Swollen bill, fever

[Duck Hill]

View attachment 1201725 My duck has a swollen bill between the nostrils and the top of the bill, more on one side than the other but on both sides. She is beginning to find it hard to breathe through her bill. Her cheeks move in and out with each breath. (If I force her mouth open, she breathes perfectly easily since she has no issues with her breathing passages and lungs. But she becomes angry with me and prefers her mouth closed...)

I tried to put a needle into the swelling to withdraw fluid. No fluid. Slight amount of blood from needle poke which stopped immediately and easily.

Tonight she seems unhappy and she is a bit overwarm.

Any ideas as to the cause and what I can do to help her?

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you post pictures and also post on the duck thread under Forums?

 

[Duck Hill]

Cinnamon has a hard time breathing when her bill is closed. If I force it open she breathes easily. It is only her bill (nose) that is the problem.

 

[Eggcessive]

I hope that others will chime in who know more than I do about ducks.

 

[Duck Hill]

Update on Cinnamon. The vet says the swelling contains infection. She did a biopsy and says that the hard lump contains white blood cells and bacteria (and tissues). (And no cancer cells - yay!). She prescribed SZM-TMP as an antibiotic to be taken by mouth and Ofloxacin ophthalmic solution to be dribbled one drop into each nostril, each twice a day. She says the prognosis is good.

 

[Duck Hill]

UPDATE (happy ending)

The SZM-TMP did absolutetly nothing to help. I returned two days later for an appointment with a different vet in the same practice with more waterfowl experience. She identified aspergillosis (that makes her bumps be aspergillomas) - a fungal infection due to, usually, moldy hay and a lowered immune system.

A course of treatment including amphotericin, itraconazole, and two antibiotics resulted in the growth coming to an almost stop. That means it was growing very slowly, and Cinnamon went very slowly downhill.

Two weeks later her breathing was so difficult she could no longer eat or sleep. She was afraid because she was working so hard and barely getting enough air. I scheduled euthanasia, but online discussions suggested I ask if an operation would be possible. The vet agreed to try the operation.

Right after the operation my duck was breathing freely. The next few days were touch and go as the sinuses swelled from the operation, again nearly blocking breathing.

Eventually (about a week later) the swelling started to go down. Cinnamon is now very much better and clearly happy. She ate a ton for about a week. Now she is back to being herself, running every time she hears the refrigerator door to beg for peas. The vet says the prognosis is now good.


"Please please please.... I want THAT!

 

[Eggcessive]

How cute is that? I am so glad that you had the vet care available, and stuck with trying to help her. Aspergillosis is something every poultry owner has in their environment from mold. It is hard to treat. Good luck. Thank you for the update.

 

[Duck Hill]

Update 3/7/18 - very sad news.

There is aspergillosis (fungus on the surface of the lungs and other places) and an aspergilloma (a ball of aspergillosis fungus which can be under the skin or in some other place).

Aspergillosis is like a flat surface issue. Nebulization treatments do reach aspergillosis from the one side, and medicine does reach it from the other side. I think we treated Cinnamon's aspergillosis successfully. I was excited when the vet said Cinnamon's lungs were more clear each time. I was hopeful (see post above).

An aspergilloma is like a ball of aspergillosis. The shape makes a huge difference. The nebulization hurts the one edge and the blood medicine levels hurt another edge, but meanwhile the middle can grow. Cinnamon had aspergilloma in her sinuses - one on each side. At first the aspergilloma were only in the front chambers of the sinuses. They grew and blocked her breathing. The vet operated and she breathed well again, and Cinnamon was happy. But in spite of medication, herbs, and nebulization treatments, the aspergilloma returned and spread.

The next-to-last operation (due to trouble breathing), the vet removed some aspergilloma from the first and second chambers of her sinuses but her breathing did not improve. So Cinnamon returned for another operation a week later. The vet went "way deeper in her sinuses than I've ever been before" and did find more aspergilloma in the very deepest part of her sinuses. And her breathing still did not improve.

I did some research online. I learned that there are three sinus chambers in a row in the upper bill. The rear sinuses are connected to various chambers - some of which are dead-end areas and some of which connect to the breathing system (air sacks). These chambers lie around the eye and behind the eye (closer to the duck's tail). These extra chambers surround not just the eye but also the brain. It is known that aspergilloma can cross into the brain.

At this point, I knew that the aspergilloma returned after each operation (in spite of medication). It was growing and spreading. I also knew that it had reached the hindmost sinus chamber... and I now knew the rearmost sinus chamber connects to all those other chambers in the head). Because there was no new treatment to try, it seemed to me, the aspergilloma was, or was going to invade these other chambers. Weeks of treatments had not stopped its spread, and there was no new treatment to try. And as it grew it might go into the eye or the brain.

Cinnamon was not happy. She had a hard time breathing. She was frightened. My educated guess was that the aspergilloma had spread, or was about to spread... into the chambers behind the last sinus chamber - and that this is why the operations no longer helped her breathing.

Very sadly, and in Cinnamon's best interest, I was forced have Cinnamon euthanized.

In spite of having owned many pets for many years (most of whom ended their life with euthanasia), I found this to be the hardest decision I have ever made. It broke my heart. I hadn't fully realized how attached I had become. It was also particularly hard because she was still a young duck (only 2 1/2 years old), and she did everything I ever asked of her, willingly and cheerfully. But I knew it was the right thing to do.

 

[Duck Hill]

FOR THE FUTURE:

This situation began because I had (still have) a handicapped drake. He can't walk. I had him in a kiddie swimming pool bin in my house. When it was time to clean it out, it barely fit through the front door and was awkward to carry. It was tiring - what with washing, scrubbing, drying... the whole thing took nearly 45 minutes.

So each day I just topped it off with new, clean hay and I thought I was doing OK. I cleaned out the entire thing at the end of the week. But they both spilled water, and I guess mold grew in the litter where I couldn't see it, and probably Cinnamon went digging in the litter...

ANTI-ASPERGILLOSIS PEN: I have now devised an anti-aspergillosis pen for my handicapped duck Apple (who continues to do well - he didn't go digging in the litter) and his companion. First, it is so very easy to clean that I clean it several times a day. Second, even if I did not clean it (that would stink), and even if mold grew (which I would clearly see) - the ducks would STILL not be in contact with the mold. Here it is:

View attachment 1287134
To clean: turn on the water, use the (empty) bowl to throw water at the high end of the tub. All the mess disappears down the drain. All clean in about 30 seconds or so.

The black food bowl was regularly spilled. I replaced it with two red buckets hanging from the towel bar (one is seen below for water).

View attachment 1287135

When it is time for a swim, the entire platform can easily be lifted out of the tub. Then the bottom of the clear curtain goes INTO the tub and prevents splashes wonderfully. No more wet bathroom floors! When the swim is finished, the platform goes back up in seconds. It is awesome! When I pull the top off for their swim, I first disinfect the bottom, then wash it carefully before filling with water. Cleaning time with disinfectant and rinsing is about 3 minutes.

I have now used this setup for more than a month. The ducks are very healthy and it continues to work excellently. I like knowing that they are safe from aspergillosis. There is slight food wastage, but this is well worth the safety factor. I take them outside to feed treats that they need to chase down, like crickets, or salad (they tear it up and chase the pieces down)... or I feed those while they are swimming.

Protect your ducks from aspergillosis and aspergillomas! Once they have the disease, a cure is occasionally possible but sadly, frequently unlikely. Prevention is best!

NOTE: In my regular duck house, the only place I still use hay or straw is the nesting box. It remains quite dry, and is rarely soiled by waste. My duck house pen floor used to have straw, but when I looked (after Cinnamon got sick) I did find mold in some places, so that was removed and I disinfected everything. I'm lucky that none of my outdoor ducks got aspergillosis from that mold. My floor material is now sand. This is not as warm in winter, but remains mold-free. Next winter I might have to put in a heat lamp for cold days, since they don't have straw to snuggle into any more.

 

[Duck Hill]