Has anyone heard of feather rot in ducks? OR how to treat it?

[mallvista2]

I have an indoor duck that seems to have what I have found online to be called feather rot. It looks to me like it's from wearing a diaper to much. This week we have had a family member put on life support, so been away alot, and this being said he's had to be diapered round the clock. He can't be put out side due to his broken leg, other wise we wouldn't be here. ok, now my next question, He started about a week ago turning his nose up to his food, and will only eat dog food. Asked the vet, they know so little about ducks, that she said she guessed that'd be ok. so now I'm seeing what is looking to be feather rot, not sure how to treat, or even if thats what it is, and not from eating dog food. We have started feeding our dog seperately, and only letting the duck have his food. He's still not eating it as much as he should be. Anyone have any ideas. Can't afford anymore vet bills, but at the same time, they don't really know anything about ducks, so anything we ask they have to research, so I figure, why can't I research too?

 

[Cottage Rose]

Sorry to hear about your family situation.
Hope everything works out.
As for your duck its probably a fungal condition
due to having a diaper on too much.
You could buy an anti fungal ointment or spray
like Lamisil AT and apply it 2 x daily.
There are other anti-fungals out there but this one
works really good.
Do you have a crate you could keep him in
un-diapered? If not make some kind of temporary pen.
He needs to be out in sunshine and air as much as possible.
Good luck!

 

[Cottage Rose]

Just had a thought.
I don't know if waterfowl get the same type of fungas as humans so you might call and ask your vet first before treating with Lamisil AT.
We use to treat horses for rain rot/fungus with 1 part bleach to 10 parts water applied topically.

 

[nettie]

i also have indoor ducks... feather rot does in deed come from wearing a diaper too often... if you have to keep a diaper on a duck for a long period of time, change it often.... every hour or two, whether it's full or not... that way liquid isn't sitting against his feathers for too long. If he's inside, put him in the tub more often, giving him a very long luke warm bath... like 2-3 hours at a time. that will help clear up the problem. Your duck can benefit from going onto some antibiotics for awhile... Ask your vet about the antiboitic baytril. MY duck victor got baytril for two weeks. Usually they can take it in a pill form (you can hide the pill in a half of a cherry tomato or a grape and feed it to them). They may also offer it in a powder form and tell you to mix it with apple sauce and give him a small amount each day via a small syringe, but force feeding a duck is difficult... the flick their bills and it goes flying... If they don't take the pill, it's easier to shove it down his throat then crushed pills in apple sauce. (they get mad with it being forced down, but they get over it... it doesn't hurt them).

An idea to give your ducky a break from diapers... Get a big plastic rubber maid tote from walmart (or if you already have one, maybe move anything you have stored in it to a different box). You can line the bottom with shavings or horse bedding pellets (you can get either at a feed store, or you can get the shavings from walmart). put a coffee mug of water and a small bowl of his feed in there and let his bottom take a break from the diaper. You can use a spray bottle to spray his bottom where the feather rot is between diaperings and when you put him in the box. It's best to let him sleepm overnight in the box if you need him diapered and roaming during the day.

My ducks have an inside pen i built them they stay in whenever i can't diaper them or let them outside. Throughout the night and when i'm at work, they are in their inside pen. they take baths in the tub when it's too cold to go outside or when they are being divas. lol.

hopefully this helps a bit, if you have any more questions feel free to pm me. I may not see it if you post it in here, but i will def see my pm's.

I'm not sure where you live or what kind of friends you have, but if possible, you may want to ask a friend to baby sit him somedays in their backyard so he can get a chance away from wearing a diaper. I'm entirely sure about the treatment, but baytril, nice warm long baths, and time out of the diaper should help.

 

[nettie]

oh and dog food is a yummy treat for ducks, but they really need to eat their own feed. If you put him in a box and give him his food at nght, eventually they will eat it. Ducks can get picky with food and even go on "hunger strikes" when they are unhappy... Just take away the dog food and give him his food, and if he gets hungry enough he'll eat it.

If he's alarming you with his lack of eating, try giving him some other forms of treats to help balance out his nutrition... like earth worms, peas, kale, lettuce etc. you can find a huge list of treats you can give your ducky by clicking the link on my signature.

My ducks didn't eat once for 3 days because they wanted peas and nothign else... i stopped giving them peas and only made their feed available to them, and they got over it. lol

 

[mallvista2]

Thank you for all your replys! the going outside seems to be the best idea, but since he has a wrap on his leg, the vet is only allowing him to swim once a week, which is the morning before we bring him in to change out the wrap. And it's freezing here in Ks, and rainy, so being outside is a definate no no, since he can't get that wet. I refilled his antibiotics, but just not sure. where its at is on his rectum area, looks like he's constipated. I will be taking him to the vet in the morning, will just ask them then. Although it gets frustrating to have every question asnwered in well........ lol no ones sure on anything, so thats why I'm here, trying to find out for myself..

 

[nettie]

Well,

You'll slowly find yourself always posting and reading in here... there are sooo many helpful people who know so much about ducks!

your doing your ducky a good thing by coming here! often vets have no clue on ducks... It might be a good idea to see if you can locate an Avian vet nearby... they may not know everything about ducks, but they tend to know more than your average vet.

You can put some neosporin on your ducks feathers as well... i used to put it on my ducks foot when it was injured.

Also, you can get bactine (an iodine solution. Walmart has their own brand which is cheaper than the name brand))... After he gets his weekly bath, put him in a small container of water and iodine (add enough iodine to make the water look tea colored... maybe lighter tea colored... too much can hurt your ducky). watch him carefully to make sure he doesn't drink the water he's standing in. Using a container that is just big enough for him to stand in will help keep him from drinking the water. this will help clear away any infections.

Keep up with the antiboitics!

Limiting your duck's movements will help with his leg as well... the container idea seems more and more like a good idea to me. Perhaps when thing settle down with your human life, you might want to investigate building him and indoor pen so you don't have to diapered him so often. if you need any ideas, i'm currently constructing the forth indoor pen i've made this year (one was for a friend). So i have a lot of experience. lol. Keeping ducks indoors is highly unusual and it's hard to find info about it anywhere! I know! lol.

Going outside might be easier if you can perhaps wrap his hurt leg up in some plastic wrap before he goes out? maybe some Saran wrap around the bandage will help keep it dry?

If your ducky is having constipation issues, feeding him foods that are wartery, like lettuces, prunes, etc will help him alleviate his bowels... When it comes to food, a good rule of thumb is if it helps a human with constipation, it should help a duck, lol. No sense is paying a vet to tell you he's constipated and having no clue how to help him. Avoid giving him foods that are rich in protein for awhile, so maybe avoid that dog food... high protein foods can stop things up and make it harder for him to go. Adding lots of veggies to his diet for now will help him clear out. lol.

If you can take pictures, it might help us on byc figure out what's wrong and find a solution. We'll help you figure out how to post them if you don't know how to.

 

[CiciBean]

Hi everyone! I see that this thread is a little old but I thought I'd comment for all the other duck owners that come here.

I'm a first time duck owner and I have had my George for probably a month or so now. He was probably around 1 week at the time. He's definitely a house duck who is way too spoiled (if I'm out of sight he starts peep peep peepin). Well, as he started getting bigger, he's outgrown the small size crate I made his little house out of. So of course I've been REALLY thinking about what type of house/area I can set up for him. I was browsing the aisles of Walmart a few days ago and I came across the perfect thing for my George. The foldable, mesh dog crates they have now. I got the medium sized one (which holds dogs up to 50 pounds so you can imagine the size) and I got him one of the bowls with the containers attached so he has enough water to play and do whatever he wants with. I only paid about $20 for both. The space is huge, breathable, and once I add the chips in there he's got the perfect little pad. So for anyone who wants any ideas for a house upgrade, that's what I did! I also got some nonslip mats to line the bottom with just as a precaution and make sure if you do get one of those crates you get an old towel or something similar to put underneath because mesh does leak.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@CiciBean and thank you for your information. Quite a few members have house ducks so they will appreciate this.