Gladys has an infection? Tumor?

[randallt1]

Hello friends, happy to say Gladys has been fine all year. Yesterday we got flies in the yard and seemed to be all around Gladys, she looked fine and don’t think anything of it. Today it was worse and I inspected her and sure enough found this. It smells a little. What are your thoughts? Thank you!

 

[Isaac 0]

Is that near her tail? If yes, that's her preening gland.

 

[randallt1]

Thanks, yes. Ok, the deeper I looked , she has flystrike! I cleaned her with a hose and removed all the maggots I could find. I’m sure there are more. Brought her into her clean winter habitat and didn’t bring in any flies. I’m going to wash her again tomorrow with Dawn and water with assistance so I can look everywhere and then let her stay inside till it gets better. My question is what medication should I put on the open skin?

 

[Isaac 0]

Thanks, yes. Ok, the deeper I looked , she has flystrike! I cleaned her with a hose and removed all the maggots I could find. I’m sure there are more. Brought her into her clean winter habitat and didn’t bring in any flies. I’m going to wash her again tomorrow with Dawn and water with assistance so I can look everywhere and then let her stay inside till it gets better. My question is what medication should I put on the open skin?

Ouch!

Could you post a few pictures?

I'd start by picking off any maggots with a pair tweezers, then flush the wound copiously with either Saline, Betadine, or Chlorhexidine (You can use dish soap if you can't get one of these). I use either a dish soap bottle or a large 60ml syringe for the lavaging. If there are lots of maggots, you may use a Premertin based livestock spray on the wound as well.


You'll want to move her inside, away from flies.

 

[randallt1]

Thank you Isaac! My grandson is over and helped work on her. It's amazing how deep the maggots are and yes, tweezers were the only way. We were on it for an hour and I'm sure there are pockets still left, they were half way up her back. How can this happen so fast? I had her in my lap just this week. We never really found one sore or wound, they were everywhere. There are still a few flies, just not near as much as before. We are about to go down for another round now that she is kinda dry and rested. She did really well during the ordeal.

After another wash, pick and rinse we're, going to go ahead and apply the Chlorhexidine. The instructions say spray or apply and then pat dry with gauze? Can I just let it dry by itself or is it toxic for her to get in her mouth? I diluted as indicated to one ounce per gallon. Does that sound right? So basically I should then repeat the flushing but with the Clorhexidine?

Thanks for you help and patience. Randall
PS: I went ahead and flushed her with Chlorhexidine and she's doing better. Please see my comment to Duck mommy 2019 and let me know what you think.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

can you take her to the vet?

 

[randallt1]

I think we've turned a corner, we did the deep clean today and flushed and flushed with the hose then dawn sudsy water while picking off hundreds, went back, did it again and found two little clusters. Have since flushed her heavily with Chlorhexidine, let it dry and applied a lot of triple anti-biotic ointment. By the time I applied the ointment there were no flies around her. After all that she is back inside her winter basement habitat. The smell which got worse overnight is diminished 75%. Thank you for your concern. My plan is to irrigate twice a day, keep her isolated and keep medicating. Any other suggestions are always welcome.

 

[Isaac 0]

Thank you Isaac! My grandson is over and helped work on her. It's amazing how deep the maggots are and yes, tweezers were the only way. We were on it for an hour and I'm sure there are pockets still left, they were half way up her back. How can this happen so fast? I had her in my lap just this week. We never really found one sore or wound, they were everywhere. There are still a few flies, just not near as much as before. We are about to go down for another round now that she is kinda dry and rested. She did really well during the ordeal.

After another wash, pick and rinse we're, going to go ahead and apply the Chlorhexidine. The instructions say spray or apply and then pat dry with gauze? Can I just let it dry by itself or is it toxic for her to get in her mouth? I diluted as indicated to one ounce per gallon. Does that sound right? So basically I should then repeat the flushing but with the Clorhexidine?

Thanks for you help and patience. Randall
PS: I went ahead and flushed her with Chlorhexidine and she's doing better. Please see my comment to Duck mommy 2019 and let me know what you think.

Unless she's trying to drink it, I would not worry, and just let it dry itself, but if does she try to drink it, make sure to pat dry, just to be safe even though chlorhexidine is relatively safe.

Yes, the dilution. If my memory serves me right, the jug is about 2% strength, and birds should have around 0.05% strength for wound irrigation.

I think we've turned a corner, we did the deep clean today and flushed and flushed with the hose then dawn sudsy water while picking off hundreds, went back, did it again and found two little clusters. Have since flushed her heavily with Chlorhexidine, let it dry and applied a lot of triple anti-biotic ointment. By the time I applied the ointment there were no flies around her. After all that she is back inside her winter basement habitat. The smell which got worse overnight is diminished 75%. Thank you for your concern. My plan is to irrigate twice a day, keep her isolated and keep medicating. Any other suggestions are always welcome.

That sounds great. Could you post a few pictures of the wound?

 

[randallt1]

It is with great sadness that I must report that our beautiful girl Gladys has passed. The stress was too much we suspect, we thought we had saved her. Dear Community, thank you for your many years of advice and care. We had no idea what a pet duck could do for all of our lives. Some may remember that we got her and her sister Amelia at the same time at 3 days. Amelia fell ill early on, to a flock of migrant birds we suspect, and several here as well as local duck folks suggested we needed to find Gladys a companion. We tried but couldn't make it happen. It was the best, she truly became a pet. She was more like a dog in many ways, would run out to greet you when you came home, always wanting to be close and follow you and loved all people and and all our pets. We have a black cat, Morgan, and they were always together but if any of the other cats got into a little tussle she would charge them and break it up. She ran a tight ship in the yard. As some may also remember, your love and advice helped give her another full year and a half of life last spring after being egg bound.

I can never thank you enough and may Gladys quack in peace.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

It is with great sadness that I must report that our beautiful girl Gladys has passed. The stress was too much we suspect, we thought we had saved her. Dear Community, thank you for your many years of advice and care. We had no idea what a pet duck could do for all of our lives. Some may remember that we got her and her sister Amelia at the same time at 3 days. Amelia fell ill early on, to a flock of migrant birds we suspect, and several here as well as local duck folks suggested we needed to find Gladys a companion. We tried but couldn't make it happen. It was the best, she truly became a pet. She was more like a dog in many ways, would run out to greet you when you came home, always wanting to be close and follow you and loved all people and and all our pets. We have a black cat, Morgan, and they were always together but if any of the other cats got into a little tussle she would charge them and break it up. She ran a tight ship in the yard. As some may also remember, your love and advice helped give her another full year and a half of life last spring after being egg bound.

I can never thank you enough and may Gladys quack in peace.

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I’m so very sorry for your loss. You gave Gladys a wonderful life and did everything you could for her.
flystrike is a terrible thing... I’ve had two rabbits in my lifetime that got it. One was paralyzed and unable to clean herself and the other was elderly. Fortunately my one rabbit was able to be saved by a vet and lived 2-3 more years after that but the other one passed.... I wish they had flyguard for chickens... I was able to luckily get some for my rabbits so I don’t have this issue anymore.

Again, I’m very sorry about the loss of your sweet girl. My heart goes out to you. People say “they’re just ducks...” but they’re not. They’re part of the family like any other pet.
All the best,

Rachel