Healthy duck, mysterious death.

[TheBirdBabe]

Hello everyone,

This morning I woke up & saw one of my ducks laying in the backyard. I instantly knew she was dead, just by the way she was laying.

Initially I thought an owl or hawk got her. There's no way a racoon, opossum or fox got past my dogs. But upon inspection, there was no blood or even feathers missing. She was laying like any normal duck would (if her head had been up), when I flipped her over there was nothing out of the ordinary either!

The only thing I could think of that could have happened is she was egg bound or maybe one broke inside of her? But they were all perfectly normal last night. I had even just refilled one of their pools & they were splashing & having a good ol time (if you know what I mean).

They just started laying, so if that was the reason for her death.. I'm scared I'll lose the rest!

(I'm not sure if posting deceased animals on here is allowed, but if anyone would like to inspect further, I can post them.)

 

[Canadian Wind]

I'm so sorry for your loss. Have you felt around her abdomen for any mass that could be an egg? Have you considered having an autopsy done?

Sometimes animals just die. They hide that they are ill, or injured. It's a form of protection from predators. It doesn't make it any easier on their human caretakers.

Keep an eye on the rest of the flock. If anything seems different, seek medical care. That's all I can recommend. Hopefully, someone with more experience will be able to give better advice.

 

[TheBirdBabe]

I'm so sorry for your loss. Have you felt around her abdomen for any mass that could be an egg? Have you considered having an autopsy done?

Sometimes animals just die. They hide that they are ill, or injured. It's a form of protection from predators. It doesn't make it any easier on their human caretakers.

Keep an eye on the rest of the flock. If anything seems different, seek medical care. That's all I can recommend. Hopefully, someone with more experience will be able to give better advice.

I did not feel around to see! I completely forgot!

I'll definitely will be keeping a close eye on everyone else though.

I also just had a thought, is it possible one of the boys got a bit too rough with her? There are two boys that are significantly larger than the other ducks.. like they probably have a few pounds on them!

 

[Canadian Wind]

What breed are your ducks? I don't see a larger drake as being much of an issue, unless they all ganged up on her. What's the drake to duck ratio?

 

[TheBirdBabe]

What breed are your ducks? I don't see a larger drake as being much of an issue, unless they all ganged up on her. What's the drakek ratio?

I DEFINITELY need to thin some boys out. I've got 5 boys to (now) 6 girls. It's just been too dang hot here to do any butchering.

The breed of drakes I'm referring to are Blue Swedish. They are HUGE! Just the way I was watching them manhandle the girls the other day & jerk their necks around... I'm wondering if they didn't just snap it.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Ouch, yeah... That may be the issue... Do you have anywhere you can separate the drakes to? Hopefully the heat breaks soon.

The size wouldn't be a problem. If you've ever seen Muscovy, the drakes are twice as big as the ducks. I'd be worried if the ducks were Calls!

 

[TheBirdBabe]

Ouch, yeah... That may be the issue... Do you have anywhere you can separate the drakes to? Hopefully the heat breaks soon.

The size wouldn't be a problem. If you've ever seen Muscovy, the drakes are twice as big as the ducks. I'd be worried if the ducks were Calls!

Oh, yeah.. they're not THAT small. lol

However, that's a good idea. I may separate the boys except the one I'm keeping until I can either get help butchering or it cools down a bit!

Thanks for being my brain!

 

[Canadian Wind]

My pleasure, and you're welcome! Sometimes, we're too close to a situation and need to ask for outside advice.

I'm not saying this is what happened to the poor duck, but it's a big possibility.