What is going on with my duck? Please please take the time to read this.
*aspergillosis *gapeworm *fenbendazole *gasping
I write this all out to give as much detail as possible. This forum has helped me so much in the past 5 years of owning ducks, even from searching prior posts to find answers. I have googled so much and I can’t seem to figure this out or find anyone else with a similar situation and positive outcome.
History- about my duck
This is about my Cayuga female Laila I got as a 5 week old last April, she is not yet a year but close. She lives with 1 male duck who is nice and gentle, and 3 other females of varying ages. I have a large fenced in run in the woods where we live, with a hand dug bio filtered pond that has been running since last summer when I built it. They swim all day long, all year long. At night they are locked up in their shed coop, with straw nesting boxes and a mix of straw and pine bedding that is spot cleaned daily and completely refreshed about every 3 or 4 days. They eat Kalbach layer pellet mixed with a little bit of dried cat kibble for added protein. They get a treat of dried meal worms and romaine lettuce with some other mixed greens every evening.
I live in cold Michigan, although we have been getting closer to spring and having some days in the upper 40’s, most days are in the 20’s or 30’s. We also have barn cats that reside in the same shed, they use the windows and live in the loft area and want nothing to do with the ducks who live on the floor. The cats are free to roam outside, and very rarely ever get into the run. The ducks do not have access to their litter box which is up high, but the scoop is kept near the floor. All my cats are healthy though. Isn’t toxoplasmosis quite severe and lethal? I don’t think the issue my duck is having would be that.
She has had no health issues thus far. I do not think she has ever laid an egg, but can’t not be 100% sure. I have two laying right now, and since I have brought her inside this past week I am still getting the same two eggs in the coop that I have gotten the last two months. One is nice and round and slightly green and the other is crooked shaped, which I know is from a duck I have had for a few years.
What's Going On
About two weeks ago I noticed her starting to gasp for breath. It wasn’t too severe, and was rather slow, about every 10 seconds. She was behaving normal otherwise so I let her be and thought she had something stuck perhaps. But other the next few days it got worse and she started to get lethargic. I went to google. Sorry, I am not one to spend a vet bill on a duck. I love them, but not to that extent. This forum is my main source of advice and I appreciate it so much.
My first thought was aspergillosis. We had a deep freeze cold snap over a month ago, January sometime. This happens at least once a winter, and add extra straw to their coop and they stay locked up until it passes. I had bought a bail the evening prior, but when I opened it up and started stuffing their boxes I noticed it had some black inside. I had never seen that before, and didn’t know how problematic it could be until we ran into this health issue. The cold was coming soon and the feed store closed right after I had left, so I used the straw.
I brought her inside and bought a gallon of AH Oxine off amazon (50$! what a price gouge). We had a little personal vaporizer/humidifer thing so I started using that for her twice a day for about an hour. I know a nebulizer is better, but I was going with what I had first. (hoping to attach a youtube video)
Her gasping just got worse. Her belly was making an awful rattling, wood floor creaking sound, I assumed because she was starving. I had put in a small dish of food and water with some peas in it earlier, but it appeared she hadn’t touched it in 24 hours. Poo was only very small watery, not neon green, but a bluish grass green, and not much at all.
I never saw, and still haven’t, any discharge from her eyes or nostrils (what are those called again? I forget), no drooling. She could walk and move normally, but was mostly laying down. All her energy was going toward her breathing. (another video of the gasping getting worse and her neck really stretching with each gasp)
After two days of breathing treatments and keeping her indoors with no improvement I went to my second guess because of her main symptom, gape worms. I have never done any worming on my ducks before. I purchased equine Safeguard (fenbendazole) dewormer paste from tractor supply, $16. I squeezed a pea size amount in her mouth. My once friendly duck absolutely hates me now.
Within 24 hours the gasping was greatly improved, so I thought we were on the right track. She was still gasping slightly, and had not yet eaten or drank (to my knowledge, although always had water available), and was still very lethargic.
I gave her another dose the following morning, 24 hr later. I had read ducks need a dose every 24 hrs, for 5 days to treat for gapeworm.
During this day I really was hoping she would eat and drink. I soaked some pellet and thought maybe she would go for a slop. She did not. I put some very small cut up lettuce in her water and she went for that. I was so relived to see her putting her beak in the water.
I brought in some of her fav meal worms and sprinkled some on top of the dry pellet. She picked off all the worms but ate no pellet. Still was happy to see her eating. Sometime this day of second worming treatment, her poo got a little darker and a little more substance, but still very small amount and very green in color. It looked a little seedy perhaps, but I could not detect any worms in it. Kind of had flakes in it also? Not really sure. Like stuff had dried inside of her and was now moving through her and out? (pic attached of poo)
I decided a warm bath might be nice that evening, since she hadn’t swam in several days now. The top of her beak near her face was starting to get dry also (pic below, I put some vaseline on it and it seems to be fine now), I assumed from being in our dry house and not swimming. However, putting her in the bath instantly starting to reverse her symptoms. She did start drinking the water (or just sloshing in around in her beak, I can’t be sure, she wasn’t tipping her head back at all to let the water in, just biting the water) but then was like her head was going drunk. She wasn’t losing consciousness, but rolling her head to either side and then mostly putting her head down into the water listlessly. Then she would gasp and bring her head up again, only to repeat it again and again. I didn’t get a video, I wasn’t leaving her to grab my phone. After 30 seconds or so of this I took her out, the bath was doing no good.
Back in her area in our bathroom, she continued to droop her head down, beak to the ground, just frozen in that position. Then she would gasp and pick her head up again. She also was pulling at her feathers on her stomach. This was the only thing that made me think she maybe had something going on with her egg production. Otherwise, I hadn’t seen anything that made me think that. Her tail wasn’t bobbing, she didn’t appear to be straining or trying to lay an egg, she was laying down comfortably other than this episode. I didn’t not see anything or feel anything peculiar with her vent. I have been finding downy feathers now in her water dish, but don't seem any obvious bald spots on her tummy or where she would be pulling feathers from. It's not a lot, less than 10 loose feathers I find in the morning.
After 30 minutes post bath she stopped dropping her head down, and then just rested as she had been for the rest of the night.
I also read that killing off gapeworm could release large amounts of toxins during the process? So the 3rd day I decided to take a day off off treatment and see how she did. I was really hoping for her eating to get back to normal and I wanted to see a normal poo.
She seemed calm, no gasping, was drinking and eating but very little. She did seem a little bit off the times I would witness her drink, like the water going down her throat was making her nauseous, her head would go a little weak, limp, but not entirely. She’s regain herself and take another sip and then a little head weakness. ??? The dead worms in her throat still bothering her? She also is scratching her beak a lot, more than normal. Something is bothering her.
No normal poo yet this day, maybe 2 or 3 of the dark green and small amount. Ate maybe 2 tbsp of pellet and meal worms.
4th day (yesterday) I gave her another round of the safeguard/fenbendazole after having a day off. Same as day before, very minimal eating drinking. Mostly resting. At about 5 pm, an hour before evening lock up, I decided to take her outside. I thought maybe she still seemed listless because she is cooped up and not with her buddies. And maybe she wasn’t eating as much because she was mad about being inside and not in her normal environment. She seemed basically fine other than that. Still no more gasping, the loud sounds from her stomach had gone away. I hadn’t seen her head drooping or rolling.
She was excited to be outside, said hello to her buddies and jumped in the pond. She wasn’t swimming excitedly, just kinda floated, but otherwise was ok. I was happy she then started to try to bath and preen herself, but she wasn’t quite as limber as normal. She couldn’t reach her back side completely, seemed a little stiff in the neck. I watched her for about 15 minutes, then had to go inside and make dinner. From the window I could see her walking around, not laying down secluded like she had been before. I was hopeful. 30 minutes later I went out for lock up and she was not ok. Ugh! She was off in the corner with her head down again, beak to the ground and pulled in close to her stomach almost. I put her in the coop and took a video (hoping to link to it), then brought her in for the night.
This morning she is back to “normal”. Resting inside, no gasping, no putting her head down after drinking. Looks like she ate a little pellet overnight, but still no bigger normal poo. Looks like there wasn’t any poo overnight actually.
Questions- Help
So… any thoughts or suggestions or what would you do or similar experiences? This is kinda consuming my life right now and I’m checking on her every few minutes and hoping for big turn around and a big poo!
Why would the temperature change from the warm bath, or going out in the cold, cause her to droop her head?? Is she bound to be a house duck forever (please no).
I know there are so many things it could be and I’m just playing vet… but with the gasping being her main symptom, and the fenbendazole take the gasping away, it really seems like it would have been gapeworm. I read it can be hard to treat, but I can’t find anything on the recovery process. Would you continue with the remaining two doses of dewormer? I’ve read it can’t really hurt as long as I’m not giving too much.
Why do none of my other ducks have any issues? Wouldn’t gapeworm be something they would all get, doing the exact same things out there? I really hope this doesn’t go through all my ducks!!
Sorry so long, if you made it through I really thank you!! I am desperate for any advice. Perhaps I will end up taking her to a vet afterall, sigh.
Pics-Videos
Pic of her dry beak and some of the poo I saw.
Video of when I first brought her inside and first breathing treatment. You can see the gasping and loud creaking is her stomach.
Video of her gasping getting worse, right before I started gapeworm treatment of fenbendazole.
Video taken last night after I tried to return her outside, but after an hour she was drooping her head down and not herself. I brought her back inside.
If these videos don't load or links don't work, my youtube channel is Emily Mecham.
*aspergillosis *gapeworm *fenbendazole *gasping
I write this all out to give as much detail as possible. This forum has helped me so much in the past 5 years of owning ducks, even from searching prior posts to find answers. I have googled so much and I can’t seem to figure this out or find anyone else with a similar situation and positive outcome.
History- about my duck
This is about my Cayuga female Laila I got as a 5 week old last April, she is not yet a year but close. She lives with 1 male duck who is nice and gentle, and 3 other females of varying ages. I have a large fenced in run in the woods where we live, with a hand dug bio filtered pond that has been running since last summer when I built it. They swim all day long, all year long. At night they are locked up in their shed coop, with straw nesting boxes and a mix of straw and pine bedding that is spot cleaned daily and completely refreshed about every 3 or 4 days. They eat Kalbach layer pellet mixed with a little bit of dried cat kibble for added protein. They get a treat of dried meal worms and romaine lettuce with some other mixed greens every evening.
I live in cold Michigan, although we have been getting closer to spring and having some days in the upper 40’s, most days are in the 20’s or 30’s. We also have barn cats that reside in the same shed, they use the windows and live in the loft area and want nothing to do with the ducks who live on the floor. The cats are free to roam outside, and very rarely ever get into the run. The ducks do not have access to their litter box which is up high, but the scoop is kept near the floor. All my cats are healthy though. Isn’t toxoplasmosis quite severe and lethal? I don’t think the issue my duck is having would be that.
She has had no health issues thus far. I do not think she has ever laid an egg, but can’t not be 100% sure. I have two laying right now, and since I have brought her inside this past week I am still getting the same two eggs in the coop that I have gotten the last two months. One is nice and round and slightly green and the other is crooked shaped, which I know is from a duck I have had for a few years.
What's Going On
About two weeks ago I noticed her starting to gasp for breath. It wasn’t too severe, and was rather slow, about every 10 seconds. She was behaving normal otherwise so I let her be and thought she had something stuck perhaps. But other the next few days it got worse and she started to get lethargic. I went to google. Sorry, I am not one to spend a vet bill on a duck. I love them, but not to that extent. This forum is my main source of advice and I appreciate it so much.
My first thought was aspergillosis. We had a deep freeze cold snap over a month ago, January sometime. This happens at least once a winter, and add extra straw to their coop and they stay locked up until it passes. I had bought a bail the evening prior, but when I opened it up and started stuffing their boxes I noticed it had some black inside. I had never seen that before, and didn’t know how problematic it could be until we ran into this health issue. The cold was coming soon and the feed store closed right after I had left, so I used the straw.
I brought her inside and bought a gallon of AH Oxine off amazon (50$! what a price gouge). We had a little personal vaporizer/humidifer thing so I started using that for her twice a day for about an hour. I know a nebulizer is better, but I was going with what I had first. (hoping to attach a youtube video)
Her gasping just got worse. Her belly was making an awful rattling, wood floor creaking sound, I assumed because she was starving. I had put in a small dish of food and water with some peas in it earlier, but it appeared she hadn’t touched it in 24 hours. Poo was only very small watery, not neon green, but a bluish grass green, and not much at all.
I never saw, and still haven’t, any discharge from her eyes or nostrils (what are those called again? I forget), no drooling. She could walk and move normally, but was mostly laying down. All her energy was going toward her breathing. (another video of the gasping getting worse and her neck really stretching with each gasp)
After two days of breathing treatments and keeping her indoors with no improvement I went to my second guess because of her main symptom, gape worms. I have never done any worming on my ducks before. I purchased equine Safeguard (fenbendazole) dewormer paste from tractor supply, $16. I squeezed a pea size amount in her mouth. My once friendly duck absolutely hates me now.
Within 24 hours the gasping was greatly improved, so I thought we were on the right track. She was still gasping slightly, and had not yet eaten or drank (to my knowledge, although always had water available), and was still very lethargic.
I gave her another dose the following morning, 24 hr later. I had read ducks need a dose every 24 hrs, for 5 days to treat for gapeworm.
During this day I really was hoping she would eat and drink. I soaked some pellet and thought maybe she would go for a slop. She did not. I put some very small cut up lettuce in her water and she went for that. I was so relived to see her putting her beak in the water.
I brought in some of her fav meal worms and sprinkled some on top of the dry pellet. She picked off all the worms but ate no pellet. Still was happy to see her eating. Sometime this day of second worming treatment, her poo got a little darker and a little more substance, but still very small amount and very green in color. It looked a little seedy perhaps, but I could not detect any worms in it. Kind of had flakes in it also? Not really sure. Like stuff had dried inside of her and was now moving through her and out? (pic attached of poo)
I decided a warm bath might be nice that evening, since she hadn’t swam in several days now. The top of her beak near her face was starting to get dry also (pic below, I put some vaseline on it and it seems to be fine now), I assumed from being in our dry house and not swimming. However, putting her in the bath instantly starting to reverse her symptoms. She did start drinking the water (or just sloshing in around in her beak, I can’t be sure, she wasn’t tipping her head back at all to let the water in, just biting the water) but then was like her head was going drunk. She wasn’t losing consciousness, but rolling her head to either side and then mostly putting her head down into the water listlessly. Then she would gasp and bring her head up again, only to repeat it again and again. I didn’t get a video, I wasn’t leaving her to grab my phone. After 30 seconds or so of this I took her out, the bath was doing no good.
Back in her area in our bathroom, she continued to droop her head down, beak to the ground, just frozen in that position. Then she would gasp and pick her head up again. She also was pulling at her feathers on her stomach. This was the only thing that made me think she maybe had something going on with her egg production. Otherwise, I hadn’t seen anything that made me think that. Her tail wasn’t bobbing, she didn’t appear to be straining or trying to lay an egg, she was laying down comfortably other than this episode. I didn’t not see anything or feel anything peculiar with her vent. I have been finding downy feathers now in her water dish, but don't seem any obvious bald spots on her tummy or where she would be pulling feathers from. It's not a lot, less than 10 loose feathers I find in the morning.
After 30 minutes post bath she stopped dropping her head down, and then just rested as she had been for the rest of the night.
I also read that killing off gapeworm could release large amounts of toxins during the process? So the 3rd day I decided to take a day off off treatment and see how she did. I was really hoping for her eating to get back to normal and I wanted to see a normal poo.
She seemed calm, no gasping, was drinking and eating but very little. She did seem a little bit off the times I would witness her drink, like the water going down her throat was making her nauseous, her head would go a little weak, limp, but not entirely. She’s regain herself and take another sip and then a little head weakness. ??? The dead worms in her throat still bothering her? She also is scratching her beak a lot, more than normal. Something is bothering her.
No normal poo yet this day, maybe 2 or 3 of the dark green and small amount. Ate maybe 2 tbsp of pellet and meal worms.
4th day (yesterday) I gave her another round of the safeguard/fenbendazole after having a day off. Same as day before, very minimal eating drinking. Mostly resting. At about 5 pm, an hour before evening lock up, I decided to take her outside. I thought maybe she still seemed listless because she is cooped up and not with her buddies. And maybe she wasn’t eating as much because she was mad about being inside and not in her normal environment. She seemed basically fine other than that. Still no more gasping, the loud sounds from her stomach had gone away. I hadn’t seen her head drooping or rolling.
She was excited to be outside, said hello to her buddies and jumped in the pond. She wasn’t swimming excitedly, just kinda floated, but otherwise was ok. I was happy she then started to try to bath and preen herself, but she wasn’t quite as limber as normal. She couldn’t reach her back side completely, seemed a little stiff in the neck. I watched her for about 15 minutes, then had to go inside and make dinner. From the window I could see her walking around, not laying down secluded like she had been before. I was hopeful. 30 minutes later I went out for lock up and she was not ok. Ugh! She was off in the corner with her head down again, beak to the ground and pulled in close to her stomach almost. I put her in the coop and took a video (hoping to link to it), then brought her in for the night.
This morning she is back to “normal”. Resting inside, no gasping, no putting her head down after drinking. Looks like she ate a little pellet overnight, but still no bigger normal poo. Looks like there wasn’t any poo overnight actually.
Questions- Help
So… any thoughts or suggestions or what would you do or similar experiences? This is kinda consuming my life right now and I’m checking on her every few minutes and hoping for big turn around and a big poo!
Why would the temperature change from the warm bath, or going out in the cold, cause her to droop her head?? Is she bound to be a house duck forever (please no).
I know there are so many things it could be and I’m just playing vet… but with the gasping being her main symptom, and the fenbendazole take the gasping away, it really seems like it would have been gapeworm. I read it can be hard to treat, but I can’t find anything on the recovery process. Would you continue with the remaining two doses of dewormer? I’ve read it can’t really hurt as long as I’m not giving too much.
Why do none of my other ducks have any issues? Wouldn’t gapeworm be something they would all get, doing the exact same things out there? I really hope this doesn’t go through all my ducks!!
Sorry so long, if you made it through I really thank you!! I am desperate for any advice. Perhaps I will end up taking her to a vet afterall, sigh.
Pics-Videos
Pic of her dry beak and some of the poo I saw.
Video of when I first brought her inside and first breathing treatment. You can see the gasping and loud creaking is her stomach.
Video of her gasping getting worse, right before I started gapeworm treatment of fenbendazole.
Video taken last night after I tried to return her outside, but after an hour she was drooping her head down and not herself. I brought her back inside.
If these videos don't load or links don't work, my youtube channel is Emily Mecham.
