Duck has swelling on top of head and foamy eyes and shaking her head

[AmyJ]

Just went outside and noticed one of our female mallards had white eyes. So I picked her up and her eyes look bubbly,foamy white and look a little irritated. They do not really look swollen, but not quite right. She also has a pretty large swelling on the top of her head. She is acting normal other than shaking her head a lot. She seemed fine this morning when I was out with them and a few hours later this. So does anyone have any idea what is going on with her or what I should do? I isolated her from the rest. Thanks in advance.

 

[sparkles2307]

goodness the poor baby! I hope its nothing terrible but it sure doesnt sound good!

 

[Jenski]

It's good you isolated her as soon as you noticed this.

Can you post a pic?

 

[AmyJ]

I can try to get a pic of her but wouldnt be able to post it. I have no idea how to get the pic off of the camera, my husband does that for me, but wont be home from work till sometime tomorrow. I was thinking I would clean her eyes out with saline solution/eye wash which I have. Also her head too where it is swollen. I see no injuries to her head other than the swelling. I figured the saline couldnt hurt. Is that a good idea?

 

[AmyJ]

Ok did the saline her eyes look a little better. I still could find no open injuries are anything to her head where it is swollen. Around her eyes look more swollen now than they did before though. Not the eye itself but her head around her eye? I'm trying my best to explain this. Her eyes look a little crusty though. She has no discharge coming from her nostrils at all.

 

[AmyJ]

Just an update. I've rinsed her eyes a few times with saline and they look good. She has had no more bubbles/foam in her eyes as of now. She still has the large swelling on top of her head though. She is acting normal still, eating and drinking. Her poop looks normal too. I guess I will just wait and see how she is in the morning.

 

[AmyJ]

Update for today. Her eyes look better and she is eating and drinking and acting totally normal. She still has the very large swelling on her head though. I still have no idea what is wrong with her head. I'm thinking injury possibly. Could it have possibly been caused by the drake? I just dont know. But I'm hopeful because she is looking better and not worse and showing no other symptoms.

 

[noriko]

Hi. I was wondering how your duck's doing now because I think one of my Mallard duck shows the same symptoms with formy bubbly eyes(both of eyes)....Her eyes look like white. Is this Mallard's thing??? I didn't really notice a large swelling on the top of her head or shaking her head. I have no clue what wrong with her. I was just worry if all of my ducks are infected...... Thanks, Noriko.

 

[AmyJ]

She is just fine now. I think it was some type of injury? I had seperated her from the others and brought her inside in a pet carrier. I didnt see any open wounds on her head but she did eventually have a scab on the top of her head where the swelling was. And also around her eyes she had some scabs? I treated her head and eyes with neosporin. And she seemed to recover pretty quickly. The foamy eyes went away in a bout a day, the swelling on her head was there for about a week then gradually shrunk then disappeared. I put her back with the others after having her inside for abput 2 weeks. The other ducks showed no signs of anything wrong with them at all. So I have no idea what was wrong with her ,I just did what I thought best. I really dont think it was an illness though, I think the others would have shown some of the same syptoms

 

[Wifezilla]

Could it have been a snake bite??