Your duck may act as though everything is great all of the time but this is not always true. Thankfully the bird’s body will give it away if there is something wrong with it.
This article explores why your duckling’s neck is swollen.
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Why is my duckling’s neck swollen?
Animals are usually quite hardy, not much seems to phase them, and if something does seem to phase them the bird will do everything in its power to seem unbothered, but this is only a survival tactic.
If you want to know why your duckling’s neck is swollen then read on:
Ruptured air sac:
One reason why your duckling’s neck may appear swollen is that the bird has a ruptured air sac. Birds, ducks included, breathe by filling their air sacs with air when they breathe.
The birds have multiple air sacs and any of these air sacs can rupture. This can happen if the bird was attacked, or knocked by something, and one of its air sacs becomes damaged.
If one of your bird’s air sacs ruptures, the bird will breathe in and this damaged air sac will fill with air.
Breathing air into a ruptured air sac will cause the air to accumulate under the skin, this may look like swelling or a lump and this lump will develop on your bird’s neck.
This balloon under the bid’s skin can grow quite large quite quickly, within a number of hours in fact. As it grows the skin over the lump will look quite thin, even transparent.
What to do:
You can check if this is what is going on with your bird by touching and feeling the lump. It will feel soft and spongy.
If you think that this is what is wrong with your bird then you’d need to take your bird to a vet, or better yet to an avian vet, for an examination.
The vet will examine the bird and may also do a CT scan to help to confirm that your bird has a ruptured air sac.
If your bird does have a ruptured air sac then the vet will make an incision at the air sac and let the air out and advise on what to do further.
Crop issues:
Another reason why your duck’s neck is swollen may be that the bird has a crop issue like a blocked crop or sour crop.
The crop is a muscular pouch that temporarily holds the bird’s food as it eats, the food moves into the bird’s stomach to be digested later.
Ducks don’t have a true crop the same way that other birds do, but they do have a widening lower on their esophagus that can stretch and increase in side to accommodate more food.
If your bird ate something that isn’t passing past the crop and into the bird’s stomach, if the bird is eating rough weeds, large stones, or foreign objects like plastic or rubber objects, then these foreign objects can get stuck in the crop.
If a foreign object is stuck in the crop this can cause the crop to stretch making it seem like the bird’s neck is swollen.
This blockage will also keep food from moving past the foreign object into the bird’s stomach.
What to do:
The recommended course of action in this situation is to take the bird to the vet. The vet will be able to take an x-ray of the bird’s crop to see if it is in fact blocked.
If your bird’s crop is blocked then the vet will determine if they can flush the object out or if surgery is needed to remove the object from your bird’s crop.
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: Chicken Sneezing When Eating, Why Your Chickens Head Doesn’t Move, How Do Wild Chickens Survive In The Winter?, Duck With A Twisted Foot, Chicken Shaking Head And Walking Backward, Do Chickens Shake When Scared?, Chicken Limping After Dog Attack, Chicken Trembling Legs, Rooster Shaking Legs