What's wrong with my ducks? *Videos

[earthdance]

I have four welsh harlequin ducks that I got back at the end of april shipped from a farm (I had more but the raccoon attack...). Unfortunately for me, only one of the four is a female, which has also come down with this odd condition. It started with one of the drakes at about the time they were reaching adult size. I noticed him breathing very short quick breathes one day and so I isolated him. He still ate and drank just fine and there were no other symptoms (no mucus, coughing, sneezing), but he did seem to loose his voice and I'm not sure he has it back to the full extent. I researched online but could really not match up anything besides thinking maybe he ate something moldy and so I gave him charcoal in his food. After two days his breathing was back to normal and he seemed fine so I put him back with the flock (geese). About a month later (give or take) he began to do it again with the short quick breathing. My female duck also sadly began to do the same . I did not isolate that time. After about two days they seemed back to normal. I have only noticed the female doing it one time, but the drake has went through this several times. It always goes away. What is going on here? Is this labored breathing a symptom of a disease or could it be parasites? Lice is a possibility. I am planning to treat the entire flock soon (chickens too). Has anyone experienced something similar?

I finally got around to editing and uploading some footage I took of the ducks breathing. This breathing lasts about two days and then returns to normal. My two other drakes have never shown signs (yet).

Ok, here are the videos:

 

[countrygoddess]

I wonder if ducks can develop laryngeal paralysis? Does anyone know? Dogs can have it and it presents itself as shortness of breath, heavy panting, and voice hoarseness. If it continues without intervention, it can lead to oxygen deprivation because the larynx doesn't open wide enough to let more air in when the dog needs it. It generally happens during times a dog might need more air: during and after a run, on a hot day, etc.

 

[earthdance]

Videos are working now!!

 

[Amiga]

Not sure about the drake. His tummy looks a little distended. What kind of feeding routine do they have? I would not rule out parasites.

As for the girl, look at her tail. She may be having some oviduct problems, possibly mild. Mine do that sometimes before or after passing a shell-less egg, which can happen if they are not getting enough calcium or are not effectively processing the calcium in their diet. My runners sometimes will lay for months and months, and they get worn down. What really fixes it is a rest from laying.

Thanks 1,000,000 for calling this to my attention through the Duck Forum. I am completely duck oriented, and do not even think to browse the emergency section. Not that I don't want to help. But I am not good at wading through all the other kinds of emergencies looking for duck issues.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

I am with Amiga, never think to check up here.

What are they eating? Could they have gotten into anything spoiled/rotten/moldy or even mushrooms? We had a gander (goose) and drake get into some, both recovered completely after giving them a toxic flush (found in the stickies at the top of the duck threads)

 

[earthdance]

The female has never layed an egg before (that I've seen). Her tail was moving like that because of her breathing. I don't think it is an oviduct issue because both the male and female show the same symptoms. In the video the drake had a full crop after foraging all day, that is why it looks distended. Over the summer they got gamebird pellets until they were full grown and mostly just scratch grains at night to get them back in. They live with buff geese. They also all cleaned up the layer mash under my bantam cages every day, but maybe they just weren't getting enough calcium. I'm going to built a feeder for protein pellets that the geese can't fit through, so the ducks can get enough for the winter. I'll also worm them all and see if it continues to happen. I do have a compost pile that could have been a source of mold but this is just weird how it happens like once a month in both birds. I'll look into the toxic flush. I know charcoal is a life saver in such things.