Duck With Eye Worms and No Vets Around

[marxrab]

I have one duck who has what looks like eye worms. I thought he had an upper respiratory infection but upon closer inspection he has worms in his eyes and what looks like an egg sack in his nostrils. I don't have a vet anywhere nearby that takes ducks. I'm completely on my own to treat this. What can I do? I have amoxicillin, baytril,and VetRx in my emergency medical kit. I adopted this duck about a month ago and have had him with my flock. How terrified do I have to be that he infected the others? I don't quite understand eye worms and am googling trying to figure out what to do. Thank you!

 

[MysteryChicken]

Pictures?

 

[marxrab]

Pictures?

I can't get pictures unfortunately. It's a long explanation but the duck is mine. He's blind and I owned him and his blind brother for 3 years. His brother died and the remaining brother was super depressed. I used a duck rescue FB group to rehome him with this lady who seemed great and would take care of him. A month later she contacted me saying she thinks he has eye worms. From my research it's treatable but she doesn't want to deal with it. I offered to pay for him medicines but she just wants out because she's grossed out by worm. I can take him back or shes going to kill him. I put a lot of work and care into my blind boys and I would have never let him go with this lady if I'd known she'd kill him at the first sign of any illness. If I can treat eye worms myself I'll take him back but it's an 8 hr drive. If it's not treatable then humanly putting him down is the only option but if eye worms are treatable then I'll drive and get him back.

 

[ruthhope]

I can't get pictures unfortunately. It's a long explanation but the duck is mine. He's blind and I owned him and his blind brother for 3 years. His brother died and the remaining brother was super depressed. I used a duck rescue FB group to rehome him with this lady who seemed great and would take care of him. A month later she contacted me saying she thinks he has eye worms. From my research it's treatable but she doesn't want to deal with it. I offered to pay for him medicines but she just wants out because she's grossed out by worm. I can take him back or shes going to kill him. I put a lot of work and care into my blind boys and I would have never let him go with this lady if I'd known she'd kill him at the first sign of any illness. If I can treat eye worms myself I'll take him back but it's an 8 hr drive. If it's not treatable then humanly putting him down is the only option but if eye worms are treatable then I'll drive and get him back.

This is a very sad situation and I commend you for caring for your blind duck even in its new home

I had not heard of eyeworms, but have now read about it. Search for Mansons eye worms.

Ivermectin is likely the treatment of choice:
Ivermectin for Chickens and Ducks - PoultryDVM http://www.poultrydvm.com/drugs/ivermectin

The issue is that round worms have an intermediary host that spreads the infectiin to poultry. For Mansons eye worm, the infection is spread by a cockroach. If your duck now has eyeworms and comes back to you, it will excrete the eggs in its poop and the cockroaches will eat it and can then spread the infection to other ducks or chickens. But I am thinking you dont have other ducks so that should not be your worry.

You can get ivermectin drenches and other preparations for horses at Tractor Supply. As per the link it is used off label for poultry.

It seems to me to be treatable and if you are willing to claim back your duck we can encourage you while you treat .

Its also a possibility your duck doesnt have eyeworms. You will only know by getting your duck back. I realise driving 8 hours to get your duck and then 8 hours back is huge commitment. Its your decision but if the deciding point is "are eyeworms treatable?" The answer to that is yes it seems so.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Vet RX is suppose to treat eye worms too. I've never used it for that though.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/is-this-eye-worm-and-does-vet-rx-really-work.241167/

https://www.drugs.com/vet/vetrx-poultry-remedy.html

 

[ruthhope]

@marxrab

Were you able to help the duck through the new owner? Or to claim him back and care for him yourself?

 

[marxrab]

@marxrab

Were you able to help the duck through the new owner? Or to claim him back and care for him yourself?

The new owner had never dealt with worms before and I'm assuming she's got some personal problems because she had a complete breakdown over the eyeworms. She called me first night and that was when she was freaking out and said she might need to put him to sleep. She was trying to pull the worms out and grossed out which I thought was a bad idea. In other words....she did not handle the situation responsibly. I've dealt with worms in cats (I rescue a lot of them) so worms didn't seem like a big deal so I decided to go pick my friend up before he could be put to sleep over something easily fixable. You literally give them a worm medicine, let the worms die, and do an eye rinse.

Before I realized it was no different than treating cats/dogs for worms I started researching and contacting help. I immediately started making posts like this one and other places. I made one in a duck rescue FB group hoping someone might be near where she lives who could rescue my duck from this crazy woman. There's some crazy duck loving people and I had someone from Massachusetts ready to drive 10 hours to go get him and adopt him and take him to a vet if I wanted. I made plans myself to go pick my duck up two days after she contacted me which is an 8 hour drive. I was afraid she'd put him down. She was very upset and unreasonable to deal with and at first didn't want to treat him. She had my duck a month and tried to blame me for his worms even though he was fine when I had him and he'd been in the safety of my house for a month.

I got a lot of overwhelmed, freaked out messages saying she couldn't do it. Eventually, my contacting people paid off and was able to screenshot medicines to use like ivermectin and VetRX. I knew of a duck rescue in a state I use to live in and contacted them through FB and they were able to diagnose the type of worm as gapeworm. They offered to do a video call and everything to help. She calmed down and got some ivermectin and VetRX and treated my duck. The worms died overnight. She apologized. She refused to give him back and wouldn't give me her address so I really don't know where she lives. From what she says my duck is fine now and recovering nicely.

Ultimately, I did let her adopt my blind duck because she does seem to love her ducks but I did think she had more experience than she led on. She also might have some personal problems. I had vetted her for 3 weeks doing a video call and other talks to make sure she could handle the stress of a disabled duck so I am trying to think of that and not be upset over the whole ordeal she put me through. I'm high functioning autistic so I was a wreck thinking she'd kill him and I didn't eat for 3 days from the stress. I love that little guy so much. Worms aren't a big deal and easy to treat. But yeah...she apologized for her behavior and she does seem to love my boy so hopefully it'll be okay.

 

[ruthhope]

The new owner had never dealt with worms before and I'm assuming she's got some personal problems because she had a complete breakdown over the eyeworms. She called me first night and that was when she was freaking out and said she might need to put him to sleep. She was trying to pull the worms out and grossed out which I thought was a bad idea. In other words....she did not handle the situation responsibly. I've dealt with worms in cats (I rescue a lot of them) so worms didn't seem like a big deal so I decided to go pick my friend up before he could be put to sleep over something easily fixable. You literally give them a worm medicine, let the worms die, and do an eye rinse.

Before I realized it was no different than treating cats/dogs for worms I started researching and contacting help. I immediately started making posts like this one and other places. I made one in a duck rescue FB group hoping someone might be near where she lives who could rescue my duck from this crazy woman. There's some crazy duck loving people and I had someone from Massachusetts ready to drive 10 hours to go get him and adopt him and take him to a vet if I wanted. I made plans myself to go pick my duck up two days after she contacted me which is an 8 hour drive. I was afraid she'd put him down. She was very upset and unreasonable to deal with and at first didn't want to treat him. She had my duck a month and tried to blame me for his worms even though he was fine when I had him and he'd been in the safety of my house for a month.

I got a lot of overwhelmed, freaked out messages saying she couldn't do it. Eventually, my contacting people paid off and was able to screenshot medicines to use like ivermectin and VetRX. I knew of a duck rescue in a state I use to live in and contacted them through FB and they were able to diagnose the type of worm as gapeworm. They offered to do a video call and everything to help. She calmed down and got some ivermectin and VetRX and treated my duck. The worms died overnight. She apologized. She refused to give him back and wouldn't give me her address so I really don't know where she lives. From what she says my duck is fine now and recovering nicely.

Ultimately, I did let her adopt my blind duck because she does seem to love her ducks but I did think she had more experience than she led on. She also might have some personal problems. I had vetted her for 3 weeks doing a video call and other talks to make sure she could handle the stress of a disabled duck so I am trying to think of that and not be upset over the whole ordeal she put me through. I'm high functioning autistic so I was a wreck thinking she'd kill him and I didn't eat for 3 days from the stress. I love that little guy so much. Worms aren't a big deal and easy to treat. But yeah...she apologized for her behavior and she does seem to love my boy so hopefully it'll be okay.

Oh @marxrab, that must have been awful for you. Thank goodness the blind duck has now been treated. I don't understand how gapeworms can be confsed with eyeworms, but no matter Ivermectin works and kills the worms overnight.

I do not know about the Facebook duck rescue group. I need to find out more as I rescue ducks and need more contacts for rehoming after I have rehabbed the ducks. I have kept drakes and a special needs duck, but I cannot keep every duck that I rescue as I have limited backyard space.

I understand the issue of vetting new owners and the difficulty in doing that. A woman wanted to come and collect my last two drakes I had up for rehome. I demured and insisted I took them to her. There was a small pond but no duck house, and no duck food. She had a crate on her back deck and it was obvious she was not going to keep the boys but eat them. I didn't get them out of my van, but drove off very distressed. Fortunately, I had a back up new home for the boys, and they have gone to a ducky paradise. We have to be very cautious!

I hope you are now recovered from the stress!

 

[marxrab]

Oh @marxrab, that must have been awful for you. Thank goodness the blind duck has now been treated. I don't understand how gapeworms can be confsed with eyeworms, but no matter Ivermectin works and kills the worms overnight.

I do not know about the Facebook duck rescue group. I need to find out more as I rescue ducks and need more contacts for rehoming after I have rehabbed the ducks. I have kept drakes and a special needs duck, but I cannot keep every duck that I rescue as I have limited backyard space.

I understand the issue of vetting new owners and the difficulty in doing that. A woman wanted to come and collect my last two drakes I had up for rehome. I demured and insisted I took them to her. There was a small pond but no duck house, and no duck food. She had a crate on her back deck and it was obvious she was not going to keep the boys but eat them. I didn't get them out of my van, but drove off very distressed. Fortunately, I had a back up new home for the boys, and they have gone to a ducky paradise. We have to be very cautious!

I hope you are now recovered from the stress!

This is a screenshot of the FB duck rescue group. It's great. When I originally posted to rehome my blind boy I had people from different states willing to take him in. When I posted needing help rescuing my duck the second time the help I got was amazing. I had people helping me diagnose and figure out treatments. I also had people trying to help me re-home him. It's a really great group.

Good luck with your rescuing. If you post in that group start of with "re-homing" or a simple sentence stating you need help and you'll get lots of views.

 

[ruthhope]

View attachment 3420993



This is a screenshot of the FB duck rescue group. It's great. When I originally posted to rehome my blind boy I had people from different states willing to take him in. When I posted needing help rescuing my duck the second time the help I got was amazing. I had people helping me diagnose and figure out treatments. I also had people trying to help me re-home him. It's a really great group.

Good luck with your rescuing. If you post in that group start of with "re-homing" or a simple sentence stating you need help and you'll get lots of views.

Thank you, @marxrab