin where this pouch is? could she have injured herself and this is an abcess? part her feathers and actually look at the skin at this area. if she has an infection then she'll need antibiotics to get over it most likely.