Help with beaten up/ infested Pekin duck!

[Steve GA]

New to this site and forum but need some help with one of our Pekin ducks.

Recently, I had to isolate one of our females because of the excessive mounting from one of the males. I think she had two sprained or 1 sprained and 1 broken leg. (We are in the process of catching the 2 males and moving them to another pond some miles away.) After 4-5 weeks she seemed much better (feathers looked good, she was clean and eating well) and wanted to join the other ducks and I released her a couple of days ago. She disappeared, but I have just found her in fairly bad shape. She has a couple of spots of maggot infestation that's pretty nasty looking. I have sprayed her with an insecticide that I got from our local feed store. This has worked well one other time.

My long-winded question is this-- Is there anything else I can do other than be sure she is completely cleaned, provided with a pool of fresh water, isolated in a separate pen, and fed?

Many thanks for your help!

Steve G

 

[delisha]

Turpentine oil is made from the resin of certain pine trees. It is used as medicine.

Don’t confuse turpentine oil with gum turpentine, which is the resin and could burn.

Turpentine oil is applied to the skin for joint pain, muscle pain, nerve pain, and toothaches. It work great on fowl for wounds.

People sometimes breathe in (inhale) the vapors of turpentine oil to reduce the chest congestion that goes along with some lung disease.

In foods and beverages, distilled turpentine oil is used as a flavoring.

In manufacturing, turpentine oil is used in soap and cosmetics.

Instead of taping sweet maples to make maple syrup they *catface* firs and pines and collect the sap, that sap is called.Oleo and it is made into... turpentine with the same process that is used in making syrup. Not as tasty as maple syrup though.


.

 

[delisha]

RE: Turpentine OIL ---

Technically, it is not a medicine because it in itself has no properties to affect or treat the course of disease or infection, etc. It is only meant to be used on INTACT, UNBROKEN skin. It can be rubbed on skin and subsequent flushing gives a certain pain relief for mild muscle or joint pain. It could be used for toothache. It could be rubbed on the chest or upper lip and when inhaled it may alleviate conjestion --- very similar to Vick's Vapor Rub.

It should NOT be used in an open wound. Those are just the facts. Do a search on the internet. You can trust WebMD. I would bet they won't list it for anything other than what I have.

Look at it this way, a good day for any of us is a day that we learned something.

I hope everyone does go to webMD..including you. Conformation is a good tool. Since part of my post came directly from there and the Natural MD resource library.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Delisha-- I saw the page, Thank You for posting. I've learned from you! (& must admit that I was guilty of confusing turpentine oil and gum turpentine)

Steve GA -- how is your duck today?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Delisha-- I saw the page, Thank You for posting. I've learned from you! (& must admit that I was guilty of confusing turpentine oil and gum turpentine)

Steve GA -- how is your duck today?

I went too and appreciate the link have it bookmarked along with the one Holly posted. I did not know there was difference in the turpentine either.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

BH- if you're not interested in using a tried and true Tx, then don't. But nowhere that I have found is it written that the use of turpentine oil is contraindicated on skin... In fact, it seems to me that skin is the primary place of application. I know that when I ask for questions, I always like to hear as many possible solutions, then I choose the one that works best for me.


"Turpentine and petroleum distillates such as coal oil and kerosene have been used medicinally since ancient times, as topical and sometimes internal home remedies. Topically it has been used for abrasions and wounds, as a treatment for lice, and when mixed with animal fat it has been used as a chest rub, or inhaler for nasal and throat ailments. Many modern chest rubs, such as the Vicks variety, still contain turpentine in their formulations.

Taken internally it was used as treatment for intestinal parasites because of its alleged antiseptic and diuretic properties, and a general cure-all[10][11] as in Hamlin's Wizard Oil. Sugar, molasses or honey were sometimes used to mask the taste. Internal administration of these toxic products is no longer common today.

Turpentine was a common medicine among seamen during the Age of Discovery, and one of several products carried aboard Ferdinand Magellan's fleet in his first circumnavigation of the globe.[12]"
Source and Refrences: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_of_turpentine

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-suppl...entId=508&activeIngredientName=TURPENTINE OIL
"Turpentine oil is POSSIBLY SAFE when adults use it on their skin or inhale it appropriately"
"Turpentine oil is made from the resin of certain pine trees. It is used as medicine."
**Edited to add**
http://m.voices.yahoo.com/turpentine-has-more-uses-than-just-as-paint-thinner-6259836.html
"Turpentine is also used as a treatment for lice in some cases, if applied externally on the affected area. Although turpentine is toxic to ingest, there is no direct harm if applied to certain areas of the skin. We do not commonly use turpentine as a treatment for lice today but it still is effective and might be an ingredient in some lice treatment medications you use. Turpentine was often used in the ancient times as a remedy for just about anything, but since it can be harmful if ingested we have limited the medicinal uses of turpentine."

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

There was a thread elsewhere on this site about maggots-- how they feed upon the decaying flesh and you might search for that. I think most people will apply Blue Kote to wounds. The only wounds I've had here were not that severe and they healed quickly on their own. I'd say your priorities are Nutrition and Water now, but do be certain to keep your girl isolated. The others may very well pick on her, especially the offenders. Those I'd dispatch quickly.

 

[kimberly35042]

Wash open wounds with hydrogen peroxcide and treat with blue cote. Isolate in sick pen. Good luck with her.

 

[Blackberry Hill]

Hi, Steve --- You really need to REMOVE the maggots. Spraying them with an insecticide is not enough. It will kill some but just bother the others enough to move to a new spot or burrow deeper.

How do I say this? They are not "after" decayed flesh. Flies are attracted to the smell of blood, lay eggs that hatch in 24 hours into the larval form (maggot) which needs to feed for about 5 days (depending upon the species of fly) and then the larvae develops a brown pupae where it metamorphoses into a fly.

During the larval stage, the maggot makes wounds much, much worse..... attracting more flies who lay more eggs bringing on a miserable death to the poor animal.

You need to put this duck humanely out of her misery OR you need to bring her inside and treat her wounds. A cardboard box or a dog crate or a large rabbit cage with straw or old towels in the bottom --- anything that you can keep clean. Plus food & water. She will need to be in till the wounds heal.

HOW TO GET the MAGGOTS OFF: this is very simple, have someone hold the duck over a bucket with some salt or ashes in the bottom while you use your thumb to brush the maggots off that you can into the bucket. Then use tweezers to pick off EVERY LAST maggot. (I have done this; you can do this. Last time, it took about 45 minutes. I have spent 3 hours at this so you may want to sit down.) Have a small jar 1/2 full of hydrogen peroxide handy. Use the tweezers to pick off a maggot and dunk it into the hydrogen peroxide then wipe the tweezers on a paper towel then get another maggot...... You wipe the tweezers on the paper towel because if not you introduce too much hydrogen peroxide into the wound where it will foam making it hard to see. Also, the hydrogen peroxide will not kill the maggots but they do not like it so they will begin moving to a new spot making it harder to track them all down. Once they are in the jar, 90% of them stay. Keep an eye out for escapees which won't matter if you are outside

I have tried various methods over the years; this one is the quickest. The point is to use tweezers to pick the maggots off --- what you do with them is up to you.

Also, maggots that are, say, 5 days old are much larger than, say, 1 day old so they may not all look the same. Don't miss the little ones.

Once you have all the maggots off, look to see if there is a 2nd or 3rd site.... clear them as well. Then check the vent as well.

Any wounds need flushed with an antiseptic. Hydrogen peroxide is actually good for this as the foaming action will debride the wound. Now you need to apply a thick coat of a topical antibiotic like Neosporin. I have also used Bag Balm made for cow's udders. Do not bandage.

If the wounds are more than superficial, I would add an oral or injectable antibiotic appropriate for the species.

You will need to check periodically to see if you missed any maggots. There are always a few. They will migrate to a new spot.

Remember, it is the smell of blood from a wound no matter how small that attracted the flies in the first place. NOTHING is better at cleaning blood out of feathers, fur or clothing than hydrogen peroxide.

Keep the duck inside till the wounds heal over --- at least 5 days.

If you have any questions or problems, I will check back. Please trust me on this.

EDIT: Regarding the antibiotic we need a clarification. In the Clinic, I would give an injectable and send home an oral for follow up. But I wrote this so it can be done completely at home without vet care. For poultry including waterfowl, you can go to the feed store or farm supply and look for injectable Penicillin. With minor wounds, the topical antibiotic (Neosporin) will suffice. What is the difference between minor and major? Well, that is subjective --- go with your gut. If you suddenly found yourself with a wound like that, what would you call it?

All I can say, the last maggot case I treated just last week had a wound about the size of a 50 cent piece that was fairly shallow. It was NOT bleeding; just oozing mostly clear fluid. This was on a small Indian Runner duck. I picked the maggots off w tweezers, flushed the wound w hydrogen peroxide, patted it dry and applied Neosporin. She came inside to live in a dog crate lined w towels that I changed 2x per day. Good food, water & vitamins plus checking the wound every day and reapplying Neosporin. Keep an eagle eye out for missed maggots. Duckie went home to owner to live outside after 7 days.

 

[Haunted55]

Look, the long and short, get as many of the maggots as you can find off of her. A bath goes a long way in doing this. Next, get a spray bottle of 1/2 water and 1/2 white vinegar, not ACV. Spray the bird well. Wetting her very well with this mixture. let her be for overnight and recheck in the am. If you still are finding any indications of maggots, dust her with Sevin dust. this will get rid of them. You do not have to cull this bird for relief.