Need advice, duck with eye infection and other with odd behavior. Please help! (Repost, updated)

[That crazy duck lady]

Hi everyone, i apologize for a lengthy post. Please bear with me, I could really use some support! There will be a recap at the end to provide a quick summary but I think the details are important.


I have two 8 month old duck hens. Both silver appleyard sisters.

One got foamy eye about a month and a half ago. It has continued to worsen since and will not go away.

The other we had found, also about a month ago, unable to walk. She was toppling over and rolling around. We got her back to normal by end of that day. However, she has been a bit weird ever since and her behavior has been increasingly odd. She walks around screaming all day, and still seems to have a bit of a wobble in her walk.

The one with the eye infection is Blondie and the one acting weird is Sandwich.

Update on info: Sandwich is broody. This may be why she was walking around going nuts (it’s my first experience with a broody duck) it was several days of her just yelling before she started nesting. Now she only runs around screaming when she leaves her nest, so to limit her stress, i have given her a safe spot. A lot less talkative now.

Blondie and Sandwich were both prescribed oxytetracycline. Both have been on it for a month. I got it from my avian vet and this antibiotic has been a life saver for my flock since I tend to take in rescues and my birds act like they pay their vet bills.

This is their first time on this antibiotic.

Blondie’s eye infection goes through waves of getting better to getting worse. It started as just foamy eye. I tried to treat naturally for about a week, fresh water baths, vitamin additives, deep clean in the coop, and I flushed the eye with saline morning and night. It seemed to go away and come back aggressively overnight. Her eye was crusted shut and she has scratched her eye til she bleeds twice. I have since clipped her nails back, and she won’t keep a patch on. So she got diagnosed with a bacterial infection and was started on the antibiotics. We also got eye drops that seemed to work better but have since run out and my vet is in a different city. She has now completed her full course of antibiotics (4 weeks, once every 12 hours) with no improvement. She shakes her head a lot and when it’s really foamy, i can hear he breathe through her eye. The skin around her eye is flaky, likely from scratching. It’s a bit swollen and she tends to keep it closed. I fear that it is something else that has turned into an infection instead of just being an infection. We only had a couple more ducks get foamy eye and flushing their eyes and fresh water cleared them right up. One other duck got more of an eye infection when blondie had a fever that I am also treating but it is still not nearly as severe as hers.

I am hesitant to go back to our vet because they do not seem to be as concerned about this and bedside manner is just not there. Blondie is a pet, she is not just a duck. I understand the right thing to do can be the hard thing to do but culling my duck for an eye infection is not going to be a first option. I also am not keen on keeping her on these antibiotics if the infection is resistant to them and it’s been 4 weeks, but I don’t want it to worsen by taking her off of them.

And then there is Sandwich. Sandwich is low on the pecking order and tends to be picked on heavily. When we found her unable to walk a month ago, it was scary. She couldn’t stand and was keeping her head tucked to her chest, we thought she wasn’t going to make it… even worse, we thought she had mareks. Well, one full day of separation, vitamin supplements and some TLC and she was basically back to normal. She had a few days off and turned out right as rain. The vet also prescribed the same antibiotics to her and she has since finished her full course. We have been assuming that it was a vitamin deficiency because some niacin seemed to rocket launch her into recovery. She’s been getting supplemental feed since but not too many additives. Anyway, her behavior just has been odd ever since. Part of me is suspicious that some unruly drakes had caused this by tackling her all at once. She seems to waddle a bit weird, and I am unsure if I am over thinking it, but she seems to lack full balance ever since. The past few days, she has been just walking around quacking loudly. The reason I mentioned her position in the pecking order is because she seems to go off in a tangent around her flock mates, but they are just as confused as I am. I intervene when I can to keep all of my birds safe so I know I’m not subjecting her to horrific bullying. So other than just being the odd one out, I worry something may be wrong neurologically. However, last night, she had nested herself over her eggs. She then started screaming when my call duck drakes tried to go in there with her. They can be bullies sometimes, but they were raised together and typically get along (plus they only weigh a pound). She acted afraid of them, so I removed them and closed off her space. She went right back to nesting. She isn’t aggressive with me because her and I have a bond, so when I put my hand in there with her, she had no reaction other than a few nibbles on my fingers. I want to say she is broody, but i went to let her out this morning and she seemed eager to leave. However, she went back shortly and nested again. I can’t tell if she just feels safer there or maybe broody, so I am going to set her up a safe space and monitor. I don’t want to think she is broody because she can access her nest at anytime, so walking around screaming at everyone really doesn’t seem like a broody hen to me. But she did create a nest and got herself all comfy in there, so I do not want to rule it out.

I need help with knowing what to do about Blondies eye infection and I need to know if sandwich’s behavior should be alarming or not.


Recap:
• one duck with eye infection that won’t go away
- gets fresh water daily
- is being treated with antibiotics
- eyes have been flushed
- skin around eye is crusty and flakey
- shaking her head
- foaming excessively
- keeping it shut

• one duck won’t stop quacking and seems off balance after we found her unable to walk, toppling over and keeping neck tucked
-walks fine now but still seemingly a little off balance
- she is lower on the pecking order and prone to bullying
- corrected vitamin intake
- has been treated with antibiotics
-quacking her head off every time she gets the chance
- has started nesting randomly
-sandwich is for sure broody, i am just not sure if that’s what was causing her behavior

Thank you so much for giving this the time to read. Any and all advice is welcome.

 

[Miss Lydia]

How many females and drakes have you? Are you still giving Sandwich niacin if so what kind? it does sound like she is broody does she have eggs under her? when mine are broody they scream and come out of the nest all puffed up looking like they want to kick butt. And they will if they can get hold of someone but most of the flock keep a safe distance.
Also giving a broody a safe place to brood is very important because once eggs hatch the mama and ducklings need at least a week or more to get used to each other and also gives the rest of the flock time to adjust to new flock members. And drakes can be aggressive towards ducklings. So I set mine up where the mama and ducklings can be seen by everyone but they are protected by fencing.

Did the vet give you Terramycin eye ointment for Blondie's eye infection? Sometimes you can find it at a feed store I have always had to order it. But it is a good antibiotic for eye problems.
besides the antibiotics are you using other supplements besides when you used the niacin?

 

[That crazy duck lady]

How many females and drakes have you? Are you still giving Sandwich niacin if so what kind? it does sound like she is broody does she have eggs under her? when mine are broody they scream and come out of the nest all puffed up looking like they want to kick butt. And they will if they can get hold of someone but most of the flock keep a safe distance.
Also giving a broody a safe place to brood is very important because once eggs hatch the mama and ducklings need at least a week or more to get used to each other and also gives the rest of the flock time to adjust to new flock members. And drakes can be aggressive towards ducklings. So I set mine up where the mama and ducklings can be seen by everyone but they are protected by fencing.

Did the vet give you Terramycin eye ointment for Blondie's eye infection? Sometimes you can find it at a feed store I have always had to order it. But it is a good antibiotic for eye problems.
besides the antibiotics are you using other supplements besides when you used the niacin?

Thank you so much for the reply!

We have 7 drakes, 13 hens. I know it’s an imperfect ratio, we are raising more hens and have a separation system in place incase of trouble.

I use animal grade brewers yeast to supplement niacin. I have been having trouble finding liquid Niacin or a better alternative in store and online, so if you have a suggestion, let me know!

Sandwich is laying on her eggs as well as anyone else’s she can steal. She is absolutely broody. I just have never had a broody duck before so her behavior was absolutely insane to me when it first started. It also was taking a place for about a week before she finally decided to cozy up. If i wasnt so worried about her, it’s actually quite cute how angry she is at everyone else when she is the one who decided to leave her nest. I built a brooder in my coop for babies that she is in right now, but it’s only about 4 sqft and because of that, she likes to leave it to relieve herself and eat and drink. So I don’t keep the door closed during the day. I have a small mobile coop that I would prefer her in, do you have any suggestions on relocating her safely without breaking her brood or potentially stressing her out more? Or should i keep her in there until closer to hatch?

I got gentamicin solution for Blondie. I have not used terramycin but I believe that would be more accessible than the gentamicin. I will absolutely order some.

As for supplements, additive wise, I’ll do rooster booster poultry cell for my entire flock during season transitions, small colds, hot/freezing days, ect… for about 5-7 days. But usually they just get fresh veggies and fruit with their crumble, sometimes I give them fresh fish and live grubs when I am able to afford it. They also free range and get to graze and forage.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I’d leave her where she is they really don’t like to move once broody. Then if there is a way to keep anyone from messing with her once hatch starts you can move her and ducklings to the mobile coop as long as she’s with her ducklings she’ll be fine. Thankfully they don’t like to poop in their nest so that is good or can you imagine what the eggs would look like.
https://www.amazon.com/Durvet-06340...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584070156395981&psc=1
You can get Terramycin here too probably I don’t use Amazon but it came up when searching.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Also many on here use drake jail when drakes get so randy and let one or two in with the females at a time so the girls don’t get over used.
Rooster booster poultry cell are good to Have on hand and also probiotics since antibiotics have been used for so long.

 

[Ourgosling22]

How many females and drakes have you? Are you still giving Sandwich niacin if so what kind? it does sound like she is broody does she have eggs under her? when mine are broody they scream and come out of the nest all puffed up looking like they want to kick butt. And they will if they can get hold of someone but most of the flock keep a safe distance.
Also giving a broody a safe place to brood is very important because once eggs hatch the mama and ducklings need at least a week or more to get used to each other and also gives the rest of the flock time to adjust to new flock members. And drakes can be aggressive towards ducklings. So I set mine up where the mama and ducklings can be seen by everyone but they are protected by fencing.

Did the vet give you Terramycin eye ointment for Blondie's eye infection? Sometimes you can find it at a feed store I have always had to order it. But it is a good antibiotic for eye problems.
besides the antibiotics are you using other supplements besides when you used the niacin?

Thank you, Miss Lydia.

 

[That crazy duck lady]

I’d leave her where she is they really don’t like to move once broody. Then if there is a way to keep anyone from messing with her once hatch starts you can move her and ducklings to the mobile coop as long as she’s with her ducklings she’ll be fine. Thankfully they don’t like to poop in their nest so that is good or can you imagine what the eggs would look like.
https://www.amazon.com/Durvet-06340...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584070156395981&psc=1
You can get Terramycin here too probably I don’t use Amazon but it came up when searching.

Thank you so much for your time and help! I have terramycin on the way for tomorrow. I also ferment feed for probiotics but I’ll be sure to provide that more frequently as well as other supplements for miss Blondie. Sandwich will be left where she is and I’m glad to know she isn’t going insane.

thank you!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Actually, they are insane when broody. lol
Please keep us updated on how they are both doing.

 

[Goldendreams]

Terramycin

Hi everyone, i apologize for a lengthy post. Please bear with me, I could really use some support! There will be a recap at the end to provide a quick summary but I think the details are important.


I have two 8 month old duck hens. Both silver appleyard sisters.

One got foamy eye about a month and a half ago. It has continued to worsen since and will not go away.

The other we had found, also about a month ago, unable to walk. She was toppling over and rolling around. We got her back to normal by end of that day. However, she has been a bit weird ever since and her behavior has been increasingly odd. She walks around screaming all day, and still seems to have a bit of a wobble in her walk.

The one with the eye infection is Blondie and the one acting weird is Sandwich.

Update on info: Sandwich is broody. This may be why she was walking around going nuts (it’s my first experience with a broody duck) it was several days of her just yelling before she started nesting. Now she only runs around screaming when she leaves her nest, so to limit her stress, i have given her a safe spot. A lot less talkative now.

Blondie and Sandwich were both prescribed oxytetracycline. Both have been on it for a month. I got it from my avian vet and this antibiotic has been a life saver for my flock since I tend to take in rescues and my birds act like they pay their vet bills.

This is their first time on this antibiotic.

Blondie’s eye infection goes through waves of getting better to getting worse. It started as just foamy eye. I tried to treat naturally for about a week, fresh water baths, vitamin additives, deep clean in the coop, and I flushed the eye with saline morning and night. It seemed to go away and come back aggressively overnight. Her eye was crusted shut and she has scratched her eye til she bleeds twice. I have since clipped her nails back, and she won’t keep a patch on. So she got diagnosed with a bacterial infection and was started on the antibiotics. We also got eye drops that seemed to work better but have since run out and my vet is in a different city. She has now completed her full course of antibiotics (4 weeks, once every 12 hours) with no improvement. She shakes her head a lot and when it’s really foamy, i can hear he breathe through her eye. The skin around her eye is flaky, likely from scratching. It’s a bit swollen and she tends to keep it closed. I fear that it is something else that has turned into an infection instead of just being an infection. We only had a couple more ducks get foamy eye and flushing their eyes and fresh water cleared them right up. One other duck got more of an eye infection when blondie had a fever that I am also treating but it is still not nearly as severe as hers.

I am hesitant to go back to our vet because they do not seem to be as concerned about this and bedside manner is just not there. Blondie is a pet, she is not just a duck. I understand the right thing to do can be the hard thing to do but culling my duck for an eye infection is not going to be a first option. I also am not keen on keeping her on these antibiotics if the infection is resistant to them and it’s been 4 weeks, but I don’t want it to worsen by taking her off of them.

And then there is Sandwich. Sandwich is low on the pecking order and tends to be picked on heavily. When we found her unable to walk a month ago, it was scary. She couldn’t stand and was keeping her head tucked to her chest, we thought she wasn’t going to make it… even worse, we thought she had mareks. Well, one full day of separation, vitamin supplements and some TLC and she was basically back to normal. She had a few days off and turned out right as rain. The vet also prescribed the same antibiotics to her and she has since finished her full course. We have been assuming that it was a vitamin deficiency because some niacin seemed to rocket launch her into recovery. She’s been getting supplemental feed since but not too many additives. Anyway, her behavior just has been odd ever since. Part of me is suspicious that some unruly drakes had caused this by tackling her all at once. She seems to waddle a bit weird, and I am unsure if I am over thinking it, but she seems to lack full balance ever since. The past few days, she has been just walking around quacking loudly. The reason I mentioned her position in the pecking order is because she seems to go off in a tangent around her flock mates, but they are just as confused as I am. I intervene when I can to keep all of my birds safe so I know I’m not subjecting her to horrific bullying. So other than just being the odd one out, I worry something may be wrong neurologically. However, last night, she had nested herself over her eggs. She then started screaming when my call duck drakes tried to go in there with her. They can be bullies sometimes, but they were raised together and typically get along (plus they only weigh a pound). She acted afraid of them, so I removed them and closed off her space. She went right back to nesting. She isn’t aggressive with me because her and I have a bond, so when I put my hand in there with her, she had no reaction other than a few nibbles on my fingers. I want to say she is broody, but i went to let her out this morning and she seemed eager to leave. However, she went back shortly and nested again. I can’t tell if she just feels safer there or maybe broody, so I am going to set her up a safe space and monitor. I don’t want to think she is broody because she can access her nest at anytime, so walking around screaming at everyone really doesn’t seem like a broody hen to me. But she did create a nest and got herself all comfy in there, so I do not want to rule it out.

I need help with knowing what to do about Blondies eye infection and I need to know if sandwich’s behavior should be alarming or not.


Recap:
• one duck with eye infection that won’t go away
- gets fresh water daily
- is being treated with antibiotics
- eyes have been flushed
- skin around eye is crusty and flakey
- shaking her head
- foaming excessively
- keeping it shut

• one duck won’t stop quacking and seems off balance after we found her unable to walk, toppling over and keeping neck tucked
-walks fine now but still seemingly a little off balance
- she is lower on the pecking order and prone to bullying
- corrected vitamin intake
- has been treated with antibiotics
-quacking her head off every time she gets the chance
- has started nesting randomly
-sandwich is for sure broody, i am just not sure if that’s what was causing her behavior

Thank you so much for giving this the time to read. Any and all advice is welco

Terramycin Cream around eye for 5 to 7 days