Mightymumks
Hatching
- Sep 6, 2018
- 4
- 7
- 8
Hello. I have been lurking here and reading and utilizing your forum for years, but have never posted. Backyard chicken has helped me immensely. Today I am desperate for advice regarding one of my 4 pekin ducks, Mollie. I acquired these 4 from a neighbor about 2 months ago, 3 females and 1 male. I currently have a happy healthy flock of 14 chickens of mixed breeds. So i added on a new 16 x 16 run for the ducks, and added 2 baby pools and a 2 ft deep stock tank for the ducks to swim in. Their pools are emptied twice a day. They also have their own area to nest in at night.
They intermingle with the chickens throughout the day. I feed them layer crumbles. Nothing fancy. But also at least twice a day, they are fed fruits and vegetables from the garden, including sliced cucumbers, canteloupe, watermelon, squash, peaches, strawberries and pears. I also feed them a variety of fresh grass a least twice a day.
4 days ago, after filling their pool, i was going into my barn when i heard a loud commotion and quacking. I looked towards the run and saw mollie in the pool with her neck stretched stiffly upward, and then she flipped over backwards out of the pool. I immediately ran to the run, and looked in as i fumbled to open the door, and I thought she was dead. I scooped her up off the ground, where she jad started slowly flapping her wings in the mud. I removed her from the crowd and held her in my arms while she quickly regained her posture and started moving. When i set her down, she was a little clumsy at first. Soon she was acting normal, so i put her back and kept a close eye on her.
She was immediately stand-offish... quiet and won't get in the pool with the others. She won't eat, but mimics the others, and acts like she is eating. She is drinking a lot, or trying to. She shakes her beak a lot, and her muscles look like she is swallowing excessively. She also lifts her wings slightly off her body, repeatedly and constantly, unless she is sleeping, almost like a nervous twitch. I bought Durvet vitamins and electrolytes and gave her a dose orally, which seemed to mostly run out the sides of her beak.
She panics when i touch her neck. And twice that i have observed, she has panicked and acted like she was choking. But this morning, I was able to get her isolated and used a flashlight to look down her throat and in the roof of her mouth, and saw no obstruction. I did, however, notice that when feeling her neck with my hand, she became quite nervous and exhaled kind of like a gasp and squirmed, when my hand reached just the point where her neck meets her body. I have mixed some crumbles with water in an attempt to get some food in her system, but I'm not sure if she is eating any, or just stirring it around.
I have called both of my vets, and neither one treat poultry. I am getting quite nervous, as it has been 4 days now, and she still is not better. She will not swim and will not eat, and sits quietly by herself. I am fearful that she may have something lodged in her throat, or in her windpipe, but don't know how to help her. Its absolutely heartbreaking to watch her struggle like this. I feel helpless.
They intermingle with the chickens throughout the day. I feed them layer crumbles. Nothing fancy. But also at least twice a day, they are fed fruits and vegetables from the garden, including sliced cucumbers, canteloupe, watermelon, squash, peaches, strawberries and pears. I also feed them a variety of fresh grass a least twice a day.
4 days ago, after filling their pool, i was going into my barn when i heard a loud commotion and quacking. I looked towards the run and saw mollie in the pool with her neck stretched stiffly upward, and then she flipped over backwards out of the pool. I immediately ran to the run, and looked in as i fumbled to open the door, and I thought she was dead. I scooped her up off the ground, where she jad started slowly flapping her wings in the mud. I removed her from the crowd and held her in my arms while she quickly regained her posture and started moving. When i set her down, she was a little clumsy at first. Soon she was acting normal, so i put her back and kept a close eye on her.
She was immediately stand-offish... quiet and won't get in the pool with the others. She won't eat, but mimics the others, and acts like she is eating. She is drinking a lot, or trying to. She shakes her beak a lot, and her muscles look like she is swallowing excessively. She also lifts her wings slightly off her body, repeatedly and constantly, unless she is sleeping, almost like a nervous twitch. I bought Durvet vitamins and electrolytes and gave her a dose orally, which seemed to mostly run out the sides of her beak.
She panics when i touch her neck. And twice that i have observed, she has panicked and acted like she was choking. But this morning, I was able to get her isolated and used a flashlight to look down her throat and in the roof of her mouth, and saw no obstruction. I did, however, notice that when feeling her neck with my hand, she became quite nervous and exhaled kind of like a gasp and squirmed, when my hand reached just the point where her neck meets her body. I have mixed some crumbles with water in an attempt to get some food in her system, but I'm not sure if she is eating any, or just stirring it around.
I have called both of my vets, and neither one treat poultry. I am getting quite nervous, as it has been 4 days now, and she still is not better. She will not swim and will not eat, and sits quietly by herself. I am fearful that she may have something lodged in her throat, or in her windpipe, but don't know how to help her. Its absolutely heartbreaking to watch her struggle like this. I feel helpless.
Also if she has an egg broken inside, there isn’t much you can do for that either. 
That’s what we like to hear .
