What happened to my muscovy eyes?

[ruthhope]

Daffy my muscovy drake is 16 months old and just coming to the end of a big molt. This morning my boy's eyes were normal but by late afternoon from a distance, he seemed to have whites coming in from the side. Once he was in the coop, I got a better look and got some photos on my phone. Any ideas on what has caused this? How do I get it to resolve? Might it be swelling of the nictitating membrane? It looks foamy. Is it indicative of infection?

Backstory: Daffy lives with 3 pekin drakes and another muscovy drake that is the same age. All the drakes are rescued. There is some rivalry between the two mucovy drakes for boss duck position, but while Daffy has been molting all the drakes-- including the three pekins have been picking on him. It's running him off from the food or just from wherever he is sitting. No fighting. I have been placing Daffy high in the coop at night with his own food and water, where the meanie drakes cannot get him. He comes to me to lift him up in the evening and turns round so I can lift him down in the morning. During the day he just moves on if he finds himself where the meanie drakes want to be. Daffy is not aggressive and has always avoided fighting. Today has been markedly colder than usual [its NE FLorida so that means 65F not freezing] and is very windy as Hurricane Nicole is forming off in the Atlantic. There has been some rain but I don't think there has been any salt spray yet. The other 4 drakes have no problems with their eyes

 

[ruthhope]

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Ok I just found "foamy eye" on BYC and now know it is a common issue in muscovy drakes in the winter.

The water that is available to Daffy over night is in a plastic bowl attached to the wall of the coop. He could dunk his head in it if he wanted to when it is full, but he always drinks it all by morning.

Tomorrow, I am going to put Daffy in a dogcrate with his own deep tub of water. He may not have been able to get much time in the wading pool today partly because of being chased away by meanine ducks and partly because of the weather -- all the ducks have remained close to the coop rather than go out foraging and swimming today.

He's a sweet boy and needs help!!! But I can't bring him into the house as I currently have a rambunctious puppy in the dogcrate in the house

The approaching Hurricane Nicole isn't helping: the weather here is attrocious. I had planned on keeping the ducks safe in the coop tomorrow, so I will just have to get in there with them and swap out Daffy from high in the coop to down in the dog crate. The Pekins will have to take their chances with the meanie muscovy when I swap him out of the dog crate.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@ruthhope put some ACV into his bowl for head washing 1 Tab to a gal of water it really helps to clear it up and it won't sting at that dose.

 

[ruthhope]

@ruthhope put some ACV into his bowl for head washing 1 Tab to a gal of water it really helps to clear it up and it won't sting at that dose.

I'll do that, @MissLydia.

The storm is bad. But the coop is on the sheltered side of the house. So I'll just have to put my big girl pants on and get out there. It's only going to get worse over the next 8 hours.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'm so sorry ya'll are going through this again. I hope there isn't much damage this time.
Being born and raised in Florida I can sure sympathize with what your going through. Stay safe.

 

[ruthhope]

I'm so sorry ya'll are going through this again. I hope there isn't much damage this time.
Being born and raised in Florida I can sure sympathize with what your going through. Stay safe.

Daffy's eyes were fine yesterday morning: he must have cleaned them up in his little pot of water, over night. I gave him a deep tub of water mixed with apple cider vinegar. Last night he had his own deep tub with apple cider vinegar and he managed to not knock it over, so I will continue to give him his own deep pot of water and APC while he is molting and out of sorts.

We, personally, had no problems from the hurricane, although nearby roads were flooded , the water didn't get into any houses. The community had 4 tall prominent oak trees come down in the storm. All were weakened by Hurricane Ian and Nicole was the final straw. We may be storm weary, but we are thankful the outcome wasnt worse

 

[Miss Lydia]

Scary when those trees start coming down. Relieved to hear ya'll made it through.

Great to hear his eyes cleared up hopefully they will continue to be fine now.