Last call for Penny the Pekin with mystery skin ailment

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I've left a message with the vet, so hopefully will get more info today about the cost of skin scraping, etc. She looks better this morning, although I saw one little spot of blood. It seems so up and down, one day she's bleeding and I'm thinking it's awful, then the next day it seems dried up and I have hope. If it was something like mites and I could easily treat it, I would be ecstatic. I just haven't seen any signs. My husband and I looked this morning with flashlight and magnifying glass and didn't see anything. It's hard to see under the feathers of course.
 
CoriM said:
I've left a message with the vet, so hopefully will get more info today about the cost of skin scraping, etc. She looks better this morning, although I saw one little spot of blood. It seems so up and down, one day she's bleeding and I'm thinking it's awful, then the next day it seems dried up and I have hope. If it was something like mites and I could easily treat it, I would be ecstatic. I just haven't seen any signs. My husband and I looked this morning with flashlight and magnifying glass and didn't see anything. It's hard to see under the feathers of course.
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My vet saw the mites immediately. It seems like yours would have, too. Though, what would be the harm of treating her for mites if euthanasia is the other option?

It seems possible, though unlikely, that Penny has an allergy to mite saliva. I'm totally making this up- I don't know if this happens with birds. I do know it happens in cats with fleas. If it were true she would have a much bigger reaction to mite bites.
 
BarredRockMom said:
Allergy to mite saliva...wow, that's so obvious that I can't believe I didn't think of that as a possibility! Besides the other treatment tries, can you give her some garlic in her water OP?? Make her taste as unappetizing as possible.

I'm reaching, too, but anything's possible. And we're all pulling for Penny the Pekin.
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Have you heard of it happening in birds before?
 
I have not heard of it in birds, no. But in people, in cats & in dogs, yes. So psyiologically, it doesn't seem like it's that much of a stretch into the realm of possible.

But again, until a scraping is done & the results are in, we're just guessing.
 
BarredRockMom said:
I have not heard of it in birds, no. But in people, in cats & in dogs, yes. So psyiologically, it doesn't seem like it's that much of a stretch into the realm of possible.

But again, until a scraping is done & the results are in, we're just guessing.
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Yeah, that was my thought. And it does present like flea allergy dermatitis.

CoriM, when you talk with your vet later maybe ask if this is a possibility. Either way, if they were my ducks I would treat for mites because... If the other option is euthanasia, why not? There isn't much of a down side and it possible could save them.

When my pekin, Thimbleberry, had mites our vet said to treat the entire flock or they would give mites back to Thimble.
 
Thanks for those ideas duck loving friends! I will let you know when I hear back from the vet. I read that there are two main types of mites that affect ducks - the chicken mite, which is red, and the northern fowl mite, which is black. Does anyone know whether the treatment would be the same, or would it be different depending on what type it would be. I read that the NFM shows evidence near the vent, and did not find that this morning when I looked. Looked through their bedding and didn't see anything either. Interestingly, she came out this morning with egg yolk all over her belly and I felt in the nesting box and the ground was all sticky there, with a small piece of soft shell egg just outside the box. There was also a complete soft shell egg laid yesterday afternoon in the run.The other ducks laid their eggs outside the box this morning.
 
The type of mites I'm talking about do not live on the bird. You're more likely to see them in the coop, not on the bird. They are also nocturnal feeders so they come out to feed at night and then leave the bird. Do your ducks sleep in a coop? That's where you would want to look. In cracks and crevices. None of my other ducks had any feather loss but I imagine they were being bitten also. I do have chickens as well and some were showing signs, such as feather loss around their vents and pale combs. I should also note that the bleeding areas were larger than a mite bite. She had pea size areas of blood. I think these were most likely caused by her being irritated by the bites and preening at the area trying to find relief. I don't see what harm it would do to treat the flock but the coop must be completely cleaned out and treated also and I would repeat it all in 7-10 days to treat for any mite eggs that have hatched out.
 

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