Oil Gland Blocked?

[Jak115]

Definitely going to get some in our first aid kit then

 

[Isaac 0]

Thanks for the update, glad to hear he's doing well.

 

[Deleted member 94844]

Thank you all so much for the support and insight... hope this helps someone!

 

[Deleted member 94844]

Okay... so he was fine for a few months, but I checked his gland yesterday and pushed out about two inches of matted goopy white feathers from one side. At this point I’m fairly certain that his uropygial gland sacs are somehow collecting ingrown/impacted feathers and that’s what led to the infection. No idea if there is a way to prevent this, so if anyone has experience or knowledge of this issue please respond!

 

[KaleIAm]

Okay... so he was fine for a few months, but I checked his gland yesterday and pushed out about two inches of matted goopy white feathers from one side. At this point I’m fairly certain that his uropygial gland sacs are somehow collecting ingrown/impacted feathers and that’s what led to the infection. No idea if there is a way to prevent this, so if anyone has experience or knowledge of this issue please respond!

I'm sorry your duck is unwell again.

I don't have experience with this exact issue, but my duck also gets ingrown feathers on the same place on her body every year. It is on either side of her preen gland for my duck, so thankfully her preen gland still functions. I take my duck to the vet and they do surgery under anesthesia to clean out all the feather material once or twice a year - whenever I notice a bulge when feathers begin to accumulate under her skin. This has been happening to her yearly for 6 years.

My duck was mated with agressively before I adopted her and the vets believe that the physical trauma permanently damaged her feather follicles.

Sorry I can't give you any advice.

 

[Deleted member 94844]

I'm sorry your duck is unwell again.

I don't have experience with this exact issue, but my duck also gets ingrown feathers on the same place on her body every year. It is on either side of her preen gland for my duck, so thankfully her preen gland still functions. I take my duck to the vet and they do surgery under anesthesia to clean out all the feather material once or twice a year - whenever I notice a bulge when feathers begin to accumulate under her skin. This has been happening to her yearly for 6 years.

My duck was mated with agressively before I adopted her and the vets believe that the physical trauma permanently damaged her feather follicles.

Sorry I can't give you any advice.

Thanks so much for sharing that... trying to find a new avian vet to see him. I fear this is also going to be a recurring thing and that I’ll need to just continue checking and cleaning it out if needed every few weeks. Would love to put a fiber-optic camera down in there and see exactly what the heck is going on. I really don’t want to have the gland removed as that will make life much more difficult for him. Hugs to your duck!

 

[Fed up with useless vets]

THanks you you

I wanted to post an update to help others that might be dealing with this situation... it took nearly a month, but Nibb’s preen gland is back in business and he looks great. It was a tricky thing to treat and it would have been sorted much sooner if I’d done a few things differently, so I wanted to share my experience. This would have resolved in a week if I had immediately put him on Baytril... I delayed about two weeks for stupid reasons, mostly thinking I could treat it without antibiotics. Prior to that it was getting better and worse on repeat. Save yourself the hassle and just give them Baytril on first sign of infection. The main thing I did that was extremely effective was treating it internally with manuka honey. I have treated multiple staph infections with medicinal honey and it is amazing. Everyone should have this in their arsenal. Systemic antibiotics are not great at treating infections in nooks and crannies like sinus cavities, and the preen gland was infected on the inside. I got a long, thick sewing needle and used the blunt eye end to clear blockages and pull out infected matter. And there was a lot. I wore gloves and kept wiping the needle on a towel soaked in alcohol. The first few days were just clearing the clog and pulling the putrid muck out of there. The surface of the openings kept crusting during treatment, so I’m pretty sure this was staph. I also pulled what looked like rotted feathers out so it’s possible the infection started with an ingrown or impacted feather deep inside the gland. Once it was cleaned I soaked 1/8” sterile packing ribbon (plain, not iodoform) with manuka honey and threaded it down into the ducts very carefully with a toothpick and the needle. This was a real game changer and cleared the infection literally overnight. Combined with the Baytril 10% daily it was cleared up within a few days. Let the surface crust over completely, don’t pick at the scabs, and then you can pull it off with the sleeve intact... the entire interior of the duct will crust and come out in one piece, looking like a tornado. Hard to describe. Then it will fully heal. I gave him some Vitamin A and treated the surface with honey while it was healing. I also kept him isolated and out of the pond until the infection was under control. His gland is now functioning

Thank you you star! My vets are thick and my boy been suffering with this. Now going to teach the vet!