I'm pretty sure my mallard has mites. He jumps every few minutes like something is biting his butt. When looking at him, we can't see anything (would they be visible?) but he seems very bothered. I bought some powder to dust him but would like some advice on the best way to do this and keep him safe. How much dust to put on, where to put it (I don't want to create a more serious problem by doing it wrong.) Do you separate the feathers and just try to get it in there as well as you can? Would it be better to just leave it alone and see if it takes care of itself? It has been going on for quite some time now. I worry about him getting it into his eyes after we've put it on him. Thanks for any advice.
ducks usually NEVER need to be dusted for mites. Do you give him access to a pool of water? If so and he is in it bathing and splashing around he should be fine. We usually see it on our girls when they are setting, but then they are usually gone once they are off of the nest and back to the pools.
Thank you for your response. Yes, he has complete and total access to a good sized lake all day long and he bathes and cleans himself regularly. We have looked at him and can't see anything and he appears to clean and healthy looking. I find it difficult to believe he has mites as well. Any ideas what could be making him kind of jump around sometimes?
Waterfowl are not usually known to get lice and mites but they can. If the duck has access to the water you say it does that is a key thing. Last fall when I showed some ducks at a show they had some little lice crawling on them. It shocked me because I thought the same for the most part as you ducks not getting lice. They didn't carry it with them to the show. They could have picked it up from the wood shavings there. Still I would go ahead apply some Seven or Permethrin dust to your duck. As far as how to apply, it is not hard..put some around the vent area and under the wings. Be sure to keep it away from its head. You don't want the dust getting into the bird's eyes. Afterward I wouldn't let the duck loose into the water. You need to allow the product have time to take effect. Hope that helps out.
