two female runners just dropped dead

[tomcorden71]

So we have (had) two male and two female runners. They spend all day rooting round in the back garden and have done for the last year no problem. We also have a paddock, which is full of grass, buttercups, nettles, thistles etc. The duck occasionally are allowed in here with no problems. Today all 4 duck were in the paddock, and when I was persuading them back to their pen the small female seemed to be struggling to walk through the long grass, so I picked her up and carried her. All of a sudden she went limp and seconds later was dead. The larger female made it to her pen, but then also just died. All in less than a minute. They both had quite a lot of grass flower/seed around there beaks, but didn't appear to be struggling to breathe, they just dropped dead. The two males seem fine. Any one have any suggestions, could there be something really poisonous in the paddock? What is so poisonous to ducks??? Could trying to get through the long grass have caused them both to suddenly have heart attacks or something? They have done it loads of times before.
Thanks

Tom

 

[tacothechicken]

Check for poisonous plants, birds could have transferred something harmful over, just now sprouting unseen so to grass and weeds, which they found. We lost a pair of barred rock chicks once to some poke berries which had grown threw the fence from our niebohrs. After that we went through our bushes and also found some deadly nightshade! So I'd advise clearing out the area and keeping them away for a bit in case, or could they have eaten a poisonous animal? Like a newt?

 

[tomcorden71]

Thanks, any idea which plants would be so fast acting that I should be looking for?, it was really quick. I've done a bit of Googling and the only plant I can find in the field that is told to be poisonous that I can see is meadow buttercup, but no reference that says it is so fast acting. Could it be algea in the pond? The other two ducks are fine and drink from the same pond

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Hi! I happened to notice your thread and clicked on it.
I'm so sorry about your ducks!

I don't have ducks, but your question about finding a plant that would act so fast caught my attention. I was wondering if physical exertion could have sped up the effects...if they did indeed eat something poisonous? In cases like anaphylaxis and poisonous bites...the person is supposed to stay still and calm to keep the heart rate down so it doesn't exacerbate the effects.

I thought I'd mention this in case it helps with finding the cause of their deaths.

 

[tomcorden71]

yes, we wondered the same, both females were doing there best to keep up with the two males through some long grass, the males are bigger and quicker. But they do that all the time and have had no problems all year. So something else must have been involved as well, very odd for them both to just have heart attacks from exertion at exactly the same time.

 

[tacothechicken]

Oh I just thought of this but I'm not sure if it matters cause I don't know where you live, but English yew causes cardiac arrest, maybe some birds dropped seeds or berries in the grasses? Deadly nightshade is also horrible but I think it would be much more noticeable symptoms.but both are very common where I live, including oleander which is a highly toxic flowering bush.

 

[chickens really]

@Amiga
@Miss Lydia