HELP!!! Back of Neck on one of my ducks

[nolamimi504]

One of my female ducks has been constantly being attacked by 3 of my males, it’s always one leading the other two, he’s the fastest and chases the females and once he catches one the other two join in, sadly the female that’s the slowest is always the same one. We kept her in the kitchen yesterday and this morning, without thinking my husband let all the females out of their house and returned inside to get their breakfast treats, fresh dry food and waters. When he returned outside, the males had Lucky once again. What can I put on the back of her neck; yesterday, it looked as though it was healing and scabbing over and this morning, it’s worse than ever. She’s back inside and will remain inside, regardless of how upset she gets. You will notice above her eye she’s got a blood spot. What I have on hand: Neosporin cream, Neosporin Ointment w/pain reliever, Polysporin, Aquaphor, a prescription antibiotic ointment- Mupiricin, from when my 10-month old granddaughter had hand-foot-mouth virus w/secondary infection, hubby & I kept her for 2 weeks since she was unable to attend daycare and parent and other grandparents work. I also have Pen G, from when one of our duck’s had bumblefoot.

 

[sourland]

You are going to have to come up with a plan B in regards to the males before they kill her. Once started, this gang breeding behavior does not get better.

 

[nolamimi504]

You are going to have to come up with a plan B in regards to the males before they kill her. Once started, this gang breeding behavior does not get better.

We have already contacted a friend who was interested in Half-pint, our male Mallard, who seems to be the actual troublemaker. When the other two drakes are out, they don’t chase after the ducks like Half-pint does; when they do, they lose interest and go into their pool. Half-pint has been the ringleader in quite a few problems between the drakes and ducks or even just the drakes. I do want to thank all of you on BYC, while there are multiple sites for ducks and whatnot, this is the only site I will use when I have questions regarding ducks in general or my ducks. I will research reputable sites, usually provided from people on this site if I have a particular issue I want more information on.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

I would definitely separate the drakes from the ducklings.

 

[KaleIAm]

I'm very sorry to hear about Lucky being over mated. Sourland is right about the risk of death. My own precious duck was permanently injured by overmating and required surgery yearly over her life as a result. How many drakes and how many duck hens do you have?

In the photo is the yellow stuff dried discharge or ointment?

I'm not sure what ointment is best, or if she needs any, but my vet has told me not to use ointments with pain medication on birds. And I wouldn't use the prescription one just in case it was contaminated. My vet has had me use Neosporin before. Anything near/in the eye needs to be specifically labelled for eye use, and you can purchase terramycin ophthalmic (eye) ointment over the counter at some pet stores and feed stores.

I would prioritize keeping Lucky away from all drakes and in a very clean environment with access to clean water and clean bedding. I have used my bathroom for this and put towels on the floor, which I change twice daily. I fill up my tub for them. You could bring in a female friend for her if they aren't mating each other and contributing to the damage.

 

[nolamimi504]

I'm very sorry to hear about Lucky being over mated. Sourland is right about the risk of death. My own precious duck was permanently injured by overmating and required surgery yearly over her life as a result. How many drakes and how many duck hens do you have?

In the photo is the yellow stuff dried discharge or ointment?

I'm not sure what ointment is best, or if she needs any, but my vet has told me not to use ointments with pain medication on birds. And I wouldn't use the prescription one just in case it was contaminated. My vet has had me use Neosporin before. Anything near/in the eye needs to be specifically labelled for eye use, and you can purchase terramycin ophthalmic (eye) ointment over the counter at some pet stores and feed stores.

I would prioritize keeping Lucky away from all drakes and in a very clean environment with access to clean water and clean bedding. I have used my bathroom for this and put towels on the floor, which I change twice daily. I fill up my tub for them. You could bring in a female friend for her if they aren't mating each other and contributing to the damage.

We have 3 drakes currently and 6 females; we are in the process of rehoming our Mallard, Half-Pint, who’s become our little troublemaker. May I ask what type of injury did your duck suffer? Yes, we have moved Lucky in the house. She’s in section in our kitchen, we find it the best area for our sick bay since they can see the other ducks throw our back storm door. When we have a duck in sick bay and we have to keep him/her away from the other ducks, they receive special treatment, which included access to the tub, at least twice a day, sometimes three times a day. The yellow stuff is like a dried discharge/scab; the picture was taken before we brought her to sick bay this morning. It must’ve developed over night when I put aquaphor on the back of her neck yesterday. We have two ducklings (7.5 weeks) that are still inside because they’re still too young to begin integrating with the other ducks. Yesterday, my husband cleaned the females house and kiddie pool in their house and we put her in there so she could see her siblings.

 

[KaleIAm]

It sounds like your inside set up is great! I think rehoming Half-Pint for the safety of your females is likely for the best. Watch out for overmating with the 2 drakes, still. Some people find that they they still have issues with a similar ratio to what you will have. Your ducks are individuals, so you'll have to see how it goes as no one can predict it.

For my duck, she initially needed internal surgery on her oviduct. After that she needed regular surgery on her feather follicles as they were so damaged by drakes standing on her and/or ripping out her feathers that some of them grew curly under the skin and got infected. Sometimes I would catch it in time and my vets could clean out the feathers without anesthesia. But the feathers grew so fast and damaged so much tissue under the skin that they often needed to remove a lot of it and I couldn't check her entire body under her feathers daily. My poor sweetheart.

 

[N Good]

Yeah, I would echo @KaleIAm , you're still at risk for over mating even with that ratio.

 

[nolamimi504]

Update:
While Lucky is improving slowly but surely. My husband & I have reached a difficult decision. We’re going to go ahead and rehome the 4 hens & their brother, Jack-he just looks like a Jack. They’re so close we would hate to separate the 5, and Jack is definitely in charge of the other 4, almost like they’re his harem lol. As well as, Luna & Loco, who were born April 16th and 17th and haven’t gone outside to be introduced to any other ducks. They’re just so good inside and so quiet, unless they need something. We going to just keep our original 3 of the 4, all drakes. We love them all but are really attached to the 3 original ones and Luna & Loco but feel it’s best not to have any hens and don’t want to separate Luna & Loco, who’ve been together 24/7 since the second one popped out it’s shell. Before posting anywhere else, such as Facebook or anywhere, I posted on BYC under our state and hope there’s someone out there interested. Are there any other sites anyone can recommend just in case we don’t get anything from BYC? Like reputable ones that would see them as pets? Just curious. My brother-in-law knows someone who just purchased land and beginning to build on it and he’s shown interest but he has chickens and never had ducks and I just don’t have a great feeling about it.

 

[KaleIAm]

I understand what a difficult choice it is. Lots of us have had to do it for the safety of our birds.

I'm unaware of any pet only rehoming websites people can use. Petfinder is for rescue organizations. Sometimes local pet rescue organizations will have a home to home program where you can rehome your pets on their website.

I suggest using Nextdoor, to ask your neighbors about any local programs. They will know. You might be able to find someone interested in adopting your ducks on Nextdoor as well, but I always do a home visit and even call vets of any animals they have owned.

Craigslist is also an option. I adopted 3 ducks a person rescued off a pond 6 years ago from CL. I have dedicated my life to those ducks. The rescuer visited my home twice, looked at my set up, and had all kinds of criteria for me to meet before she gave them to me. Craigslist can be an option, just be picky and do homework on applicants.

Let us know how things go.