How do you fix a wet duck?

[nettie]

Hey everyone...

Lately my duck Ming Mei has been getting completely soaked during bath time and has a hard time drying off (even after and hour of preening). I bought some spray meant for birds (like parakeets) that contains a preen oil and some soothers for irritated skin and have been spraying her with it after her baths, but nothing seems to work. Her oil gland doesn't look weird or anything... any suggestions on how to get my ducky water proof again?

Like can I bathe her and soap her up to clear any gunk away and let her start the oiling process again?

Or should I take her to the vet?

Or should i put something on her?

Or not let her bathe for a few days?

 

[TennesseeTruly]

Hey Nettie, here's a posting I copied to my files about wet duck. I apologize to whoever posted it because I seem to have cut off their name. But this isn't mine, its someone on here. good luck with her!!

Laurie

Here ya go, cut and pasted from a post I made last year.

I'm cutting and pasting this from a post I made a few weeks ago:

I found this in a thread about wet feathers at http://groups.google.com/group/sci.agriculture.poultry posted by Iridesa

> Common cause for wet feathers is a clogged or infected oil gland, heavy
> mite infestation, or foreign substance in swimming water. Oil gland is
> located at the top base of the tail. Little feathers there should look
> very oily. If gland is clogged, massage gently several times daily with
> warm compress. Oral antibiotic may be Rx'd by vet for infection if
> present.

> To prevent above cause(s) provide clean fresh water for swimming to
> prevent mites and foreign substance from getting on feathers.

> Other cause(s):
> Duck has been washed with or been in water with soap, this removes the
> protective coating and disturbs barbs of feathers; not allowing them to
> hold air.

> Duck has not been allowed swimming water, thus is not preening to keep
> feathers supple.
> Barbs get broken or are pulled apart.

> Corretion- Time, for both causes above the duck will preen and get
> feathers into shape

> Ducks feathers are worn from an abundance of treading by drakes.

> Massive mite infestation.

> Correction- Time, for both causes above feathers are damaged beyond
> preening repair. Duck must molt to regain good feather structure. See
> Vet for mite infesttion if mites are present. Look for tiny spots on
> feather shafts and or skin. Check duck house for tiny red mites at
> nite...nests are best place to look for mites if you have em.

> Note- waterfowl feather structure: Each feather is connected together
> sorta like a zipper. The zipper or barbs can be zipped back together if
> not damaged. This is what waterfowl do when they preen. The barbs must
> be keep soft and supple, this is what the oil from the oil gland does.
> (like putting hand cream on so ones hands so they don't get chapped) If
> the oil gland isn't working or duck is not afforded swimming water (bird
> won't preen much), feathers become dry, brittle and break. Once damage
> occurs to the barbs the duck will no longer be "water proof" no matter
> how well the duck has oiled and or preened. Air held in by the feathers
> is what keeps the duck "dry" not the oil. The oil gand works on supply
> and demand. If no water to swim in...no need to preen, no oil is made or
> gland gets clogged from under use.

> Hope this helps

 

[Bleenie]

I sometimes have the same problem, I have heard & read that its common in Muscovies though.

Black oil sunflower seeds seemed to help a couple of them.
warm compress on the oil gland.
a serious dusting just in case(mine live outside though)

I think what started mine was the wet weather and them tromping through the dang mud and it 'scratching' off all the oil.

 

[Funky Feathers]

Hi Nettie! I have this happen with my Crested White ducks sometimes. Their oil glands can be flushed w/warm water if the warm compress is not helping. Or both in combination would be good. Here is how: take a 3cc syringe w/22 gauge needle (or 20g), cut off the tip of the needle, making it dull. Scrape it on a hard surface to make it more dull. Then fill it with warm (almost hot) water, insert the needle into the hole on one side of the gland, massage it gently (the gland) then push the warm water in. Then massage the gland until yellow oil comes out. Repeat on other side of gland. Now they should be working. If not, repeat the procedure. Then get the duck to swim to encourage preening. Here are some pics of me doing this:

Oil gland location (I plucked feathers from a dead duck to show this)

ETA: THe holes are the exact size to fit the needle into.

 

[Bleenie]

Are the last few pictures of a duck with a clogged gland? is that why it looks so red & swollen?

How long does it take until the oil comes out when you flush the gland?

 

[nettie]

Hmmm, i think i am more confused now! lol

Her oil gland looks good and healthy looking. She has little brown feathers growing out of the oil glands that are very oily looking. I notice she does preen a lot less than the other ducks. Today, she didn't really want to bathe. We had to put her in the tub rather than her running into the tub. Then she wouldn't eat her tub time treats and just kept looking at me all forlorn like while resting her head on the tub edge. So I took her out, dried her off a little, and she ran back to her house. We gave her a treat of peas and mushrooms and put down a puppy pad or two in her favorite spot so we could check her poop, which looked fine. She ate her other food fine as well. Normally she's very excited about tub time, so not sure what was up with today... Like she knew she'd get all wet and didn't want to be embarrassed. lol

So questions are-

Is it normal for little feathers to be growing out of the two oil gland bumps?

If you have to flush out the oil gland, do you have to pluck feathers, will it bleed?

Is there any good way to know if it's an infection versus just clogged?

What about a duck who's not really into preening? Could something be causing her to not want to preen? (She is not molting yet)

Thanks to everyone for the great info so far! I appreciate it! Hopefully I can figure out whats going on with my little ducky... I'm not concerned about mites or anything since they live inside and haven't een outside since october (minus the few trips to pet stores, feed stores, car rides, and vet trips). We were just starting to set up our tiny backyard area for them to run around in. We also start going on walks when the temps are in the 60's to the park 100 feet from our door.

 

[Bleenie]

Could she possibly be getting broody or brooding eggs now? My broodies get kind of icky lookign when they get up to bathe. They don't bathe like they normally would & it seems to 'throw them off'.

Also, My muscovies all have feather 'tufts' on their glands, they're yellow & oily but some look drier than others...usually the wet ones. I figured mine werent producing enough oil so i started feeding the Black Oil Sunflower Seeds. Like I said before, it helped a few of them so they didn't soak up water like sponges.

 

[Funky Feathers]

Yes, they all have the oily tufts of feathers on the oil gland holes. That is normal. No need to pluck them to get the needle in the hole. Plucking just makes the hole easier to find if you are having difficulty. It shouldn't bleed. The first few pics are of a deceased duck so I plucked away to show the holes. Should be able to flush once, massage, and get oil coming out. I think the cold temps. clog them up, as cold oil gets hard like paste. They should have less problems in the warm weather, plus they will be swimming more. I was told lack of swimming = lack of preening, and lack of preening will cause "wet duck". They really need to preen daily.