Chickenpuff75
In the Brooder
Hi all,
I’m new here and new to ducklings/ducks. I’ve been reading through various posts regarding my duckling’s issue. Pickles is 4-5 wks old, along with Moose and Posie (who appear healthy). Last night (11pm) I noticed Pickles’ left cheek was swollen, but not so much that it shut his eye. I wiped his bill clean and made sure they had fresh, clean water. This morning, it had gotten worse, to the point that his eye was starting to shut and his lower bill/jaw is always open about a 1/8-1/4” and it’s skewed to the left side (a friend mentioned scissor beak, though my wife confirmed this only happened since his face started to swell). His left eye and both nostrils are weeping clear fluid. Traces of blood are mixed with the fluid weeping from his nostrils. He is still drinking (or attempting to drink), but he doesn’t cock his head back now. He’s not eating out of my hand but I mixed some dry feed with water in a separate dish and it was mostly empty when I came back an hour later and it didn’t seem like he had spilled it onto the bedding. He is resting a lot but still has energy to run away from me or “fight” me when I pick him up. And he’s chirping to his brother and sister as well (I’ve separated him into his own brooder put right beside the other one). I have pictures showing left/right/top sides and a 20 sec video but I don’t think I can post them until I hit the minimum number of posts. I’m currently waiting to hear back from a local vet but he is not a duck expert. From reading posts here, my guess is that it’s an infection and baytril antibiotic was suggested. Any other help would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if there are questions I need to answer. I forget what type they are, we just call them “roasted marshmallows” because they will be a mottled brown.
Thanks in advance and sorry if I didn’t do this the right way.
I’m new here and new to ducklings/ducks. I’ve been reading through various posts regarding my duckling’s issue. Pickles is 4-5 wks old, along with Moose and Posie (who appear healthy). Last night (11pm) I noticed Pickles’ left cheek was swollen, but not so much that it shut his eye. I wiped his bill clean and made sure they had fresh, clean water. This morning, it had gotten worse, to the point that his eye was starting to shut and his lower bill/jaw is always open about a 1/8-1/4” and it’s skewed to the left side (a friend mentioned scissor beak, though my wife confirmed this only happened since his face started to swell). His left eye and both nostrils are weeping clear fluid. Traces of blood are mixed with the fluid weeping from his nostrils. He is still drinking (or attempting to drink), but he doesn’t cock his head back now. He’s not eating out of my hand but I mixed some dry feed with water in a separate dish and it was mostly empty when I came back an hour later and it didn’t seem like he had spilled it onto the bedding. He is resting a lot but still has energy to run away from me or “fight” me when I pick him up. And he’s chirping to his brother and sister as well (I’ve separated him into his own brooder put right beside the other one). I have pictures showing left/right/top sides and a 20 sec video but I don’t think I can post them until I hit the minimum number of posts. I’m currently waiting to hear back from a local vet but he is not a duck expert. From reading posts here, my guess is that it’s an infection and baytril antibiotic was suggested. Any other help would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if there are questions I need to answer. I forget what type they are, we just call them “roasted marshmallows” because they will be a mottled brown.
Thanks in advance and sorry if I didn’t do this the right way.
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