Duck with puffy cheek

[Galaxyfalcon]

Hello all,

One of my boys (turning 1 in June, time goes so fast) has a weird puffy spot on his left cheek. I'm not sure what it is, but today is the 2nd day we've noticed it. It's not huge but definitely noticeable. It's soft and squishy to the touch, but doesn't feel too much different from touching a normal duck cheek.

I know a swollen cheek could be caused by a few things including a respiratory infection or blockage, bug sting/bite, internal mouth injury, and a few other things. My vet is currently out of town for 2 weeks and there isn't another avian vet to consult.

He's currently on antibiotics (Enrofloxacin) for some bumblefoot, so we've been pilling him twice daily. The puffy cheek is on the side where we sort of 'grip' with thumb to get him to open his mouth for the pill (we can't get our ducks to be tricked into eating the pills in treats sadly). We checked in his mouth during pilling this morning and didn't see any obvious signs of injury (it can be a bit of a struggle to get them to hold still during pill time, though).

Any other thoughts or concerns? I guess right now we should just keep an eye on it but I wanted to check with you all and see if there was anything else we might not have been thinking of. It's just odd how quickly it occurred, which made me think a bug bite initially, but I know there could be other issues. He's already on an antibiotic so not sure what to do if it's a respiratory infection (no other signs of respiratory problems currently, though).

Please ignore the sad state of his feathers...we have too many boys; had originally planned to give the extras away but their home isn't safe (predators) and we've had a hard time re-homing the boys! So our two older drakes pick on the two younger ones. We've started separating them, but the feathers won't come back until they get a good molt.

Normal cheek:

Puffy cheek (his left side):

 

[Quatie]

It is possible he ate a bee or something like that. If it is an allergic reaction, you can use benadryl to treat it. Here is a link for Benadryl dosage.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dramine-for-poultry-under-construction.74175/

 

[Miss Lydia]

Could be trauma to his cheek from having to open his mouth also, Nothing serious just possible bruising?
He's gorgeous.

 

[Galaxyfalcon]

Thanks everyone. It looks a little less swollen this morning so we'll keep an eye on it. He is a beautiful boy! He's also very sweet and will let you hold him and pet him. He'll tuck his bill into your hand. Not all the time, but he's definitely the sweetest of the ducks.

edit: checked on him this afternoon and he still looks pretty puffy! He seems fine otherwise so I'm not sure what could be going on. It could possibly be bruising? Pilling can be a bit rough and I've also caught him "fighting" with the other boys through their dividing fence.