What is wrong here?

[MinniesMomma]

What is going on with Walter's neck? She is approximately one year old, I have six females and one male, ducks and muscovies. Is he pulling her feathers out, or has she been injured? These are not the best pictures I know, but it is as close as I could get. The ducks are very difficult to get a hold of, but if I need to I can try to get her with a net...
Thank you for your help!

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Ouch. It looks to me like - as you suggested - the drake may be pulling out her neck feathers (and ones on her head, too) while mating. She'll need a break from him so her neck can heal, and using a wound healing like Vetericyn can help the process. The area's just raw/crusty but not oozing/weeping, right?

Forgot to add that Walter is a lovely girl!

 

[azygous]

I normally do not get involved in duck threads, but tissue injuries are the same in all poultry regardless of species, as they are in humans regardless of race.

It looks a bit like pus at the lower part of the neck. It's really difficult to judge because the photo isn't well focused and zooming in makes it much worse instead of helping.

I won't insist on traumatizing the bird by tossing a net over her, but maybe you can describe anything that looks like broken skin or pus buildup or otherwise raw, inflamed tissue.

Just how such an injury might have occurred is anyone's guess. Mating could do it. I'm treating a hen right now that was scalped by a rooster during mating attempts. It's what can happen when the female simply refuses to cooperate and the male insists on doing his thing regardless.

Or it's possible the duck got hung up in ragged fencing, or even suffered a hawk attack or from some other predator. You would be the one to assess the likelihood of any one of these.

 

[yickenscarf23]

Wash it & buy some blue kote and put it in there. It comes in a yellow can can with a blue lid I think. Tractor supply should have it. It's really cheap and I use it on all my animals if they get a skin injury. My vet told me he prefers that to anything else

 

[MinniesMomma]

Ouch. It looks to me like - as you suggested - the drake may be pulling out her neck feathers (and ones on her head, too) while mating. She'll need a break from him so her neck can heal, and using a wound healing like Vetericyn can help the process. The area's just raw/crusty but not oozing/weeping, right?

Forgot to add that Walter is a lovely girl!

Thank you for the information! She is a very sweet girl, just none of my ducks like being handled but for her good I will try to catch her.

 

[MinniesMomma]

I normally do not get involved in duck threads, but tissue injuries are the same in all poultry regardless of species, as they are in humans regardless of race.

It looks a bit like pus at the lower part of the neck. It's really difficult to judge because the photo isn't well focused and zooming in makes it much worse instead of helping.

I won't insist on traumatizing the bird by tossing a net over her, but maybe you can describe anything that looks like broken skin or pus buildup or otherwise raw, inflamed tissue.

Just how such an injury might have occurred is anyone's guess. Mating could do it. I'm treating a hen right now that was scalped by a rooster during mating attempts. It's what can happen when the female simply refuses to cooperate and the male insists on doing his thing regardless.

Or it's possible the duck got hung up in ragged fencing, or even suffered a hawk attack or from some other predator. You would be the one to assess the likelihood of any one of these.

She does come into the chicken coop frequently during the day for food, so I ought to be able to at least get her cornered in there and then into a crate for a short time. Hopefully everything is okay. My eyes are not great themselves so I cannot tell if there is any pus. But I will get a closer look at her today. I appreciate your help!

 

[MinniesMomma]

Wash it & buy some blue kote and put it in there. It comes in a yellow can can with a blue lid I think. Tractor supply should have it. It's really cheap and I use it on all my animals if they get a skin injury. My vet told me he prefers that to anything else

I do have some blue coat so as soon as I can catch her I will get some on there!