It’s pretty easy to tell when a human is in pain, we will usually writhe in pain and make noises to communicate that we are in pain, but animals don’t do this.
Figuring out if your duck is in pain can be difficult, and this article will help you figure out whether your duck is in pain.
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How can you tell if a duck is in pain:
Wild ducks will do their best not to show that they are in pain. The birds will do this to keep predators away from them.
Predators target prey animals that look sick, injured, or old, these types of prey are easier to catch.
Ducks know this so they try to avoid showing signs of being in pain, but they can’t hide all their symptoms forever. Here are signs that your duck is in pain:
Limping:
Ducks limp when they have pain in their legs. The bird may injure its legs while playing with other ducks, while fighting with other ducks, and even walking around.
You may notice that the bird is injured if the bird’s foot is bleeding, or if a bone looks out of place, but you may not notice the injury if the bird has an internal injury like a sprain, a twisted ankle, or ligament, but what you will notice is the duck favoring one leg over the other.
Unresponsive:
Ducks are generally fearful of humans, or, they are at least hyper-aware when we come around to touch them. This is especially true for ducks who are not used to you and especially true for ducklings.
Humans are quite large compared to ducks and these animals will react when we come near them, it’s better safe than sorry for ducks.
If you try to approach a duck, and the bird is unresponsive, then this means that something is wrong with the bird, it could mean that the bird is in pain.
The bird’s eyes may be closed as well and will stay closed when you come near it if the bird is in pain.
Quiet:
A bird that is in pain will not act like itself. Ducks are usually social, energetic, and very outgoing animals.
If you notice a change in your bird’s behavior, if the bird is suddenly acting quiet, is sitting huddled alone, is sitting on one side, is lame, can’t manage to stand on its own, or has droopy wings then the bird is likely in pain.
Birds will stay quiet not only because they want to avoid drawing the attention of predators, but because they do not want the other flock members to know that they are sick.
If the flock realizes that one duck is sick or injured and in pain, then the flock members will attack the sick and injured duck.
Fluffed feathers:
Ducks that are sick, injured and/or in pain will have feathers that are fluffed up, the whole bird will look puffed up. This is a far cry from the smooth feathers that ducks usually have.
Breathing problems:
Ducks don’t usually breathe loudly, you can’t usually hear a duck breathing. If your bird suddenly develops breathing problems then the bird may be in some sort of pain.
The duck may suddenly sound like it is short of breath or is breathing heavily.
Disinterest in food and water
Ducks love their food and water so a sudden disinterest in food and water may mean that the bird is in pain. If the rest of your birds gobble up the feed when you lay it out, but one duck does not rush over to eat, then something is wrong.
What to do:
If you notice the above signs then this means that the bird is way past being able to mask the signs and is suffering quite badly
A bird that seems like it is in pain should be isolated and given its own source of food and water during isolation. Also, give it access to a warm heat source.
If this doesn’t help then you’d need to get the bird to the vet to be examined and diagnosed.
It is also recommended that you regularly check on your bird by doing routine health examinations to assess the overall health of the bird.
Routinely doing this is recommended over waiting for the bird to start showing signs of distress and only treating the bird then.
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