I've always noticed that my duck had been sick ever since he was a duckling. However being a mere high school student I can't take him to any avian, especially due to the financial cost. He is approximately just over 3 months old and seeing how he passed the stage as a young duckling, I was happy to know that there would be an increase on his survival rate. Lately though, I've began to notice a slight change in behavior.
This may just be nothing, but lately it would appear that his mood isn't so great, he used to follow me around and quack happily, however lately he has been getting quite angry, raising his feathers and avoiding me. In addition to that, his breathing has also become rather hard, you can hear whistle like breaths come in and out of his nose. I check quite regularly in case his nose was blocked and most of the time they weren't. Not so long ago, I noticed a yellow ring forming about his eyes, well rather both of my ducks eyes. Seeing that, I began to change the water of the bucket more frequently so they can wash their eyes without getting reinfected and as if successful, the yellow rings have shrunk down and are barely noticeable now.
I'm not sure if this would add to anything, but recently whilst I was out, it would appear that he had managed to hurt himself somehow, there was an 1cm cut on his beak and it had appeared to have bled quite a lot (seeing how there was blood on the other duck's feathers). I had immediately gave him warm water then to wash his beak and changed the water continuously, it didn't seem to affect him in any way, he was still eating and running as per normal.
As a first time duck owner myself, I'm not entirely sure what may be the cause, I live in Australia and winter is indeed approaching, the nights are now reaching about 10 to 5 degrees Celsius, they currently do not have a heat lamp, but I am certainly investing to get one (though their pen is quite small and I'm unsure as to where to put it). Their feed has been changed from starter feed to a mix grain poultry bag (and as a result that I have read on the internet, seeing how corn was involved, their feathers have begun to grow in a yellow tint). I change their frequently from the morning to twice in the afternoon, evening and before bed. Approximately at 8am everyday we let them out of their pen, bring them indoors (as it would appear to have grown into a daily habit for both them and us) as soon as it gets dark out and bring them to bed around 9pm.
When they were younger, they use to pant quite a lot however I had suspected that that was due to them sleeping on top a fabric indoors as they accumulated heat and had been reduced incredibly once I removed the fabric. However now, even with the house slightly cold, they sometimes pant and their breaths get extremely uneven and heavy making me realise that they cant even take a nap in peace inside. I'm wondering if something had perhaps infected their respiratory system or perhaps if they have the case of worms or something.
I'm honestly not sure what I can do or what is happening. If you know what may be the cause of if there are any kind of medication I could be giving them please tell me.
I may have blabbed on quite a lot, but I wanted to give as many information as possible, if more is required please don't hesitate to ask me, I want all the best for my ducks.
This may just be nothing, but lately it would appear that his mood isn't so great, he used to follow me around and quack happily, however lately he has been getting quite angry, raising his feathers and avoiding me. In addition to that, his breathing has also become rather hard, you can hear whistle like breaths come in and out of his nose. I check quite regularly in case his nose was blocked and most of the time they weren't. Not so long ago, I noticed a yellow ring forming about his eyes, well rather both of my ducks eyes. Seeing that, I began to change the water of the bucket more frequently so they can wash their eyes without getting reinfected and as if successful, the yellow rings have shrunk down and are barely noticeable now.
I'm not sure if this would add to anything, but recently whilst I was out, it would appear that he had managed to hurt himself somehow, there was an 1cm cut on his beak and it had appeared to have bled quite a lot (seeing how there was blood on the other duck's feathers). I had immediately gave him warm water then to wash his beak and changed the water continuously, it didn't seem to affect him in any way, he was still eating and running as per normal.
As a first time duck owner myself, I'm not entirely sure what may be the cause, I live in Australia and winter is indeed approaching, the nights are now reaching about 10 to 5 degrees Celsius, they currently do not have a heat lamp, but I am certainly investing to get one (though their pen is quite small and I'm unsure as to where to put it). Their feed has been changed from starter feed to a mix grain poultry bag (and as a result that I have read on the internet, seeing how corn was involved, their feathers have begun to grow in a yellow tint). I change their frequently from the morning to twice in the afternoon, evening and before bed. Approximately at 8am everyday we let them out of their pen, bring them indoors (as it would appear to have grown into a daily habit for both them and us) as soon as it gets dark out and bring them to bed around 9pm.
When they were younger, they use to pant quite a lot however I had suspected that that was due to them sleeping on top a fabric indoors as they accumulated heat and had been reduced incredibly once I removed the fabric. However now, even with the house slightly cold, they sometimes pant and their breaths get extremely uneven and heavy making me realise that they cant even take a nap in peace inside. I'm wondering if something had perhaps infected their respiratory system or perhaps if they have the case of worms or something.
I'm honestly not sure what I can do or what is happening. If you know what may be the cause of if there are any kind of medication I could be giving them please tell me.
I may have blabbed on quite a lot, but I wanted to give as many information as possible, if more is required please don't hesitate to ask me, I want all the best for my ducks.
