Buff Duck holding eye shut, seems fine otherwise...

[m.kitchengirl]

Of course it happened after the vet leaves for the weekend.
I went outside & my Buff duck is keeping her eye shut - favoring it. She can open it, and she seems healthy otherwise.
I did not notice her doing it today, but saw her holding her eyes shut a few days ago & thought nothing of it, since it seemed to stop.

It is just one eye.
She had clean water & a deep, clean bath today. They were foraging near where the blackberry bushes are, as they often do...

What is the best thing for it? Storey's says ophthalmalic ointment... Is that something I can get easily?

ETA:
I am freaking out. I think I am over-reacting, but I am a wreck. Poor Heather. I feel negligent, and it can't have been more than an hour.
I plan to get to her when I put them up for the night, and I would love to try some things for her then.
I can get to TSC or the feed store in the next few hours...
I need to calm down.

Also, I tried to search for answers but I am either a. looking in the wrong place, or b. inept with the search function (both).

 

[Amiga]

Please check this out . . . this is from memory, I am not sure, and I have to go for a while.

See if a dilute chamomile tea (infusion) is safe and recommended as an eye wash.

She may have scratched her eye, or just got something in it that isn't easily washed out.

Contact the feed store, see if you can get the opthalmic solution. I need to do the same, by the way.

And yes, it happens on weekends and holidays, doesn't it?

So if you can get her in, make the infusion, dilute it, cool it off, let her wash her head in it. See what you can find online about recommended strength. You should be able to find chamomile tea in a grocery store, if nowhere else.

 

[m.kitchengirl]

Thanks, Amiga.
I got both the tea and the Vetericyn. She was very good about my bringing her in and she dunked a lot in the tea. I used 2 tea bags in a 2 cup measure and then put the whole thing in a 3 gallon bucket of water. I added some raw cider vin. to their drinking water and washed all of their feeders and waterers again tonight.
She was good about the drops, which were very easy to use, and I gave her some peas and she settled right back down.
It was funny, by the time I got back she wasn't holding it closed as much, but I decided I'd better be safe than sorry.
I will continue the treatment for at least a day, even if she seems fine in the morning.

I also stocked up on everything I saw on the shelves I have seen recommended for poultry care - electrolytes, blu-kote, another packet of sav-a-chick, and another eye wash / mite worm treatment. I haven't had any real health problems so far, and have a few sav-a-chicks on hand and the raw cider vin, nutritional yeast, etc. but now I won't have to worry if I notice an issue after the feed stores close.

 

[Amiga]

Good moves, m.kitchengirl,

I need to fill in a few gaps in my first aid cabinet. The vetericyn is on the list. Usually if a tiny wound can be treated right away, it heads off trouble. But you know that!

Glad you have been able to find some treatments for her.

 

[m.kitchengirl]

Quote: Exactly my hope.
The patient was so cooperative.
She is my new duck, and was very shy at first but has been warming up to me lately. (She is my little shadow lately out in the yard. Everywhere I go she sneaks up behind me, and I turn around & she is right there staring up at me.
She has really made a difference in the flock dynamic, but she seemed like she was always in our flock from the moment I added her to the duck house. I am hoping it is only a minor abrasion.

Speaking of, how is your human bumblefoot? Have you been spending lots of time floating in a warm bath?

 

[m.kitchengirl]

No sign of trouble today, but I gave her another soak & a few drops anyhow.
She seems absolutely fine. What a relief.