Help my duck is sick

[astabley]

We rescued a duck about 5 weeks ago. Her leg is crooked but she can hobble around.We put her in a kiddie pool for exercise and only the past couple days have we been putting her in the backyard with the other duck and chickens. She lays alot in the yard but can get to food and water. Yesterday when I picked her up she had a small area of her belly smeared with a black sticky stuff. I thought it was poop. I bathed her and the water turned a reddish brown indicating there was blood in this mess. I found a scrape nothing serious. I put her in a box and left her in our bathroom over night with the intent of taking a better look in the morning. This morning she had the black stuff on her but covering a larger area. Its not poop. I washed her again and noticed little tiny worms in the water. She wont lay down and doesnt react when I pick her up which is unlike her. I bought some worming medicine and when I came home she was covered in this smeary black mess again. This time it covered most of her chest and side and up to her neck and her feathers were all matted to her body. If it was coming from her vent the mess would be down her tail feathers but its not. I'm at a loss for what might be the problem. We've had chickens for about 4 years now and a duck for 2 years and never saw anything like this. Any ideas.
Thanks in advance

 

[theatlantic88]

That is crazy sounding.. are you using diatomaceous earth in your pens? A good worming would help but only if it is fast acting. It sounds like internal parasites for sure.

 

[astabley]

Thanks for your help. She died about 2 hours after I posted my request for help. Still no idea why.

 

[theatlantic88]

Aww I'm sorry to hear. Black would possibly mean old stool or internal bleeding. Worms in the water would likely mean an infestation..

 

[Amiga]

You may want to take her body (or at least a sample of the black stuff) to a vet to have the problem analyzed, to be sure it is not something that could be infectious for your others. Better safe than sorry.

 

[casportpony]

Sounds like fly strike.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

From: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/
"Flystrike in Backyard Chickens, Causes, Prevention & Treatment
byKathy Shea Mormino



Flystrike is an extremely important topic for backyard chicken keepers to be aware of, but I’m going to warn you: it’s gag-worthy, so I promise to be as succinct as possible in covering the topic.

WHAT IS FLYSTRIKE?
Flystrike is a sanitized nickname for maggots living in and feeding on the dead skin of a live animal, which results in an infection. Flystrike can affect chickens, humans and other animals. Flystrike is also known as myiasis, blowfly strike and fly-blown. Whatever you call it, it’s nasty and can be fatal if undetected in time."

-Kathy