Foamy eye duckling

[GoneQuackersYYC]

I've never had as many issues with ducks as I have this year with my hatchlings! Asking for some advice on a newish issue. One of my ducklings, Minnow, had a difficult hatch and is a runt though she's catching up on her five siblings. Almost immediately after hatching I saw she had an eye infection (one eye crusted closed and continued to crust after being cleaned off). I treated it with tetracycline ointment and it went away. At the time I had the ducklings on puppy pee pads then when I moved them to a larger brooder with chips, her eye infection returned. I removed the chips until it was treated and gone because the dust seemed to make it worse. Now all the ducklings are almost 7 weeks old & outside in the coop. They have been outside for over 3 weeks. They have access to a pool in the attached run during the day (at night I've had to separate them as they are not yet old enough to be integrated into my flock who foraging during the day). At night they have 2 buckets deep enough to submerge their heads. However I saw today that Minnow has foamy eye which I'll treat again.

My question is, am I not getting rid of the infection with just the ointment for it to be coming back like this? She has no signs of respiratory infection and she so far always responds to the ointment well. It seems odd to me she would have no symptoms for weeks then a new infection.

Could she be allergic to wood chip dust? I use them in the coop and I just cleaned it out and put down fresh bedding on Thursday so I'm wondering if she's reacting to the dust? I use diatomaceous earth sparingly in the corners because we have a ton of flea beetles and they're attracted to the wet bedding. I also use horticultural lime under the bedding to cut back on smell. I've never had issues with the rest of my flock. I don't use those two products in brooders so I don't think it would be the source of her eye irritation except maybe making it worse if the chips bother her.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I don't know if ducks can have allergies like us humans but since dog and cats can maybe they can. I can see where dust would cause irritation to the eyes and DE is harmful if breathed by our birds and us.
When my Muscovy had foamy eye I used ACV in the water bucket and it went away. 1-2 Tablespoons per each gallon of water.

Can you post some pictures of your ducklings eye? I would think the Terramycin would clear it up. Do you use it even after it has cleared up? At least a few days after?

 

[GoneQuackersYYC]

Thanks for responding to my thread again!

I took some photos of Minnow just now. Her right eye is the one weeping tears. The left seems normal. For her earlier infections I used the ointment for 5 days. It usually looked much better by the third day then I'd keep at it for two more days and then if there was no sign of crusty or tears I'd stop. Each time I kept her off wood chips for a while after though. This time I'm debating if I isolate her. I know that will really upset her to be parted from the others and I can't spend all my time with her so I'm hoping being in the coop won't prevent improvement. If not I'll bring her inside maybe with a buddy.

Thank you for the tip about ACV, I have some so I'll put it in their buckets.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

My friend’s dog kept getting eye infections. It turned out her eyelashes were a little off and scraped her corneas. I wonder if your duck could have some sort of birth defect or inner eyelid problem which makes her more prone to infections. If so, the ACV sounds like a great idea.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks for responding to my thread again!

I took some photos of Minnow just now. Her right eye is the one weeping tears. The left seems normal. For her earlier infections I used the ointment for 5 days. It usually looked much better by the third day then I'd keep at it for two more days and then if there was no sign of crusty or tears I'd stop. Each time I kept her off wood chips for a while after though. This time I'm debating if I isolate her. I know that will really upset her to be parted from the others and I can't spend all my time with her so I'm hoping being in the coop won't prevent improvement. If not I'll bring her inside maybe with a buddy.

Thank you for the tip about ACV, I have some so I'll put it in their buckets.

Something is def going on. I wouldn't isolate her if you are concerned it may spread. How long has she been with the others? if contagious I would think by now you'd be seeing it in the others. Veterycin makes an eye was too. Also you might make a saline rinse and use it and then the Terramycin. Your original post says Tetracycline ointment what you want is Terramycin eye ointment.