Duck with Recurring Eye Injury

[Kaitlin Braithwaite]

Help! I have a one year old Pekin duck who keeps having an eye issue. I noticed it first about 3 weeks ago - it looked like foamy eye to me and I thought it might be associated with a sinus infection. I immediately separated her and treated her by flushing with saline solution, using terramycin topically, and adding Vet Rx to her water. It cleared up very quickly and I put her back out with her coop mates after a brief supervised reintroduction.

Two days later I noticed both eyes were swollen and mattery. I immediately pulled her out again, assuming she had gotten bullied and pulled her again, repeating the treatments and kept her quarantined for two weeks. I then reintroduced her after three days of supervised visits. She was 100% fine and all the others did not react to her for three days. However today, I went out and she was in horrible shape again (just one eye).

I’m really struggling with what to do at this point. Is she getting beat up? I haven’t witnessed anything happening between her and her buddies. Is it something environmental that she could be getting in to (we are in Ohio so she buried her head in the muddy water that’s puddling up)? We have 8 chickens and one other duck who are all fine, but you can see she’s quite dirty in the picture. There are no vets in our area who accept avian patients, so any help at all would be so so appreciated!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Do you have a drake?

@chickens really

 

[chickens really]

Hello....Do they have access to deep water buckets/bowls to keep nares clean at all times?...Ducks need deep water and not Chickens...

 

[Kaitlin Braithwaite]

Do you have a drake?

@chickens really

I don’t - just a female Saxony.

 

[Kaitlin Braithwaite]

Hello....Do they have access to deep water buckets/bowls to keep nares clean at all times?...Ducks need deep water and not Chickens...

They have a water bowl that is about six inches deep, so I think they have enough depth to clean their sinuses out. I did have some concerns about the cleanliness because they olay in it so I started refreshing it more frequently to keep it clean. I started doing that immediately after the first infection showed up.

 

[chickens really]

They have a water bowl that is about six inches deep, so I think they have enough depth to clean their sinuses out. I did have some concerns about the cleanliness because they olay in it so I started refreshing it more frequently to keep it clean. I started doing that immediately after the first infection showed up.

Sounds like your issues and what's the flooring they are noodling In consisting of?...They need a total cleaning in my opinion and deeper water and consistently clean water to keep them healthy...

 

[chickens really]

Ducks take more work than Chickens and can suffer if things are not to Ducks conditions...

 

[Kaitlin Braithwaite]

Sounds like your issues and what's the flooring they are noodling In consisting of?...They need a total cleaning in my opinion and deeper water and consistently clean water to keep them healthy...

They have laminate flooring in the coop with straw bedding. I’m just really struggling to understand why - if it’s something in the environment - the other duck isn’t having issues too. And why just the one eye. Have you heard of anything like that happening before? I guess anything is possible!

 

[chickens really]

They have laminate flooring in the coop with straw bedding. I’m just really struggling to understand why - if it’s something in the environment - the other duck isn’t having issues too. And why just the one eye. Have you heard of anything like that happening before? I guess anything is possible!

Yes...It's being pushed from the water so, infection can happen with the lower ducks..

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Straw can encourage mold, especially with wetness from ducks. I would try a different bedding.