Feather Shaft Mites...

[restelle]

I have a 13 year old Mallard female who has always been an indoor pet, with Mazuri for food, organic romaine for treats, and always a fresh supply of RO water,

Over the past few months, she has wanted out of the bathing tub after a couple of minutes, this past Monday, I happened to look under her wings and noticed large bald spots.

I found on of the feathers she plucked out and I look carefully at it under a microscope and I found worm or maggot in her quill along with possible eggs or poop.

Also, her quills were broken into, meaning that they had open areas.

Here are some photos of my baby. Any advice for getting rid of these disgusting bastards will be greatly appreciated...

 

[Kingbobkingdom]

I'm not sure how to help, but here are some people who can!
@Wyorp Rock
@coach723
@21hens-incharge
@aart

 

[restelle]

I'm not sure how to help, but here are some people who can!
@Wyorp Rock
@coach723
@21hens-incharge
@aart

Thank you, but I'm a little too shy to bother a specific person. I was hoping someone would see this and give me treatment options. I'm trying to get a phone consult with Dr. Echols, but they said they need to figure out if they can do it.

 

[Kingbobkingdom]

Thank you, but I'm a little too shy to bother a specific person. I was hoping someone would see this and give me treatment options. I'm trying to get a phone consult with Dr. Echols, but they said they need to figure out if they can do it.

That's all right! I was tagging them in hopes that they see this thread.

 

[restelle]

Well thank you so much. I really appreciate that!

 

[coach723]

It sounds like maybe depluming mites, more info at this link, including a picture of one for comparison. Most mites lay eggs, depluming mites have live young, so that may be what you are seeing as maggots. Your vet may want to have a look themselves to verify. Ivermectin or sulfur baths are usual treatments, if you can consult with a vet, they may give an opinion on which would be better.
https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/duck-mites/

 

[restelle]

I think it said depluming mites go into the skin near the feather shafts. That's not the case here. There are no lice or mites apparent when using a magnified headset that can be seen outside the quills. I bought a bottle of Ivermectin Solution .02% where you add the whole bottle to one gallon of water and allow the ducks to only half a day, then repeat in 14 days.

I also bought 4.2 pounds of diatomaceous earth, Laundry mite killer additive, and mite spray. I'll have all this on Monday and begin treatment in earnest.

Thanks again!

 

[coach723]

The mites are very tiny and burrow into the skin around the feather shafts, you are very unlikely to see them in the surface, though you may see the irritation around the feather shaft. Whether they can end up inside the feather shaft itself, I don't know, I have never dealt with them. I doubt very much that diatomaceous earth is going to help at all, and it can cause respiratory irritation. Hopefully the ivermectin will help. Here is another link.
https://poultrykeeper.com/external-problems/depluming-mites/
There is a less common feather mite, those you can see if you hold the feather up to light so it shines through. They feed on the feathers and are very tiny. It may just look like dirt around the feathers shafts, and can be the length of the feather. You can also search online for pictures of that, if it may be those. For those the treatment is usually permethrin products, same as for red mites and northern fowl mites.

 

[restelle]

Okay, no diatomaceous earth! Thank you so much for that info.

I just looked at her again with a bright light and magnified headset that is pretty good for looking at tiny things. I have seen zero parasites on her feathers on the underside along the shaft, and the adjacent feather shafts where they go into the skin look pretty healthy.

I do know that inside the quills she has plucked, there are cracked openings and tiny black eggs and sometime a moving worm - perhaps a mite larvae?

 

[coach723]

I honestly don't know the answer to that. It's possible, but I just don't know what the larvae look like. The black may be detrius/droppings from the mites rather than eggs. I hope you are able to consult with a veterinarian. A skin scraping is how they would check for depluming mites. If you carried in one of those shafts, they could look at those.