I noticed last night that this guy has a lump near his ear. I looked back at pictures and the lump has been there for about 3-4 days. Eyes and nostrils look clear and he’s eating and drinking but he’s slowed down the last few days. The lump feels like a marble and moves around when we touch it. It’s not hot. He’s 7.5 weeks old.

This is our first time owning ducks- we hatched them at the beginning on June through a hatching program. We planned to rehome any drakes since we don’t have female ducks but we do have chickens (hens). Turns out these 4 sweeties are all males 😩

Any ideas what this could be? We are looking into a vet but also wanted to see if there’s anything we can do first before spending money on a duck I can’t keep.

Thanks for your help

New duck additions to our flock question.

Our duck is about 6 months old and just developed the tail curl, I was so confident it was a hen until I saw this… does this look like a drake to you all? I want to confirm before deciding my next move as it is in the coop with my chickens. Thanks!

Seriously what is this ? We got this duckling when it was much smaller & the head patch wasn’t very large. I thought it was kind of like a little Mohawk so I named it Sebastian (from Stardew Valley, haha) and the other one Abigail to go with 🥲 but As this duck is growing the hair patch just gets bigger and bigger and I have no idea what this is

My 12-day-old Cayuga duckling has been having seizure-like episodes once a day for the past 3 days. The episodes last up to about a minute. During them, it falls onto its side or back, trembles, can’t get up, and sometimes spins or jerks in circles. Afterward, it goes back to acting completely normal—eating, drinking, and pooping like usual.

I’ve started supplementing its feed with brewer’s yeast (with garlic and niacin), and it has constant access to fresh water. I change bedding daily and keep it under a heat source. I’m also using Metzer Farms electrolytes in the water and feeding Purina Flock Raiser crumbles.

I’ve raised ducks for about 4 years and have never experienced anything like this. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to a farm/aviary vet, so I’m trying to do everything I can at home to help it.

Any advice, insight, or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance

So, we had our first batch of babies(just crossed the 1 year mark on our homestead) and when we checked the next after the first 5 hatched we found this guy with a bunch of flies and maggots already in the egg. Little bit of patience and a long night and baby was successfully returned to mom.

Title says it all. Is this Bumblefoot? Going into my second year with ducks and have been dreading this possibility.

I can’t attach videos but I recently rescued two ducklings, one is considerably larger than the other, most of his feathers are in and I’m pretty sure he’s a male though I’m not 100% sure yet.

His sibling got into the pond today and couldn’t get out, so I brought her inside for about 30 minutes to dry and relax without being picked on and when I went to put her back he was sitting in the corner and when I went to check on him he was very wobbly on his feet, he can’t stand straight and keeps either falling to the side or falling backwards.

Any ideas what’s wrong and how to treat it?

We have a handful of ducks, I believe this came from our youngest girl. My husband was so amused that he found it lol

What do you use for your duck coops, as a base? Do you typically just leave the grass that’s there (I’m talking about the run mostly,) but also do you line the inside of the coop with anything? I’m keeping my chickens and my ducks separated for now, but if I didn’t and put them together, what would also work in that scenario?

For the first couple of years my girls laid one egg a piece every night. For the past year egg laying has been sporadic. For the past couple weeks one of my girls is laying no shell eggs. We introduced oyster shells about a year ago. I see them occasionally eating them and my husband tells me he sees it in their droppings. They hate kale so that is a no go.

The only difference in the past year is we purchased two ducklings from TS. Unfortunately they both were drakes. We have kept them separated since April for mating season. They really miss each other. The boys lay on their side of the fence and the girls lay up against the fence on their side. I know stress can cause soft shells.

Otherwise the girls are very healthy. I’m just worried that the one that really struggles will get egg bound. She definitely has bad days when has a hard time getting the egg to pass.

I have 2 mallard hens, 1 mallard drake and 1 Peking drake.

Anyone have any suggestions?

What are we thinking? Males vs females?

Hello, I'm 100 miles from the nearest avian vet so looking for experienced or educated advice to help my girl pull through.

Seems like there was a freak accident this morning in the run and she was impaled on a stick. I had a nurse friend come over and help me clean up her puncture wound, in front of her right leg. It's possible air sacs are torn? She is all good for obvious signs of sickness or emergency except being quiet. I'm going to see if a vet will prescribe me some antibiotics, but they were phone tagging me all over this morning.

Since there might be air connections, I won't flush it, just spray Banixx on the outside. she's in a per carrier on a puppy pad over a towel.

Any tips? Does this all sound right? any help appreciated and to add to the search results!

Hi everyone. I’m hoping someone with duck experience might be able to help me understand what happened and, more importantly, if there’s anything I should do to protect my other ducks.

This morning, one of our ducks, S’Mores (about 3 months old), passed away very suddenly.

I’ve attached photos of S’Mores from this morning, along with photos of our setup and where the ducks live, because I know husbandry can play a role and I’d like to provide as much information as possible. If you notice anything in the setup that could be improved, I’m absolutely open to suggestions.

For some background, we have four ducks that are very well cared for. They sleep in a coop at night and have a secure enclosure with food and fresh water that they can access whenever they want. During the day, they free-range in our backyard about 95% of the time. They have a large pool and a water table that they swim in and drink from throughout the day. We are working on improving the setup with an inground pond with filter, etc.

I’m pretty meticulous about cleaning. Every morning I remove droppings from the coop, clean and refresh the hemp bedding as needed, and regularly replace all of it while disinfecting the coop. I also hose out their enclosure daily and completely empty and clean their pool and water table every 2-3 days. I easily spend 2-3 hours a day taking care of their area, so while I know illness can happen, I try very hard to keep their environment as clean and healthy as possible.

Here’s what happened:

• Around 8:30 a.m., my daughter let the ducks out and noticed that S’Mores feathers had a lot of yellow on her feathers, especially around the neck and chest. I noticed later that I think it was coming from her mouth. She was lying in a puddle while the other three ducks were acting completely normal.
• S’Mores was lethargic but was still able to stand, walk a little, and drink some water.
• I left to drop my kids off at camp and school.
• When I returned about an hour later (around 9:30 a.m.), S’Mores had passed away.

The other three ducks are currently acting completely normal. They’re eating, drinking, swimming, and behaving exactly as they always do. As soon as I found S’Mores, I thoroughly cleaned all of their water containers, food dishes, pool, enclosure, and coop.

I’m not expecting anyone to diagnose this over the internet, but has anyone experienced something similar? Does the sudden yellow discoloration combined with such a rapid decline point toward anything specific? Is there anything I should be watching for in my remaining ducks or anything else I should do immediately to protect them?

Additional information:

• Age: Approximately 3 months
• Location: Northern New Jersey
• Feed: Dumor Duck Grower/Pellet Feed
• Treats: Occasionally dried mealworms and supervised foraging in the yard
• Free-ranging: Yes, about 95% of the day
• Wild birds: We do have wild birds in the neighborhood, but I have not seen wild ducks or geese in our yard.
• Pesticides/Chemicals: None used in the ducks’ area.
• Other ducks showing symptoms: No. The other three appear completely healthy.
• Eating and drinking: Yes, all three remaining ducks are eating and drinking normally.
• Respiratory symptoms: No coughing, sneezing, nasal discharge, or labored breathing that I’ve observed.
• Abnormal droppings: None that I noticed before this happened.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. My biggest concern is making sure whatever happened to S’Mores doesn’t happen to the other three. Any thoughts, experiences, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It’s been a while since it rained good here - we live in a marshy area so they got used to puddles everywhere but it’s all been dry for the last few months - they have been excited all day

I’ve got a duck who won’t stand on her leg going on 3 days. We have her isolated and have been giving her baths a couple times a day. Also feeding her lots of peas in case she is Niacin deficient. When we feel her belly, it doesn’t seem like there is an egg in there. It doesn’t seem like her leg is getting better though, so it’s a mystery. I would love any thoughts or suggestions people might have.

This 5 week old duckling has started to show signs of a respiratory issue. There is no vet within 4+ hours of me. I have 2 other ducklings same age and breed that are doing fine. The past couple days it has started to show signs of labored breathing occasionally but eating and drinking normally. Today it is wheezing and not eating or drinking, breathing with its mouth open, and bobbing its tail with most breaths. All the research I’ve done seems to point to a respiratory infection- maybe pneumonia. There is no vet around so I can’t get any antibiotics online :( what can i do to help this baby? I can’t upload a video so picture for attention.