Swollen oil gland and tiff off thick feathers growing out of it

New duck mommy 2021

Free Ranging
Premium Feather Member
Oct 19, 2021
4,782
10,987
601
Medicine Hat , alberta , Canada
Good morning
A little back story leading up to what I found last night
Dasher was born dec 25/2021
I incubated her from my pekin mom and khaki dad
She has been a perfectly healthy bird up until 8 ish weeks ago
She started to lay eggs in April of 2022 and has laid one a day since even through all her issues the past 2 months
She has been acting normal , eating. Drinking , preening and running with her flock not staying behind
First time I noticed something was I heard a wet type poo while cleaning the pen and grabbed her and had a look. I saw what I thought was poo stuck all over her vent area and a slight prolapse. Being -35-48 C. I thought frozen poo
I brought her in and did several baths and trying to loosen it
But it wasn’t budging
So we went to the vet
They cleared her and put the prolapse back in
A week later we were back to the vet as she was built up with gleet again and her urethra would slip out with every poo but she would pump to get it back in
Her eggs would at times have a blood streak on them from being swollen down there and pushing
Vets put her on an antibiotic and medicam
She takes her meds very well and I would clean her vent 3 times a day with iodine , first aid spray for birds and cream for yeast infections
After course of antibiotics she still had the gleet and my vet said it’s time for avian vet
So we travelled 3 hours to the avian vet who took X-rays , blood work and poo samples. They found an intestinal bacterial infection and said she was a bit anemic from the blood on eggs and found little bits in her poo
But a few days before we went to the avian vet I noticed her feathers felt very dry and rough. My birds are usually very soft and silky
I told the avian vet this but she figured she wasn’t preening well enough not feeling good
We started new antibiotics and my vet office got results and followed the avian vets suggestions.
First 6 days things looked to be clearing up in the vent area but feathers still rough and when she would try to preen in her water dish she would get soaking wet
But the vet office only had enough meds for 6 days and I needed to grab the last 4 days worth on day 6
The second set was different
One was white and now it was brown
Said it was the same thing just one was compounded other wasn’t
But then the gleet was packing up again
Finished antibiotics and back to square one
Back to the vet we went more blood work and more poo samples ( waiting on those results ) again I said her feathers feel rough and dry and she gets soaked when trying to wash herself
Once again chalked up to she isn’t preening enough
My girl is still in high spirits and acting normal but I’m sure she wishes mom would not be invading her vent 3 times a day for the last 2 months
I have also been giving her probiotics 1/2 tsp as recommended on some peas that she happily gobbles up
Last night I found her soaking wet again and cold brought her inside and watched her preen
So I checked her oil gland ( why didn’t I do this before :(
Better yet after over 1700 dollars on vet bill why didn’t either of my vets check her in the exams
She has a rock hard and swollen oil gland with a thick short tuff of feathers growing out the centre of it
I tried looking online and can’t find anything like this
I stared warm wet compresses last night and we are back to the vet in a few hours and if my regular vet can’t deal with it then we are headed back to the avian vet
I have 16 ducks and nobody else is having issues so this isn’t contagious
She must have ate something she shouldn’t by digging
I clean my pens daily I don’t add more over top I clean every poo
I rinse and refill waters twice a day and in the evening when I’m cleaning the pen I bring a third fresh water out that they enjoy while I clean
I get them fresh feed morning and late afternoon and wash the bowls out each evening so fresh start in morning
They are given treats such as spring mix greens daily in winter and then dry cat food , peas and fruit a few times a week not large amounts just treat size that they gobble up right away so nothing is ever left to go bad
Any tips or advice would be great
She is such a lovely girl and has such a great fight in her
I don’t care what the cost is we will keep going to the vets till my girl is back to normal
I’ll attach pics of her oil gland
 

Attachments

  • 4801A5F9-45CA-4A96-8398-8150C3FBBF15.jpeg
    4801A5F9-45CA-4A96-8398-8150C3FBBF15.jpeg
    387.7 KB · Views: 140
  • B6C93512-A0E7-43BF-B4AD-5ABA675487F8.jpeg
    B6C93512-A0E7-43BF-B4AD-5ABA675487F8.jpeg
    496.4 KB · Views: 35
  • 4414A916-D2C6-4B43-8963-7969ADDB08C7.jpeg
    4414A916-D2C6-4B43-8963-7969ADDB08C7.jpeg
    443.3 KB · Views: 32
Last edited:
I'm not sure if your vet will do it or can, but it is worth a shot asking if you can have your ducks Candida levels tested either by a blood test or they can get cultures from the preen gland. Candida can cause vent gleet issues and oil gland issues. Candida can also cause a gut imbalance that allows bad bacteria to take over.
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure if your vet will do it or can, but it is worth a shot asking if you can have your ducks Candida levels tested either by a blood test or they can get cultures from the preen gland. Candida can cause vent gleet issues and oil gland issues. Candida can also cause a guy imbalance that allows bad bacteria to take over.
Thank you
I will suggest this and ask if they have run that test yet
 
Just got done at the vets
She was able to pluck those feathers out and some had hard yellow crust at the ends
The oil gland itself wasn’t hot or red so she thinks just blocked and not infected
I asked her about the test and she is going to contact the avian vet to see if they have already ran that and if not would they like to
She is seeing dasher but taking all direction from the avian vet now
Still waiting on the other tests to see what those results are
For now I will massage and do damp ,warm compresses till I hear back
 
@HollowOfWisps
My avian vet called today and they are going to run that test
Do both bacterial and fungal testing of her urethra as that’s where the gleet is coming from
Her oil gland had a little crusty today but easy to move off and oil was coming out but she still feels rough to the touch and gets wet when she baths. They are also going to run another round of antibiotics for her intestine bacterial as her poo is still stinky
Her tests showed only a little bacteria not like before but they hope this round will clear it out
She will start meds after the next tests are taken
Thank you for the advice as I did ask her and she said yes that’s a great idea and should be the next step of testing
As something is going on beyond the intestine infection
 
@HollowOfWisps
My avian vet called today and they are going to run that test
Do both bacterial and fungal testing of her urethra as that’s where the gleet is coming from
Her oil gland had a little crusty today but easy to move off and oil was coming out but she still feels rough to the touch and gets wet when she baths. They are also going to run another round of antibiotics for her intestine bacterial as her poo is still stinky
Her tests showed only a little bacteria not like before but they hope this round will clear it out
She will start meds after the next tests are taken
Thank you for the advice as I did ask her and she said yes that’s a great idea and should be the next step of testing
As something is going on beyond the intestine infection
Hopefully you get some definite answers soon and she starts feeling better!❤️
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom