bald head duck cause?

[Ruarc]

THANKS!
So far encouraging...3 of the 4 the meds (components) which I have are discussed in that article as being used with fowl... Thanks for reference/link. I may try the ketoconazole shampoo for starters. Shampooing ducks? ha ha. Ooooookay. (I shampooed a young pullet and she actually seemed to ENJOY it! hilarious and very endearing observing her standing under kitchensink water faucet obviously enjoying the warm water on her neck wounds and being sooo patient and compliant with the shampoos.) Ducks?... well remains to be seen how they would respond to such handling. Still welcome comments from any one who has seen or dealt with these symptoms. Cheers. ~R

 

[Miss Lydia]

Have you ever tried
Colloidal silver is applied directly to the skin for acne, burns, eye infections, fungal infections, throat infections, skin infections, and Staphylococcus infections.
I have used it for many years for different things never for fungus but it does say it can be used for that.
Also have used this with success
http://vetericyn.com/technology/

I have been looking through the BYC archives but so far haven't found anything.

 

[Ruarc]

Well, conditions worsened even more starting to include thinning areas other than head...and typically seemed to be starting with under-feathers - what is the term for the underfeathers?- (so harder to detect casually). magnifying glass revealed not any mites HOWEVER treating for mites any way: cleaned bombed (fogger insecticide) and dusted/rubbed walls with diatomaceous earth in coops, (hen's as well).
Shampmoo'd ducks with neem oil (and some cedarwood oil) and let them swim rinse in warm bathtub, toweled blew dry, and left in hot room until dry. amazed at how tolerant they were and having fun in tub despite shampoo then preening happily while drying. So endearing is their trust. I've never until now handled them so much or so assertively. They accepted it willingly with little fuss.
Ruth did seem to have a fever yesterday so I was concerned about that but seems okay and they all laid eggs this morning and are running around energetically. Ruth seemed to love the blow dryer, standing tall to absorb the heat. Very careful to keep them warm after shampoo soaked through feathers and all.
Keeping watch on Hens, and rubbed some cedarwood on them as deterrent (while cleaning/bombing their coops too)...any other tips for preventive treatments, especially those avoiding harsh chemicals, appreciated, for either ducks or hens. I am taking the advice recently given to add some bit of vinegar to duck's little pond. I am going on little more than instinct here...am a "new egg" and this is my first year with fowl, so really appreciate those of you sharing your thoughts and experience with me. Am incinerating old bedding, bit o cardboard from coop, but assume mites in yard? ??? i.e under coops, in duck's alternate ground nest which they made under shrubs etc ...not sure what to do other than what I've done... ...hardly want to spray entire run / fenced in yard with insecticides! Any comments?
Colloidal silver seems like a good thing to try for issues on eyelid/near eyes...(understand is safe in eye)...so I'll keep that in mind if it continues to worsen...we'll watch how this shampoo-for-mites plays out. Thanks for mentioning it. Neem also safe I understand although I avoided eyes anyway cause not quit sure about safety in eyes....(some folks brush their teeth with it even).
What an ordeal, but loving the endearing trust of the birds. Thank you all for your comments.
~R

 

[Miss Lydia]

Well, conditions worsened even more starting to include thinning areas other than head...and typically seemed to be starting with under-feathers - what is the term for the underfeathers?- (so harder to detect casually). magnifying glass revealed not any mites HOWEVER treating for mites any way: cleaned bombed (fogger insecticide) and dusted/rubbed walls with diatomaceous earth in coops, (hen's as well).
Shampmoo'd ducks with neem oil (and some cedarwood oil) and let them swim rinse in warm bathtub, toweled blew dry, and left in hot room until dry. amazed at how tolerant they were and having fun in tub despite shampoo then preening happily while drying. So endearing is their trust. I've never until now handled them so much or so assertively. They accepted it willingly with little fuss.
Ruth did seem to have a fever yesterday so I was concerned about that but seems okay and they all laid eggs this morning and are running around energetically. Ruth seemed to love the blow dryer, standing tall to absorb the heat. Very careful to keep them warm after shampoo soaked through feathers and all.
Keeping watch on Hens, and rubbed some cedarwood on them as deterrent (while cleaning/bombing their coops too)...any other tips for preventive treatments, especially those avoiding harsh chemicals, appreciated, for either ducks or hens. I am taking the advice recently given to add some bit of vinegar to duck's little pond. I am going on little more than instinct here...am a "new egg" and this is my first year with fowl, so really appreciate those of you sharing your thoughts and experience with me. Am incinerating old bedding, bit o cardboard from coop, but assume mites in yard? ??? i.e under coops, in duck's alternate ground nest which they made under shrubs etc ...not sure what to do other than what I've done... ...hardly want to spray entire run / fenced in yard with insecticides! Any comments?
Colloidal silver seems like a good thing to try for issues on eyelid/near eyes...(understand is safe in eye)...so I'll keep that in mind if it continues to worsen...we'll watch how this shampoo-for-mites plays out. Thanks for mentioning it. Neem also safe I understand although I avoided eyes anyway cause not quit sure about safety in eyes....(some folks brush their teeth with it even).
What an ordeal, but loving the endearing trust of the birds. Thank you all for your comments.
~R

I don't like to use pesticides either, I wonder if you could spray their area with neem oil I use it inside my coop on the walls and the roosts. seems if it will kill bugs in there it would kill them in the ground. I hope the shampoo works. I am adding Garlic to my flocks feed to see if that will keep the mites away. We had an out break of mites on the chickens side of the coop last year so since I am giving garlic to my dogs to keep fleas off I thought I'd try the garlic with the birds too. I use fermented feed so I just mix it in all at once. also might want to add some Brewers yeast to their feed it's got a lot of good stuff in it . I haven't been able to find that post I saw a couple years ago about someones duck having feather loss around the eyes. Maybe I dreamed it instead. I put ACV in their water buckets and also add it to their pool to keep the water fresher between clean outs. I hope you see improvements soon with all your doing.