Sick Duck

[mrsshaffer]

I have a female duck that is breathing very heavy. She seems to be wheezing for air. I have removed her from the coop that she was staying in, we had her in a coop with turkeys. She started breathing heavy yesterday and today it looked as if the turkeys have been pecking at her head also. Any ideas of how to help my poor duck?

 

[Amiga]

This could be a respiratory infection - those can be bacterial or fungal. Sometimes they get viruses, like we get colds.

A vet would be best.

If that is not an option, then look into getting some antibiotics to put in her water. A couple of drops of oil of oregano in a gallon of water might help - that is just something I thought of based on the oil's antimicrobial properties. But she may be in more critical condition than that will help with, I cannot know.

If antibiotics don't start making her better after a few days, she may have a fungal infection and would need different medicine.

That's why a vet would be a big help.

Sometimes I find useful information at Majestic Waterfowl - one of their ducks picked up a fungal lung infection last year and they have written about that in their newsletter.