Eye infection or irritation??

[archil]

I keep catching my little 'scovy duck Juan walking around with his eyes closed or fluttering closed,
Any time he's standing still, including when he eats he will have both eyes closed.
I only noticed today. I picked him up and had a look and I couldnt see anything in his eyes.
It seems to be his right eye a little more often that his left, but I have seen him closing his left eye too.
My other two arent doing this at all. Any ideas what it might be?
I'd say hes around 20-30 weeks old, not 100% sure.
Not really sure if he's a he either.

Also another quick one while I'm here.
None of my ducks seem interested in thier food, but they're always roaming around the yard trying to eat everything they see, they were previously on chicken pellets and i thouht I'd try something different, maybe they dint like the pellets, so I've given them some rolled barley and maize an they aren't interested in that either. They'll have a good go at any parrot seed mix I spill on the ground though. I'm a bit worried that they might not be eating enough.

any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated
thanks

 

[Miss Lydia]

Maybe he has some dust in his eyes, what kind of bedding are you using. some of it is pretty dusty. you can try just washing his eyes out with some saline wash for eyes, and also make sure they have a bucket deep enough to be able to dunk their whole head into ,washing their eyes and nares is very important, and put some Apple Cider Vineager in the water, ! tab. to 1 gal of water it will act as a antiseptic and may help, also good for them to drink. If your not seeing any kind of drainage or bubbles in the eyes then most likely he has something in there thats bothering him and hopefuly some good washing will help. Keep us updated.

About food, have you tried moistening their feed some? also can you get some dried meal worms? if so maybe put some in their feed and mix it up real good and see if that will entice them to eat. or mix some corn into their feed, this is just to get them started back on eating. Have you checked the feed real good to make sure it's not moldy or some other way off?

 

[archil]

They have straw in their kennel/house, but they usually sleep out on the grass anyway. I'll try the apple cider vinegar thing soon. They have a water bowl that's big enough for them, and also a sort of paddling pool/pond thing most of the time. I guess it kind of worries me that it's just Juan and not the other two..


I've tried moistening the food, sometimes they'll nibble at it or mouth at it or whatever but they just tend to leave it, they'll always chase the cats away for their meat or biscuits though...
It shouldn't be moldy, They day I bought it back from the store they were not interested, I think I'll try putting them on some crumbles, because that's really the last thing I've seen them eating, the starter crumbles.

I know they love peas, I tried mixing them in but they just got the peas out and left everything else...

 

[Miss Lydia]

They have straw in their kennel/house, but they usually sleep out on the grass anyway. I'll try the apple cider vinegar thing soon. They have a water bowl that's big enough for them, and also a sort of paddling pool/pond thing most of the time.


I've tried moistening the food, sometimes they'll nibble at it or mouth at it or whatever but they just tend to leave it, they'll always chase the cats away for their meat or biscuits though...
It shouldn't be moldy, They day I bought it back from the store they were not interested, I think I'll try putting them on some crumbles, because that's really the last thing I've seen them eating, the starter crumbles.

I know they love peas, I tried mixing them in but they just got the peas out and left everything else...

Well if they can eat the cats food, why would they want ole duck food? lol I'd keep the cats food away especially till they start eating better, and my dh came home with a bag of Pellets and my flock did not like them so I ended up mixing them in with the crumble and fermenting them and now they eat them and don't even know it. so you might be on to something.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

You let your ducks sleep out on the grass, unprotected at night? You might want to rethink that, as eventually a critter may come along that is fond of duck. My ducks would love to sleep outside all night, but they are put in a locked coop surrounded by a secure pen at night.

About the feed, my ducks like the Flockraiser. i throw a little bit of rolled oats in there for them. They get defrosted peas with Brewers Yeast sprinkled on every day, and then lettuce as often as possible. .

For the eye issue, if they have water deep enough to dunk and clean their heads, Juan may need some eye ointment. i buy Terramycin Opthalmic Eye Ointment on the internet. A lot of places sell it. i use that in any of my animal's eyes if they look like there is a problem. i've even used it on myself. It is very soothing.

 

[archil]

We Live in sub-urban auckland NZ and I'm pretty sure the only predators here are possums, the australian kind, but we don't get them around here much. Our whole section is fenced in with a dog proof fence so they're safe from anything that cant climb over a fence. I googled it just in case and found mainly this

"New Zealand has no snakes and no native land mammals—no raccoons, no coyotes, no skunks—so predators here are limited to hawks, gulls, and rats; the larger birds don’t even need to be shut in at night unless the weather is really bad."

We can''t go out and buy any alternative food atm (my dad has his foot in a cast so he can't drive) but as soon as we can I'll buy some crumbles. Every morning they come up to me asking for food and I kinda feel really bad, I tried feeding them some from my hands but they were more interested in my fingers than the food. At least there's plenty of grass and plants to eat in the meanwhile.

Maybe Juan is just tired and resting his eyes? I''ve had a few close looks, and compared them o the others' eyes and I see nothing out of the ordinary. I think he's been doing it less, but I might just be spending less time looking at him.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

No raccoons or skunks? Lucky you! Glad to hear Juan is doing better.

 

[archil]

lovely [almost] pest free NZ
The problem with Juan's eye seems to be gone now
I still haven't had the opportunity to buy new food though
I bought some cheap cat meat from the supermarket for them just for now

Thanks for the help guys

 

[Amiga]

Hope we can hear from you from time to time. I like reading how people and their ducks are doing. We can learn so much from each other. Thanks for the update!

 

[archil]

we're actually thinking of getting rid of the ducks soon and getting some silkie chicks
I don't really want to, I love them, but they are a bit difficult sometimes
My dad's in hospital now because of them, so he's not that fond of them atm
heheh