Eye discharge...What is wrong with this duck? Please HELP!

[MightyDucksVT]

This is one of my Mother's crested ducks I like to call "Einstein". She is the last crested duck we have since one was dead on arrival and the other died from a parasite infection just before winter. The other ducks in the flock never really liked her much-- you could see them "picking" on her, not letting her near the feed. It wasn't every really that bad until about a month ago. I went to check on the ducks and noticed that she was sitting away from the rest of the flock in a corner of the barn all by herself. Apparently, she had been like that all day...and I knew that wasn't a good sign. So I scooped her up and made her comfortable in a room in a old dog kennel that the previous owners had built. She was very skinny, and I figured if I warmed her up and got some fat on her she may be okay. A week and a half goes by, and she seems to be doing awesome, however, we were expecting temperatures around -20 below so I didn't want to kick her out from a 50 degree room into the frigged outdoors. Needless to say, she is still in the kennel, but over the last week I noticed discharge coming from her eyes and it has gotten worse.

Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong with her? I imminently though maybe an upper respiratory infection? Or Aspergillosis? But I have no idea for sure. She does make little sneeze like noises every now and then...I can treat her if I can figure out what wrong with her but I just don't know enough about Avian aliments.

I am a Vet Tech and did do a fecal flotation on her before the eye discharge appeared just to see if there were any parasites or protozoa making her feel crummy and didn't see any. For any of my Veterinarians or other medical gurus out there is there any test I can do to find out whats wrong? And what would be the best treatment? PLEASE HELP!

 

[Amiga]

If you have Vetericyn spray, or eye gel I would use that.

Does she have a head washer in her new digs? Some ducks seem to be susceptible to eye, sinus, and ear infections if they don't get to wash their heads frequently in clean (you know what I mean - with ducks, relatively clean, fresh anyway) water.

Since something has already started, I would add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar per quart of water for the head washer.

You are wise to keep her a little warmer for a while. She could use the help, I think, for her immune system. Do you have any poultry vitamins? I would give her some a couple of times a week for a couple of weeks, for a boost. She looks like a super model.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This is one of my Mother's crested ducks I like to call "Einstein". She is the last crested duck we have since one was dead on arrival and the other died from a parasite infection just before winter. The other ducks in the flock never really liked her much-- you could see them "picking" on her, not letting her near the feed. It wasn't every really that bad until about a month ago. I went to check on the ducks and noticed that she was sitting away from the rest of the flock in a corner of the barn all by herself. Apparently, she had been like that all day...and I knew that wasn't a good sign. So I scooped her up and made her comfortable in a room in a old dog kennel that the previous owners had built. She was very skinny, and I figured if I warmed her up and got some fat on her she may be okay. A week and a half goes by, and she seems to be doing awesome, however, we were expecting temperatures around -20 below so I didn't want to kick her out from a 50 degree room into the frigged outdoors. Needless to say, she is still in the kennel, but over the last week I noticed discharge coming from her eyes and it has gotten worse.

Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong with her? I imminently though maybe an upper respiratory infection? Or Aspergillosis? But I have no idea for sure. She does make little sneeze like noises every now and then...I can treat her if I can figure out what wrong with her but I just don't know enough about Avian aliments.

I am a Vet Tech and did do a fecal flotation on her before the eye discharge appeared just to see if there were any parasites or protozoa making her feel crummy and didn't see any. For any of my Veterinarians or other medical gurus out there is there any test I can do to find out whats wrong? And what would be the best treatment? PLEASE HELP!

Welcome to BYC, does this lil one have a bucket deep enough to wash her head in? if so which is very important for ducks to be able to wash their heads especially after eating, you might want to add some ACV in her water 1-2 tablespoons to 1 gallon of water it has antibacterial proprieties and may help. can she have bath time in some nice warm water? getting nice a dry before going back in her kennel, Is her bedding moldy? sometimes if there is mold it can cause some respiratory issues. I don't know why ducks do this and it happens also with other animals too but if one looks a bit different they seem to get picked on. Maybe you can find her a friend just for her maybe one you already have thats very mellow? she needs a buddy. If this doesn't work trying the ACV you can also try a saline wash and gently rinse her eyes with this solution or get the Terramycin eye salve and use it. I'd try poultry vitamins and these other treatments first but if you don't see any improvement in 2-3 days then maybe consider a oral antibiotic. she is adorable and hopefully with some special TLC will get her back on track.

 

[MightyDucksVT]

Thanks for the feedback! She does have a large salad bowl for water on top of a tray. It is deep enough for her to scoop her head in but I haven't see her do it. I didn't want to put a small pool or anything like that in the kennel with her because she would make a huge mess...plus if she is sick I don't want to keep her wet and sick. I've heard you shouldn't bathe a sick bird. I just completely washed out her the kennel area she is in and laid all new straw down for her. I will add some ACV to her water and maybe cleaning up her eyes myself. Do you know a good brand poultry supplement? I want to integrate her to my own flock of two very sweet Cayugas but I want to make sure she is healthy first. I will keep you updated on how she is doing over the next week. Thanks again for the advice and complements!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks for the feedback! She does have a large salad bowl for water on top of a tray. It is deep enough for her to scoop her head in but I haven't see her do it. I didn't want to put a small pool or anything like that in the kennel with her because she would make a huge mess...plus if she is sick I don't want to keep her wet and sick. I've heard you shouldn't bathe a sick bird. I just completely washed out her the kennel area she is in and laid all new straw down for her. I will add some ACV to her water and maybe cleaning up her eyes myself. Do you know a good brand poultry supplement? I want to integrate her to my own flock of two very sweet Cayugas but I want to make sure she is healthy first. I will keep you updated on how she is doing over the next week. Thanks again for the advice and complements!!!

Go ahead and clean her eyes up yourself, and of course don't put a pool in her sleepy area wow what a mess that would be, I was thinking more on the line of bath tub with warm water so she could really clean up including her face washing. But you'd dif have to keep her in till good and dry, but maybe put that on hold till you have had a chance to see if the ACV and poultry vitamins help. Some good feed and not having anyone bullying her will probably go along way in helping too. I hope it works out for her to have your 2 as her friends. I use Poultry Nutri Drench [TSC]they also carry other poultry vitamins so your decision there. Remember always when introducing any new ducks to already resident ones it has to be done very slowly.Look forward to hearing how she is doing.

 

[Amiga]

I use Vitamins with Electrolytes Plus.

 

[MightyDucksVT]

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to let you know how Einstein is doing. After posting and receiving all of the great advice, I added so ACV to her water and just recently got some Poultry vitamins from Tractor Supply Co. She is doing fine but still has stuff around her eyes. I've basically determined that this is just because she isn't able to clean her head very well. I notice recently that the other ducks that haven't been with her also have it, and they only have two heated water pails for drinking water because of winter freezing everything. Since they aren't super deep, they can't submerge their heads far beyond drinking. I tried washing the area around her eyes with water but it has gotten too hard from the mucus. Once I get some saline water on it I believe it will help break down the gunk and be back to normal. As far as her having a friend I did try having one of her old barn mates in with her for a couple days...However, I did notice her getting pecked at and removed the other duck because I didn't know if he was letting her eat when I wasn't around (she is still a bit skinny) so I didn't want her to starve. She still seems fairly happy and enjoys when I come in to visit and check on her which I do everyday.

Thank you all for the help!

 

[Amiga]

Thanks for the update!

Try to get creative with the water - water in winter is very tough, but some folks come up with solutions and each of us has different resources, so I would encourage you not to give up.

In the meantime, if you can get some Vetericyn spray, you can mist her eyes. Or, get a clean misting spray bottle, make some mild saline solution, and use that. It will soften the dried stuff.

I would get her into cool - 50˚F - water deep enough to float in, and let her bathe and soften the eye stuff that way.

During the day, especially if it is an above-freezing day, a 50˚ dunk ought not be too warm for her system.

 

[MightyDucksVT]

The last couple days have been extremely warm compared to before...Today is suppose to be 38 degrees with sunshine.

Could the ducks go for a swim in weather like this? It was raining yesterday and I'm pretty sure they spent the night outside and loved it. Thoughts?

 

[Amiga]

Absolutely great weather for a swim*. We have well water - so it comes out at 50˚F, and they hop right in.




*Perhaps I should note - for fairly healthy ducks. If you just have a few little things going on, I think it would help more than hurt.

Just watch them - if their feathers get soaked, they will need to get into a warmer place before they chill and get hypothermia.