Martha is an almost two-year old silver Appleyard duck who lives with a small flock totaling six ducks (5 ducks/1 drake). Martha is the smallest duck and possibly our best egg-layer. She's also quite spunky and has traditionally been our broodiest girl.
This evening, she appeared to play and eat like normal with everyone else, but when she went into the duckhouse like usual, she refused mealworms (she's usually the number one fan!). Then it became apparent she was moving slower as she went back down the ramp to get water. Upon closer inspection, she appeared somewhat bloated and quite slow-moving and almost limping. Here's a short video:
I've had the flu and been in bed for a couple days, so I did not observe her myself, check for bloating or do a physical exam--I will first thing in the morning. There was also this egg this morning, which may or may not be related:
The only other major change is that our drake has been removed from the flock for the past could days because of a prolapsed penis (he's doing well and living inside at the moment).
Of course these things always seen to happen on Friday evening before a weekend that is forecasted to be very snowy. As such, getting Martha to a vet in a timely fashion may be more or a challenge than usual. Any advice on what to look for when I do my exam in the morning, as well as any actions we should take, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
This evening, she appeared to play and eat like normal with everyone else, but when she went into the duckhouse like usual, she refused mealworms (she's usually the number one fan!). Then it became apparent she was moving slower as she went back down the ramp to get water. Upon closer inspection, she appeared somewhat bloated and quite slow-moving and almost limping. Here's a short video:
I've had the flu and been in bed for a couple days, so I did not observe her myself, check for bloating or do a physical exam--I will first thing in the morning. There was also this egg this morning, which may or may not be related:
The only other major change is that our drake has been removed from the flock for the past could days because of a prolapsed penis (he's doing well and living inside at the moment).
Of course these things always seen to happen on Friday evening before a weekend that is forecasted to be very snowy. As such, getting Martha to a vet in a timely fashion may be more or a challenge than usual. Any advice on what to look for when I do my exam in the morning, as well as any actions we should take, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
