Found this spot on Pete..

[PetesMom]

During the winter we used straw....now he's either outside, in the dirt, or inside on sawdust

 

[azhenhouse]

What about feed and treats?

 

[Miss Lydia]

you will notice that Pete will turn into a sexual predator this time of year, those of us who have drakes are use to it, but you deff need to get him more than 1 girl or poor girl will be worn to a frazzle and it's not good for her.

He's been chasing the muscovy female around today, and I have seen him on her. I took one look at him this morning when I went to clean his pool out and from last night I'd say he looks quite ickky

The bald spot got bigger and the feathers looked "dirty" I really don't see mites though. Unless they look like "flea dirt" lol if thats the case then he may have them as I looked at his vent and thats what it looked like, I don't think it was ducky poo. I went to Agway and bought some Diatmacious(sp?) Earth and gave him a dust bath....it was the food grade so I am hoping it was ok to put on him..I didn't really want to put the stuff on him I got from tractor supply because I read the back more closely and it says not to contaminate drinking/food bowls.....now Im assuming he can't eat it. He's a duck, how are you suppose to stop them from "cleaning" it off lol

Will the DE work? Should I reapply it at some point again? I'm wondering if he has mites if he got them from the straw bale we got during the winter??

Sorry to say if he has mites the DE won't work and thank goodness you got the food grade because you can use it for other things like bedding to keep down wetness and smell and I also use it in their feed to help keep it fresh but From my own experience and others that i have read about it will not treatr mites that are already on the bird. plus you will have to clean out all old bedding and toss it away from where Pete goes because if there are mites then they are in the bedding and you don't want to dump it out and then Pete or your dogs go walking through it, they'll just get on them again. so clean out all old bedding then treat his sleeping quarters with Poultry duct or sevin dust. then put in new bedding, but You'll have to retreat Pete with something other than DE sorry. And there could have been mites in the straw i don't know about that, i do know if you have birds, ducks, chickens the mites will find them eventually. kind of like fleas and dogs and cats.

 

[azhenhouse]

How's Pete?

 

[PetesMom]

How's Pete?

He's still spinning. Not quite as much but he is still doing it. After watching him the last couple of days though I am starting to think he has a "nervous tick" seems like he only does it when he get's nervous, like a truck starts, hawk flies overhead, or something frazzles him in some way....even when he gets excited. I don't see mites on him, and the "dirty" look he had was just mud I think. I think he's picked this up as a bored habit type thing. I am hoping he settles down now that he has other ducks. We are keeping all 3 of the Muscovies, I can't seem to get myself to let those other two go that we got last weekend even though they hate me. I sure have fallen in love with them Soon Pete will have his own Pekin ladies though. The babies should arrive next weds.

 

[PetesMom]

Oh and reading through the posts I see I failed to say what I was feeding him.....they are eating Dumor Finisher/Grower. Going to start mixing some layer feed in for the 2 girlies soon though as the one is laying