Nothing prepares you for the unexpected loss of one of your birds. What you describe could be so many things. It could be smoke from the fire but if your other ducks are o.k. it probably is not. She could have eaten some bug or spider that had a toxic effect on her. It could be so many things. Double check their house and make sure there is nothing there that she may have gotten. Look around and make sure there are no shiny objects that the ducks could get and swallow. Do the best you can to protect and provide and hope that it was just one of those things and not some disease. Like Miss Lydia said, ducks can be sick for days or weeks before we even begin to notice so there was probably nothing much that you could have done by the time you noticed anything.Hey guys I need some help. The day before yesterday one of my anconas were acting strange. Kind of like she had a frog in her throat. I worried she might have ate something but there is nothing they can get to inside their pen. I kept an eye on her and noticed her breathing was a bit labored. I got pretty worried but we have had a big fire nearby and it's been really smoky outside. I thought maybe she was more sensitive then the other ducks. By evening she was quacking a little better. The next day we had to be gone for the day so I checking in on her when I could and she seemed about the same. Maybe a little better because she was running around again. This morning I let the ducks out of their house and she didn't follow. I went in to check on her and she had passed away. I was in total shock. She was just running around yesterday. None of the other ducks are acting sick at all. I've moved them all to another temp pen to be on the safe side. Anyone have any idea what this could be? I don't want my other ducks to be compromised....