Duck has infection on neck !!

[house.of.ducks]

Hello everyone, my poor welsh harlequin has a nasty lump on her neck from over-mating and I was hoping for some assistance because I am beyond worried for her. As of right now I have WAY too many drakes, because I let my muscovy hatch some of everyone’s eggs last summer and have been unable to find homes for the males when I realized we ended up with way too many. For some reason they have all decided to single out my sweet Marzipan and mate almost exclusively with her even though I have a ton of other girls. I’ve been trying desperately to rehome some of the boys and I’ve been spending as much time as I can outside making sure no one gets hurt but I can’t watch them constantly and I have no way of separating them

Marzipan is going on 3 years old and she’s an absolute sweetheart, although she definitely isn’t as tame as some of my other ducks. Her and my other welshy, Juniper, were my first ducks but unfortunately we lost Juniper last year. I’m terrified of losing Marzipan too.

The lump is mostly flesh colored although there seems to be some scabbing on it too. It terrifies me how much it reminds me of bumblefoot. As of right now Marzipan is acting normally, although she does feel a little warm.

I was treating it with Providone Iodine for a couple of days but it seemed to really bother her so I went out and got BLU-KOTE. There are no avian vets nearby that are open which is really scary. I’ve also been bandaging it with some gauze and self-clinging bandage but she always manages to pull that down off of the bump after a few minutes so I’m not sure if there’s even a point in covering it.

Any help at all would be much appreciated !! I don’t want to give up on her !!

PS: please don’t take the fact that she looks like hell right now to mean that my level of care for my birds is bad or that I neglect them. I spend every minute I can with my ducks and I really try my best to keep them safe and healthy. I know that I should have just sold the ducklings when they were babies but I really wasn’t expecting to get so many boys, or for them to be as hard to rehome as they are (I knew it wouldn’t be easy but I haven’t gotten a single response lol).

 

[DuckyDonna]

You need to separate her immediately to start with. Do NOT let those drakes mate with her again. If there is another girl you can put with her that would be great but she is tore up and needs a chance to heal!

I see you've got the blu-kote and iodine going on but as long as you've cleaned up those wounds I think the most important thing you can do is keep those drakes away from her.

@Miss Lydia @Isaac 0 what do you guys suggest?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I hope your not going to put her back with these drakes? Separate her an keep her separated no need to cover that wound unless it’s open. If it opens keep her from the flies or she’ll be eat up with maggots. Where are you advertising your drakes? What breeds and there’s Craig’s list there is here on BYC and also poultry groups in your area on FB

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hopefully she’ll heal in time but I’d suggest you think seriously about making a pen for your drakes to keep the rest of your females safe. How many drakes and ducks do you have?

 

[house.of.ducks]

Hopefully she’ll heal in time but I’d suggest you think seriously about making a pen for your drakes to keep the rest of your females safe. How many drakes and ducks do you have?

My grandmother is taking 5 of the drakes tomorrow until I can find them a home. They’re all mixed breeds bc they’re the offspring of the entirety of my flock. I have advertised on Craigslist and Facebook and I just made a post here as well. I originally only had 2 drakes but when the babies hatched I got way more than I could handle and wasn’t able to find anyone that could take them. I have 8 drakes and 9 ducks as of right now. I am rehoming 5 of them. Marzipan is staying inside right now in one of the containers we use as brooders.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I had 3 drakes and 8 ducks until about 3 weeks ago. I recently rehomed a drake and once I did that life was calm and good in my ducky kingdom, everyone can now be together and no more problems. Before that, I had 2 separate pens and runs for them. I couldn't put them all together because those drakes would act a fool and it was chaos.

My suggestion would be to give your grama 6 drakes and then you should be fine. It might work with 3 drakes but see what happens with them and the girls. I know it's hard to give up ducks you've raised from hatch but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet for the good of the flock.

I was so very fortunate to find a wonderful home for my boy and he's living the life now. I get pictures of him all the time and will be able to visit him too.

 

[house.of.ducks]

I had 3 drakes and 8 ducks until about 3 weeks ago. I recently rehomed a drake and once I did that life was calm and good in my ducky kingdom, everyone can now be together and no more problems. Before that, I had 2 separate pens and runs for them. I couldn't put them all together because those drakes would act a fool and it was chaos.

My suggestion would be to give your grama 6 drakes and then you should be fine. It might work with 3 drakes but see what happens with them and the girls. I know it's hard to give up ducks you've raised from hatch but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet for the good of the flock.

I was so very fortunate to find a wonderful home for my boy and he's living the life now. I get pictures of him all the time and will be able to visit him too.

Yeah I’m considering getting rid of all 6 of the young drakes and just keeping the originals, but one of the young ones got a bunch of his feathers plucked out and I’m assuming it’s from the other drakes so Im nervous to leave him alone with them. Do you think he would be fine if there were no females to fight over ?

 

[Isaac 0]

Yeah I’m considering getting rid of all 6 of the young drakes and just keeping the originals, but one of the young ones got a bunch of his feathers plucked out and I’m assuming it’s from the other drakes so Im nervous to leave him alone with them. Do you think he would be fine if there were no females to fight over ?

Exactly what is your current ratio? And are there any other females with the males currently?

 

[house.of.ducks]

Exactly what is your current ratio? And are there any other females with the males currently?

I have 9 females and 8 males. At least 5 of the drakes are leaving tomorrow though, my grandmother is keeping them until I can find homes. All of them are together right now with the exception of Marzipan who is in our garage.

 

[house.of.ducks]

I had 3 drakes and 8 ducks until about 3 weeks ago. I recently rehomed a drake and once I did that life was calm and good in my ducky kingdom, everyone can now be together and no more problems. Before that, I had 2 separate pens and runs for them. I couldn't put them all together because those drakes would act a fool and it was chaos.

My suggestion would be to give your grama 6 drakes and then you should be fine. It might work with 3 drakes but see what happens with them and the girls. I know it's hard to give up ducks you've raised from hatch but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet for the good of the flock.

I was so very fortunate to find a wonderful home for my boy and he's living the life now. I get pictures of him all the time and will be able to visit him too.

I’m also so happy that your boy found a great home !!