Your pets may act as though nothing phases them but this is a survival mechanism. Pets, ducks included, can easily get sick, more so ducklings, a sign of sickness may be raspy breathing.
This article looks into why your baby duckling’s breathing has suddenly become raspy.
Table of Contents
Baby duck raspy breathing:
Baby ducks are very fragile creatures that are easily hurt and easily killed, so, if you notice something off and odd when it comes to these baby animals you’d be right to be confused and concerned.
Here is why your ducklings breathing may suddenly be raspy:
Blockage:
Baby ducks are small, and thus their respiratory systems are small.
What would have no trouble passing through an adult duck’s respiratory system may become blocked in a baby duck’s respiratory system, this may be what is causing the raspy breathing in your bird.
Ducklings are curious little animals, they use their bills to dig and to eat, so, the bird’s nares or mouth are bound to become blocked by something eventually.
The obstruction may be seeds or debris that may become blocked in the bird’s nares or even the bird’s trachea or syrinx.
What to do:
You can test this theory by grabbing your duckling and looking up at its nares and mouth. Do this gently and slowly so as to not scare the bird or cause it to become anxious.
You should be able to look into one of your duck’s nares and see right through the bill to the other nare. If you can’t see though then there is a blockage in the baby birds’ nare.
Ducklings will instinctively clean their nares if they are given a body of water to do so. Give the baby bird a bowl of water deep enough to where it can dip its head into.
This will encourage them to clear their nares.
Avoid trying to stick something like forceps into the bird’s nare to clean them out. A duck’s respiratory system is delicate and a duckling’s respiratory system is even more delicate.
If the bird can’t remove the obstruction o its own then you may want to take the bird to the vet who will remove the obstruction.
Sickness:
Ducklings are weaker than adult ducks, in addition, their immune systems are weaker than adult decks as well so they may feel the effects of an illness even more.
If your bird’s breathing is raspy then your bird may have a respiratory illness. One of the major signs of respiratory illnesses in birds is difficulty breathing, this may be why your bird’s breathing may be raspy.
The illness will cause other signs in your little bird including nasal discharge, eye discharge, gasping for breath, coughing, wheezing, and gurgling when breathing
What to do:
Taking your bird to the vet is the best course of action, trying to figure out what illness your bird has can be time-consuming and take time that your bird does not have.
Your vet will be able to quickly diagnose the bird and offer treatments according to what your bird has.
If you’re raising more than one duckling then it is recommended that you isolate the sick bird to keep it from getting the other birds sick.
You can isolate your sick duck in a pet carrier. Make sure that the bird is comfortable by giving it food and drink while in isolation.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why Does My Duck Keep Sitting Down?, How To Unclog A Ducks Nose, Duck Raspy Breathing