Muscovy with facial swelling, lethargy and death over 24 hours

Hey everyone, I've only posted once before, and I received some great advice about my muscovy ducks, so I'm asking for help again. Yesterday morning I noticed some mild facial swelling in one of my muscovy hens, about 9 months old, but she was still eating, drinking, moving around with th3 flock. Last night she became lethargic, the swelling was much worse, face the size of a baseball, I kept her in a dry safe place, offered water and watched but she passed away in the night. Funny thing is about 3 days ago, I had a turken (naked neck chicken) who died while I was at work during the day. She did not appear to have any symptoms that I know of. They are kept in two separate places, never have been near one another at all. Could it be snake bites? We have copperhead and cotton mouths here. I'm at a loss

What about either wasp or spider bite? (I don't have venomous snakes here.)

We have both copperhead and venomous spiders. A copperhead bite wouldn't have taken that long, especially on the neck and head. That's what we think killed our lamb, who, in a matter of just a few hours went from perfectly fine, playing with the other 4 leggers, to rigor mortis. So, I'm sure that would have killed a bigger critter in a couple hours, and a bird, possibly in less than an hour. You'd see a bite on bare skin, or sparse feathers, but unless it hit an artery or vein, probably not under denser feathers. The lamb's fleece was very dense, so we couldn't find any marks, but have no other explanation...

But a spider bite, wasp, or hornet sting? That you might not see, at all - until it starts to swell and get red. A spider bite takes longer, and the pattern of both wound and muscovy fits a spider bite. I'm not sure a who or hornet sting would be deadly, unless it hit a nerve, in the neck or too close to the brain, but I'm not sure it can be 100% ruled out, either. As far as the turken, if there was no time-frame or visible swelling or bite, that's harder to know, and I'd hate to hazard a guess.

Wasps or hornets could definitely be an option. Maybe  a spider. I've never seen a spiders in their area but I also don't go looking either. Thanks for the suggestions though, I will do a good inspection of both areas

Don't forget that eating things that sting will also have swelling in head/ neck.

Welcome Rachel, sorry to hear about your second bird.
Not sure where you are, but a scorpion might also be a possibility- went to eat it and missed the mark, got a sting in the face.
A friend lost a horse to a snakebite, it definitely happens as well. A bird wouldn't have much of a chance, I don't think.

Tereza Okava wrote:Welcome Rachel, sorry to hear about your second bird.
Not sure where you are, but a scorpion might also be a possibility- went to eat it and missed the mark, got a sting in the face.
A friend lost a horse to a snakebite, it definitely happens as well. A bird wouldn't have much of a chance, I don't think.

That would be a viable option here, too. Got stung by one myself, just last week.