Sick Muscovey -This is going to be disturbing so don't read unless you have some postmortem advice.

HawaiiMuscovy

In the Brooder
Mar 10, 2016
4
0
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Hi there,

This is about a very sick 6 month old Muscovey duck who went off her feed. Usually this is fatal for a duck, we've only been able to rescue two of our sick ones. It is hard to make the decision to slaughter but I always do an autopsy. Most of the time it is a stuck egg or unknown. This time was pretty disgusting, her body cavity had a half cup or more of blood in it. Her liver was easily four times normal and her gall bladder was almost the same size as the liver. I would really like to know what you guys and gals think what went wrong. She was a beautiful duck with outstanding feathers.
 
Thank you, I will be reading up on that. They are free range on a fenced acre of pasture and orchard trees and a 6,000 gallon pond with guppies and swordtails. They get supplemented with Dumor Layer Feed, oyster shell, and cinder. They also eat papayas and bananas when they find them on the ground. Of course they eat all the bad guys, slugs, frogs, etc. Unfortunately, we have Cane Toads here which are poisonous. I don't see anything in the literature about this being caused by a toxin though.
 
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OHLD’s may be right. I know little about ducks, but fatty liver hemorrhagic disease happens in chickens, and there can be hemorrhage, an enlarged liver, and the liver can be tan or putty colored, but not always. There are many causes, including heredity, mold toxins, dietary causes, and others. Getting a professional necropsy by your state vet is the best way to get a cause of death. Sorry for your loss. Here is some reading:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...f-fatty-liver-hemorrhagic-syndrome-in-poultry

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/fatty-liver-syndrome
 

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