Good morning, everyone! Something’s up with Goon 2, my pied Muscovy, and I need some brainstorming help to figure out what. There are no exotic/avian vets available until next week, and I don’t even have my work schedule for next week, so I have do what I can for now.
The good news is that she is improved this AM and went on her AM foraging walk as usual.
However, when I got home yesterday afternoon, she was sitting alone in the duckio shaking. She stood in an odd pose (I should have gotten a picture), her front end tilted upwards slightly, but her head kind of scrunched into her body. She didn’t want to move or eat. She did drink, and flapped about as usual when I put her in the pool.
She wasn’t limping, although hubby said she was holding her right foot up off and on earlier.
She is not very handleable, but I was able to catch and do a quick exam. I felt no egg, there are no visible injuries anywhere on her body, and her feet look great!
This spring, she has been maybe a bit slower than last year. She used to take off and fly around the house and back to the barn. She has not wanted to do this this year. Shes also been quieter. My white Muscovy has been chirping with great enthusiasm for weeks. Very few chirps from Goon 2.
She has laid a couple of fairy eggs. Her overall laying habits are unclear as she keeps moving to a new nesting area, trying to go broody in the way of the Muscovy. Also, Remi, my new Rouen lays white eggs that are similar in appearance to Muscovy eggs, so I’m having trouble determining who created what.
I don’t know if last night’s symptoms were part of a progressive issue or if they were unrelated. I gave some of Daphne’s oral calcium, because reproductive issues are what I’m used to seeing.
My guesses so far:
1) Her symptoms are part of something progressive, cancer or some other illness. I have this first due to her lack of recent joyful flights and fairy egg production. However, could these changes be unrelated and be due to her getting older? She’s only 5.
2) Trauma - One place she likes to try to be broody is up in the highest part of the barn. Could she have had a bad flight/landing and injured herself?
3) Toxin/foreign object ingestion - I’m very careful to keep anything that the ducks shouldn’t eat away from them. My husband admitted that he isn’t as cautious as me. On a related note, the night before last, Remi ate something at the edge of the woods (bad bug, slug, or plant) that caused her to start choking. I brought her to water, and she recovered quickly and is now 100% normal. Unsure if this could be related. It has been rainy out and slugs are everywhere!
Anyways, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Goon 2, although she is social, is very hard to catch/handle, and I’m hesitant to do anything that will cause her stress without good reason.
She‘s looking much better this AM, but I would not say that she’s 100% normal.
Edited to add: Her feather quality is good, and her caruncles are nice and red as usual for this time of year. There is no discharge from her nares or eyes and her poops appear normal.
The good news is that she is improved this AM and went on her AM foraging walk as usual.
However, when I got home yesterday afternoon, she was sitting alone in the duckio shaking. She stood in an odd pose (I should have gotten a picture), her front end tilted upwards slightly, but her head kind of scrunched into her body. She didn’t want to move or eat. She did drink, and flapped about as usual when I put her in the pool.
She wasn’t limping, although hubby said she was holding her right foot up off and on earlier.
She is not very handleable, but I was able to catch and do a quick exam. I felt no egg, there are no visible injuries anywhere on her body, and her feet look great!
This spring, she has been maybe a bit slower than last year. She used to take off and fly around the house and back to the barn. She has not wanted to do this this year. Shes also been quieter. My white Muscovy has been chirping with great enthusiasm for weeks. Very few chirps from Goon 2.
She has laid a couple of fairy eggs. Her overall laying habits are unclear as she keeps moving to a new nesting area, trying to go broody in the way of the Muscovy. Also, Remi, my new Rouen lays white eggs that are similar in appearance to Muscovy eggs, so I’m having trouble determining who created what.
I don’t know if last night’s symptoms were part of a progressive issue or if they were unrelated. I gave some of Daphne’s oral calcium, because reproductive issues are what I’m used to seeing.
My guesses so far:
1) Her symptoms are part of something progressive, cancer or some other illness. I have this first due to her lack of recent joyful flights and fairy egg production. However, could these changes be unrelated and be due to her getting older? She’s only 5.
2) Trauma - One place she likes to try to be broody is up in the highest part of the barn. Could she have had a bad flight/landing and injured herself?
3) Toxin/foreign object ingestion - I’m very careful to keep anything that the ducks shouldn’t eat away from them. My husband admitted that he isn’t as cautious as me. On a related note, the night before last, Remi ate something at the edge of the woods (bad bug, slug, or plant) that caused her to start choking. I brought her to water, and she recovered quickly and is now 100% normal. Unsure if this could be related. It has been rainy out and slugs are everywhere!
Anyways, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Goon 2, although she is social, is very hard to catch/handle, and I’m hesitant to do anything that will cause her stress without good reason.
She‘s looking much better this AM, but I would not say that she’s 100% normal.
Edited to add: Her feather quality is good, and her caruncles are nice and red as usual for this time of year. There is no discharge from her nares or eyes and her poops appear normal.
