Need Advice About Scabbed Vent

[azygous]

Maybe give her a tub toy - a rubber ducky?

 

[Everose]

Are there any tricks for getting a high strung duck to sit in a tub of water without having to hold her in place the whole time?

Floating treats like peas or maybe even berries would be fun, mine like grass...yeah... they're totally boring
Ducks should like water but if she doesn't than maybe just hold her firmly in your lap with a warm wet rag on her vent. Epsom salt does help a lot but I'm not sure about giving treats in epsom salt water

 

[RosemaryDuck]

Hopefully it's not cancer. If I can't get it to start healing up then I'll take her to the vet.
I haven't seen any sign that anything was wrong previously, but it's possible I missed something.
It's hard to see in the pictures, but that side of the vent is protruding out. I was worried that it might be slightly prolapsed and the scabs are preventing it from going back into place. Or if it is some kind of infection, then the scabs would need to come off to effectively treat it.
However, if it is an injury then it would probably be better to leave the scabs on and let it heal.
I'll put some antibiotic ointment on it tonight, and give her a good soak tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get a better idea what's going on then. Unfortunately, Puff is a bit of a drama queen. There's no way she is going to willingly soak for any length of time. Are there any tricks for getting a high strung duck to sit in a tub of water without having to hold her in place the whole time?

You could simply fill it a bit past her legs (enough to cover her butt!). That way she can't launch herself out. Then just let her waddle/swim in that.

Does she not like water at all? Just curious! I don't think I've ever met a duck that hated tub time .

 

[RubyDog55]

She loves water and to swim in her pond, she just hates anything new or different. Sitting in a tub of water is not part of her routine, and therefore it is very upsetting. She'd probably be happy if I fed her peas, but she'd definitely be drinking the water if I did that, and the second the peas ran out she would be upset again. When she gets upset she can launch herself three or four feet in the air.

 

[KaleIAm]

I have experience with a duck who has an issue like that. Her vent sometimes prolapses a little and pulses when she defecates or when you touch the area. She actually gets this problem about twice a year and we can't figure out why - despite extensive medical testing including radiographs and a barium swallow and an endoscopy to check for foreign matter in her digest tract! We also initially did less invasive testing and swabbed the area and sent it off for fungal and bacterial testing, of course.

The only test that ever came back with any abnormal findings was for parasites.

I took my ducks to two avian vets and the treatment both prescribed was the same. Treatment for parasites. Remove as many of the scabs as possible while trying to reduce trauma to the tissue below. Wash the vent with diluted chlorhexidine (broad spectrum antibacterial soap) twice daily. Put a moderate layer of SSD cream on the vent and any sore tissue.

When I asked about removing the scabs they told me that I needed to expose the skin underneath to get medicine on it.

Of course, I don't know if your duck has the exact same thing going on - it just looks the same. Personally I would take her to a vet and get her tested for parasites at the very least. If you can't and she was my duck I would probably treat her for parasites and do what my vet had me do. Feel free to ask any questions.

 

[RubyDog55]

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate all of the help.
I was able to soak Puff on Monday. It turns out she doesn't like how epsom salt water tastes so she didn't want to drink it. She tolerated the bath fairly well as long as I kept the peas coming. Once everything had softened up it was much easier to see what was going on. She did have a minor prolapse, and what had looked like big chunky scabs before was actually all necrotic tissue. I was able to pull a lot of the necrotic tissue off, at which point the prolapse completely resolved on its own. Yesterday the area still looked a little swollen, but otherwise fine. Today when I checked her, she has an off white discharge on the feathers all around her vent.
How concerned should I be about the remaining necrotic tissue that I can't remove? Will her body be able to take care of it now that the prolapse is resolved?
Is the discharge a sure sign of a yeast infection or could it be a bacterial infection? In either case will she need oral meds or are there effective topical meds that can be used?
If it is a parasite problem, should I treat the whole flock or just her?
I'm trying to avoid a vet bill, but maybe I should just take her in.

 

[azygous]

Cheers for the progress! Good work!

I'll stick my neck out and offer the possibility of a bacterial infection in her lower reproductive tract. It's likely with the proximity of all that necrotic tissue hanging around her vent. I suggest an oral antibiotic to get on top of this. Yeast may also be a possibility for the same reason. Medistatin can be used conveniently to treat this by sprinkling it over her food each day.

The amoxicillin is 250mg daily for ten days.

Here's where to them:

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https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/

 

[KaleIAm]

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate all of the help.
I was able to soak Puff on Monday. It turns out she doesn't like how epsom salt water tastes so she didn't want to drink it. She tolerated the bath fairly well as long as I kept the peas coming. Once everything had softened up it was much easier to see what was going on. She did have a minor prolapse, and what had looked like big chunky scabs before was actually all necrotic tissue. I was able to pull a lot of the necrotic tissue off, at which point the prolapse completely resolved on its own. Yesterday the area still looked a little swollen, but otherwise fine. Today when I checked her, she has an off white discharge on the feathers all around her vent.
How concerned should I be about the remaining necrotic tissue that I can't remove? Will her body be able to take care of it now that the prolapse is resolved?
Is the discharge a sure sign of a yeast infection or could it be a bacterial infection? In either case will she need oral meds or are there effective topical meds that can be used?
If it is a parasite problem, should I treat the whole flock or just her?
I'm trying to avoid a vet bill, but maybe I should just take her in.

You might be able to remove more of the brown stuff as time passes, and you should according to my vet if we have the same thing. For my duck sometimes it would be really stuck one day and then a few days later I could get it off.

My duck also had white discharge which we swabbed and tested at a lab. It came back negative for bacteria and fungus. Her white blood cell count was also normal indicating that she did not have an infection - but at times they had me put her on antibiotics or antifungals anyway. Neither helped her heal faster. She has had this happen so many times that her vets and I have experimented with different medications to help her. I'm not trying to say you shouldn't try antibiotics - we could have a different issue. My vets thought we should try it. They had us try clavamox initially.

One time she did get a fungal infection after being on systemic antibiotics for 2 months - so be aware that can happen. We were giving her probiotics, but she got a fungal infection anyway.

I always bring poop to my vet and they examined it under a microscope for a parasite check. It is the only way that I am aware of. Usually if one bird has parasites they all do. In my flock's case I have had individual ducks tested at the same time and the one duck who has the issue that looks just like your duck will have a heavy parasite load and the other ducks will have none. It's flabbergasting to vets and me, but true.

The SSD cream is supposed to topically treat bacterial and fungal.

I think I answered everything! Keep us updated!

 

[RubyDog55]

The necrotic tissue was on the area that was prolapsed, so now that the prolapse has resolved the necrotic tissue is no longer visible.
I read that medistatin can be used in laying ducks with no egg withdrawal. Is that right?
I do sell eggs, so I have to be careful with what meds I give my ducks.
Is amoxicillin approved for use in laying ducks? If so what is the egg withdrawal?
What would be a good wormer to use? And the egg withdrawal? Is it true that wormers with no egg withdrawal don't work?
Thanks!

 

[KaleIAm]

The necrotic tissue was on the area that was prolapsed, so now that the prolapse has resolved the necrotic tissue is no longer visible.
I read that medistatin can be used in laying ducks with no egg withdrawal. Is that right?
I do sell eggs, so I have to be careful with what meds I give my ducks.
Is amoxicillin approved for use in laying ducks? If so what is the egg withdrawal?
What would be a good wormer to use? And the egg withdrawal? Is it true that wormers with no egg withdrawal don't work?
Thanks!

Ah, I see the brown stuff slipped back inside her. Well, it sounds like since you can't reach it there isn't anything you can do.

I have never used medistatin. With both amoxicillin and wormers my vets have given me a minimum of a 3 week egg withdrawal period after the last dose of medication. I can get you the names of the wormers we used when I get home from work. I haven't used wormers with no egg withdrawal, so I'm not sure if they are effective.

If you need to sell eggs you can have her sleep in a crate in your coop during her medication period. Collect all the eggs before you let her out for the day. Carefully search the coop and discard any eggs before putting the ducks to bed again at night.