The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: HesterF on August 01, 2014, 10:11:11 pm
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Maybe not the best place to ask - I assume sheep keepers may be better on dealing with fly strike but I might as well start here! I've a young drake that has hurt his hip. I had him in the vets on Tuesday and he has anti-inflammatories, antibiotics (it felt hot) and is on a regime of rest - not that he's up to much else. The vet suspected it might be broken but that's a different story, fingers crossed he's wrong because we're not going down an Xray route. Anyhow, he's sitting around not doing a lot but still pooing and I noticed today he was twitching/looking uncomfortable. Having been on a sheep keeping course and realising our kitchen (where he's been) is full of flies, I realised what might be going on. Checked & sure enough maggots crawling around his vent area.
So I've given him a bath - that perked him up a bit - and done my best to clean him up. I've then trimmed the feathers away as best I can - fortunately I can't see much skin damage. I've sprayed the skin with the purple spray and I've put Advocate (use for cats against worms and fleas) on his neck because that was about the only thing I had to hand that I thought might kill the maggots. Will that work or should I get a spray tomorrow to spray the area which will kill the maggots direct? Anything else I can do? He's on clean bedding and I'll try to keep him clean but obviously that's quite a tall order with a duck!
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One of the tips I was given on here for flystrike in very young lambs (too young for crovect & co) was to rinse the area with a Savlon dilution to get rid of maggots. Didn't use it myself but that's maybe something that could be suitable for a duck too?
I used Barrier Blowfly to clean up my lambs, worked very well, and as it's herbal probably suitable for other animals too? I also started using it as an effective repellent after the strike case, maybe somethimg to consider if your duck has to stay confined for a while?
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Be very careful about using medication aimed at a particular species on something from a different species. They can have a radically different effect. An example was a neighbour here who accidentally used a sheep wormer with combined flukicide on his sheep dog, which died immediately. The wormer itself was ok, but not the flukicide.
I would check him every day, check thoroughly for any more maggots and eggs and remove them, spray him with something to overcome the poo-ey smell which attracts the flies, such as Citronella, and keep him as immaculate in the vent area as you can. It's best to find eggs before they hatch, and destroy them, as they don't do any harm at that stage. Your aim is to prevent them hatching.
Can you also keep flies out of the area around him?
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They make a fly repellent for rabbits to help prevent strike ...... not sure about its safety for use on ducks but it maybe possible to find out on the net.
Could you cover his cage with net curtain .... mosquito net fashion?
Poor thing ..... :fc: that he makes it.
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I've just been down to the vets and been given an antiseptic spray which I assume is the same as the purple spray without the colour. I found a few more maggots so we've squished them but absolutely no idea how I'd spot eggs on him - even after removing feathers, there's a lot of 'stuff' going on with a duck! Anyhow, he's outside by day now which should help with the flies and after all the antiseptic spray I don't imagine he smells all that attractive to them (and I smell awful!). I don't think he will make it but more on the basis his hip is showing absolutely no improvement after five days of rest of medication - I'll do my best on the fly-strike because I can't imagine a more horrendous thing and because it's good practise (we have rabbits now too). He's got another couple of days to stage a miraculous recovery.
Now off to deal with red mite in the hen house - so much fun to be had!
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I'm pretty sure that now he's been advocated he can't ever been eaten.
Your vet should be able to confirm that
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I imagine there is a meat withdrawal period but he's on that anyway from the meds (although the vet told me not to eat the eggs - from a two month old drake!). At this moment it's highly unlikely he'll ever get big enough to eat but I'll check if the need arises. Thanks!