Duck hysterectomy

[sweaterpaws]

Hi everyone. One of my ducks has been having on/off egg issues since she started laying around 5 months ago (she's a bit under a year old), and she is currently egg bound. I took her to a vet who specializes in birds on Saturday and she had X-rays done and was given some medicine to induce contractions, but she has still not passed the egg. From what the vet said, it is stuck somewhere further inside of her, so they will probably have to remove it through surgery and would perform a hysterectomy. He said in his experience, usually 75% of ducks get through the surgery with no complications. She has some phases where she won't want to eat for a few hours and acts a little off, but most of the time she is still eating and drinking and acting rather normal, just a bit slower, so the vet said as long as she's acting okay, I should be okay a few days to try to see if she will pass it on her own and make a decision for what to do. She has had issues in the past where she has eventually gotten the egg out herself, but it has been nearly a week and a half, so I think I plan on doing the hysterectomy to get this out and over once and for all, although I am very worried about the risk of losing her.
I just was wanting to ask if anyone has any experience with their duck having a hysterectomy and expectations/advice for the surgery cost and aftercare experiences. Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to make sure I got a good gist of what's going on. Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[Jpat]

Its been done!

Heres a link to member whos gone through it. with a chicken

i think they are active you could message them iam sure!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-hysterectomy.22773/

 

[Jpat]

Sorry i just realized that threads 12 years old

 

[sweaterpaws]

Thank you! I had seen that post but I was curious if anyone had had it done to any of their ducks, but it's still nice to see that someone had a success with it

 

[jevans1]

"I just was wanting to ask if anyone has any experience with their duck having a hysterectomy and expectations/advice for the surgery cost and aftercare experiences."

Have you received any feedback from your doctor in regards to this? I am having the exact same issue with my 3 year old Khaki Campbell right now. Last season her eggs were paper thin but she was still laying. This season she is only laying long drippy egg sacks. She is on egg layer feed and I have been administering 600 mgs of calcium down her throat every night and allowing her to float in a warm tub. I am fearful she will die if I do not go through the hysterectomy procedure.

 

[Jpat]

@Kkrista123 mightve done some research on it

People who have a few ducks as pets only have done ive seen it mentioned but can never find any before and afters

 

[jevans1]

"People who have a few ducks as pets only have done ive seen it mentioned but can never find any before and afters"

I have also heard of hormone stoppers that can be placed in the ducks neck so they stop laying. Any info on this?

 

[sweaterpaws]

"I just was wanting to ask if anyone has any experience with their duck having a hysterectomy and expectations/advice for the surgery cost and aftercare experiences.

Have you received any feedback from your doctor in regards to this? I am having the exact same issue with my 3 year old Khaki Campbell right now. Last season her eggs were paper thin but she was still laying. This season she is only laying long drippy egg sacks. She is on egg layer feed and I have been administering 600 mgs of calcium down her throat every night and allowing her to float in a warm tub. I am fearful she will die if I do not go through the hysterectomy procedure.

My duck ended up having a C-section because her egg ended up being stuck inside of her uterus and then another egg pressed against her bowls and another free floating in her abdomen. She's supposed to get a lupron injection, which is the one that stops their laying hormones, and then have a hysterectomy a week later. However, they are waiting for the order of lupron to come in and it has been several weeks and she still hasn't laid an egg. The C-section costed $1,100 because it was such a long surgery and then she needed antibiotics and pain meds for a week. They told me the hysterectomy would cost around $800-1000. Since yours is laying drippy eggs they might try something else or just do a hysterectomy. If you have the means to, I would definitely suggest a vet visit. My duck is doing amazing now, we were very lucky, so I hope yours ends up being okay too. Is she eating and drinking?

 

[sweaterpaws]

"People who have a few ducks as pets only have done ive seen it mentioned but can never find any before and afters"

I have also heard of hormone stoppers that can be placed in the ducks neck so they stop laying. Any info on this?

They have injections and implants that can be used to stop birds from laying, but my vet told me they can be costly and not always effective in ducks. But hysterectomies are dangerous so if you could do those I would instead at least at first. I'm not exactly sure on the prices, but the injection is once a week for three weeks, and then once a month. The implant is about every six months. I think the injections were $100-200 and the implant about $600 but I could be completely wrong.

 

[jevans1]

The implant is about every six months. I think the injections were $100-200 and the implant about $600 but I could be completely wrong.

Wowzers....that is pricey. Such tough choices to be made in my near future. Thank you for your wisdom.