duck help! swollen vent andtearing out feathers!!

[streemers]

hi! i ordered 2 welsh harliquin ducklings from metzer 2 yrs ago. i gave 1 to a friend. the 1 i gave to my friend started having probs at about 8-9mths old. she started laying on time and was laying everyday. then her vent started to swell and she started laying every 2-3 days but the eggs where always double yokers and blood smeered. so we thought that that was cosing the swelling. well she went into molt this late july and hasnt started laying again yet, which is no biggy except that she has ripped all the feathers from around her vent and it is red swollen and some of the feathers are comming back in all ingrown and yucky! she also has what appers to be a large hard scab covering the vent area. my friend cant find the vent hole but the poor duck is still poopin so it has to be there some where!
i am going over to her house in a few hours and i will take some pics and post them if possible.
anyone had an experiance like this before??? i dont know what to think! i have had ducks for 5yrs without anything like this ever happining. i get double yokers from time to time with a little blood but oh my!she and i feed out ducks the same waterfowl feed and they have lots of water around.

thank you all for your time. hope we can solve this prob. for the poor girl

 

[ksalvagno]

I have no idea but hopefully someone can help you. I hope the duck will be alright.

 

[katharinad]

Double yolkers and extra large eggs are quite common when you feed to much protein. So first I would suggest to reduce the protein in the feed. Get her down to 14% for a few weeks and then back up to 17%. Do not give more then 17%.

I wonder if she is pulling the feather, due to itching and inflammation. Try a warm bath with chamomile tea in it. It has anti inflammatory properties. I would also apply Neosporin to help it to heal. There could be something else going on, but this would be my first steps.

 

[duckyfromoz]

I suggest the bird also be checked for parasites- both worms and lice. They can cause discomfort leading to feather plucking in both cases. Unlikely- as if the bird had had them all this time she would have shown other symptoms as well- but it wont hurt to check.

 

[streemers]

okay so i looked at the duck and she has "scab" i guess you would call it about the size of a apricot or large wallnut on her bottom. she is having brown diahreah for months! yes i think that the feather pulling is because of the inflamation also. i tried to get pics but my camara wast working right

i looked at her vent and her pooh for worms and didnt see any worms. my friend cant afford to take her to the vet they are very expencive here and there is only 1 around this area. any other ideas would be great. i will tell her about the protein but since she hasnt been laying for a few mths and this started recently i dont think it is do to the lg eggs. this had to have happen to someone else also....
thanks again

 

[cracking up]

I think the warm bath sounds like a great idea - like Katharin said.

 

[Amiga]

my thoughts, such as they are:

warm bath (ditto katharinad) once or twice a day
triple antibiotic ointment around the vent two or three times a day (not too much excess, as she will eat some of it)
apple cider vinegar, vitamins, probiotics to boost her health
as soothing an environment as possible

What do some of you think of just a tiny dab of Preparation H for the inflammation? Let's see what others think before trying it, but it may be worth a try. If she is preening heavily around the vent that may be a bad idea.