Duck eye infection

[jools2014]

Hi guys,

One of my ducks has an eye infection-just the one eye. All other birds seem fine. I cannot see the pupil or any part of the eye at all-I guess it is closed/sealed shut and it's white. It looked dry earlier so I didn't think it was an infection but later on I could see it was weeping so I guess it is. She is also not acting like her usual self so not feeling too well with it.

My avian vet isn't in til Tuesday so i was wondering if I could get some eye drops tomorrow and hope she makes a miraculous improvement by Tuesday? I seem to remember someone telling me I could use Optrex with the special thing in it-Chloramphenicol is it? when i had a chicken with an eye infection (years ago and not the same type of infection). It didn't work for that hen but I'm thinking i could try it with this duck. Does anyone think it would work? Or anything else I could pick up from chemist/farm shop? I'm in the UK.

I'm panicking a bit because of how bad it looks, worried it'll spread to the rest of the flock and worried about flies getting on it. Should I separate her? The vets bills are mounting up-I have never had to take a duck to the vet before but have taken quite a few chickens (all EYP) It seems like they are worse than cats and dogs for having to take to the vet?! The expense really mounts up, not to mention the feed and bedding costs,honestly I could write a whole article on why NOT to ever get chickens or ducks! Sorry for the rant I am just feeling down about it I hate seeing my animals sick. She has been a great duck and never had a problem with her before in 3 years so I suppose that is quite good going. Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hi guys,

One of my ducks has an eye infection-just the one eye. All other birds seem fine. I cannot see the pupil or any part of the eye at all-I guess it is closed/sealed shut and it's white. It looked dry earlier so I didn't think it was an infection but later on I could see it was weeping so I guess it is. She is also not acting like her usual self so not feeling too well with it.

My avian vet isn't in til Tuesday so i was wondering if I could get some eye drops tomorrow and hope she makes a miraculous improvement by Tuesday? I seem to remember someone telling me I could use Optrex with the special thing in it-Chloramphenicol is it? when i had a chicken with an eye infection (years ago and not the same type of infection). It didn't work for that hen but I'm thinking i could try it with this duck. Does anyone think it would work? Or anything else I could pick up from chemist/farm shop? I'm in the UK.

I'm panicking a bit because of how bad it looks, worried it'll spread to the rest of the flock and worried about flies getting on it. Should I separate her? The vets bills are mounting up-I have never had to take a duck to the vet before but have taken quite a few chickens (all EYP) It seems like they are worse than cats and dogs for having to take to the vet?! The expense really mounts up, not to mention the feed and bedding costs,honestly I could write a whole article on why NOT to ever get chickens or ducks! Sorry for the rant I am just feeling down about it I hate seeing my animals sick. She has been a great duck and never had a problem with her before in 3 years so I suppose that is quite good going. Thanks for any suggestions!

@jools2014 could she have been pecked in the eye? If an infection you could try to get some terramycin eye ointment some feed stores carry it and I know you can buy it on line. Also in the mean time while your waiting for your avian vet gets in try a warm saline wash rinsing her eye with it. 1/8th teaspoon to 1 cup of warm water. You can also put some Apple Cider vinegar in a gal of water and let her wash her head in it. 1-2 tab to 1 gal of water. Just remember if it's an infection she may need an oral antibiotic also so if possible take her to the vet.

Please let us know how she is doing. I know it can be frustrating at times when we have to take our pets to the vet but we have to remember we took on that responsibility of caring for them the best we could when we brought them home.

Not everyone has the means or proximity to an avian vet so we do the best we can by having a med chest full of things that can be used to help our animals. Hopefully something i have mentioned will take care of it. Just don't let it go on too long.

 

[jools2014]

Thank you I will try what you suggested. Guess I am lucky to even have an Avian vet. I am just glad I didn't go and get 30 birds otherwise I would be at the vet every week.

It's not likely she has been pecked as she is one of my older ducks and they have always got on well with the chickens, never any injuries-though it is possible one of my new ducks did something (was a mistake getting any more).

Of course I will take her to the vet Tuesday, I know I have a responsibility I just didn't see them being THIS much trouble (more the chickens than the ducks), don't worry I have learnt my lesson and will never have any more. I have realised I don't have the personality to deal with all this stress and worry. I am still getting problems with rats getting into the pen (don't even get me started on that) so I have just reached my limit. Thanks for the advice x

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you I will try what you suggested. Guess I am lucky to even have an Avian vet. I am just glad I didn't go and get 30 birds otherwise I would be at the vet every week.

It's not likely she has been pecked as she is one of my older ducks and they have always got on well with the chickens, never any injuries-though it is possible one of my new ducks did something (was a mistake getting any more).

Of course I will take her to the vet Tuesday, I know I have a responsibility I just didn't see them being THIS much trouble (more the chickens than the ducks), don't worry I have learnt my lesson and will never have any more. I have realised I don't have the personality to deal with all this stress and worry. I am still getting problems with rats getting into the pen (don't even get me started on that) so I have just reached my limit. Thanks for the advice x

Since you feel so strongly about this why not after you get her well work on getting them new forever homes and then maybe you can make amends with your family and your stress will be down. OR
maybe you can share your set up and what you feed what they live in and on and maybe we can help you avoid any more sickness or injuries. or at least get them down some. I am very sorry your having to go through this with your flock.

 

[jools2014]

I don't think you can get new homes for chickens and ducks very easily-especially 2 and 3 year olds. I will be ok when I get her to the vet and sorted-I always get like this over any situation.

They have fancy feed layers pellets mainly. As treats every week they get lettuce, cabbage, sweetcorn, tomatoes, any other scraps and occasionally mealworms. They live in a pen which is quite big and when I can I let them out into our garden which is very big. The henhouse is also big with plenty of room. They all get on well but possibly the drake I got a few months ago has injured this ducks eye mating.
The chickens all had EYP which the vet says he sees all the time-because they are bred to lay so many eggs-I didn't know this at the time of getting them that they would be so susceptible to this. 2 of my birds are pure breeds so hopefully they wont be so affected by this and I hope this is the last time I have to go to the vet for a while. They eat so much and the expense is massive-worse than having a cat or dog, so I would just warn anyone NOT to ever get hens and ducks as pets based on my experience of the expense and trips to vets etc.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I don't think you can get new homes for chickens and ducks very easily-especially 2 and 3 year olds. I will be ok when I get her to the vet and sorted-I always get like this over any situation.

They have fancy feed layers pellets mainly. As treats every week they get lettuce, cabbage, sweetcorn, tomatoes, any other scraps and occasionally mealworms. They live in a pen which is quite big and when I can I let them out into our garden which is very big. The henhouse is also big with plenty of room. They all get on well but possibly the drake I got a few months ago has injured this ducks eye mating.
The chickens all had EYP which the vet says he sees all the time-because they are bred to lay so many eggs-I didn't know this at the time of getting them that they would be so susceptible to this. 2 of my birds are pure breeds so hopefully they wont be so affected by this and I hope this is the last time I have to go to the vet for a while. They eat so much and the expense is massive-worse than having a cat or dog, so I would just warn anyone NOT to ever get hens and ducks as pets based on my experience of the expense and trips to vets etc.

I truly understand how upsetting it can be when one of our pets is injured or sick. I have had a few hen with EYP and it's heart breaking to see them this way and have to be put down.
Sounds like they all are getting excellent care and feed and treats. So I hope once you find out about your duck and can get her treated this will be behind you and you can enjoy them again. It is very expensive to feed them and house them all I try not to think about it too much because I do enjoy them so much.
You hit on something important drakes can be over zealous in their mating and can injure females also drakes have been known to try and mate with chicken hens too so if you have them all together you might want to watch out for that unless you have plenty of female ducks for him. I have ducks and chickens all together during the day and have never had a problem with my drakes going after my hens I have more than enough female ducks for my 2 drakes .

Please let us know what you find out about your duck and I wish you all the best with your flocks health from here on out.

 

[jools2014]

Thank you Lydia! I'm sorry you have experienced similar to me with your chickens I have no worry of my Drake going after my chickens they are way too feisty-they don't even like the cockerel mating with them, they do all they can to get away from him! i don't know if this is normal? There's playing hard to get and then there's my chickens! One hen in particular my cockerel can almost never catch

so I really don't think they would let a duck near them.

Anyway, feeling a bit better about things now-vet's first thing in the morning, will update tomorrow, thanks again!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you Lydia! I'm sorry you have experienced similar to me with your chickens I have no worry of my Drake going after my chickens they are way too feisty-they don't even like the cockerel mating with them, they do all they can to get away from him! i don't know if this is normal? There's playing hard to get and then there's my chickens! One hen in particular my cockerel can almost never catch

so I really don't think they would let a duck near them.

Anyway, feeling a bit better about things now-vet's first thing in the morning, will update tomorrow, thanks again!

I am happy to hear your feeling better about things. Many of us have gone through so pretty awful things with our birds never feel like your alone. We're here to support each other and offer help when we can.

My hens really don't care for the roos going after them either and can put up a fuss about it but they usually give in. lol

 

[jools2014]

I am happy to hear your feeling better about things. Many of us have gone through so pretty awful things with our birds never feel like your alone. We're here to support each other and offer help when we can.

My hens really don't care for the roos going after them either and can put up a fuss about it but they usually give in. lol

Thank you for the kind words.

Ok update-she's been at the vets and had an op on her eye-the vet said there was no chance of saving the eye-she is blind in it. I finally got it open today as it was sealed closed-I used a hot towel and held it on her eye which i had read helps to unseal the eye-it worked. The eye looked terrible. It was not an infection but an injury. The vet couldn't tell if it was infected as well but thought it might be. Basically it is just a trauma injury and the only thing to do was remove the eye. It could be from the drake or could be some other injury-the vet sees it fairly often in birds.

The surgery is expensive-I never thought I'd end up spending so much at the vets for poultry! But we had no choice since she is fine otherwise, and couldn't just leave it. I am relieved it's not an infection that can spread to the others and that she should be ok after this surgery. She's at the vets overnight. Good but EXPENSIVE outcome! (Not that it's good she has lost the use of one eye-but it looked pretty bad so I expected that). I will probably try and sell the drake-I don't know if it's his fault but seems likely since this is the first injury we've had in 4 years of having ducks and he's only just started mating with them. I can't risk another eye injury and all that money at the vet! Plus my poor duck (my favourite) has lost her eye and gone through all this stress and had to go to the vets One of the reasons I got 3 more ducks (including the drake) was for more company for my 2 old ducks-to think this might've been the result is just sad! They were probably just as happy going round as a pair!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you for the kind words.

Ok update-she's been at the vets and had an op on her eye-the vet said there was no chance of saving the eye-she is blind in it. I finally got it open today as it was sealed closed-I used a hot towel and held it on her eye which i had read helps to unseal the eye-it worked. The eye looked terrible. It was not an infection but an injury. The vet couldn't tell if it was infected as well but thought it might be. Basically it is just a trauma injury and the only thing to do was remove the eye. It could be from the drake or could be some other injury-the vet sees it fairly often in birds.

The surgery is expensive-I never thought I'd end up spending so much at the vets for poultry! But we had no choice since she is fine otherwise, and couldn't just leave it. I am relieved it's not an infection that can spread to the others and that she should be ok after this surgery. She's at the vets overnight. Good but EXPENSIVE outcome! (Not that it's good she has lost the use of one eye-but it looked pretty bad so I expected that). I will probably try and sell the drake-I don't know if it's his fault but seems likely since this is the first injury we've had in 4 years of having ducks and he's only just started mating with them. I can't risk another eye injury and all that money at the vet! Plus my poor duck (my favourite) has lost her eye and gone through all this stress and had to go to the vets One of the reasons I got 3 more ducks (including the drake) was for more company for my 2 old ducks-to think this might've been the result is just sad! They were probably just as happy going round as a pair!

Wow a relief and heartbreak and expense too. But I am proud of you for going the extra mile and doing all of this for your duck. You are a jewel. I sure hope she comes through with out any problems now and believe me she will be fine with out her eye. Ducks are amazing creatures and can bounce back and adjust amazingly well. Hopefully she doesn't fly because that maybe a problem.

It may have been the drakes or she could have gotten pecked by one of your chickens I know you said it couldn't have been but I have seen my chickens go after my ducks before thankfully nothing serious. But you could be right. Or she may have got poked by a stick or piece of wire just hard to know. Maybe give the drake the benefit of the doubt for a little longer.
Thank you so much for updating and telling us about her injury and surgery. Now on to recovery and I hope it's quick. At least she has someone with her who cares and will make sure she gets The TLC she needs. YOU!!

Bless you for caring and Please keep us updated on how she is doing. We care too.

@jools2014