PLEASE HELP ME

Hi, I found a duck on my way home tonight from work. He was on the side of the road and he can't use his legs to walk upright. He just kind of uses them to crawl forward. No animal rehabilitaters are open at this time of night and the emergency vet won't work on wildlife in my area. I've got him set up in my large dog crate on a towel with a bunch of grass, and I bought some cracked corn for him. I'm just not sure what to do with him, and I'm afraid my areas rehabbers might put him down because I heard they're really overcrowded right now. He's a super feisty guy, but he hasn't eaten or drank any water yet. Any advice would be appreciated!

What ya need help with

I'm just looking for advice on what I should do with this duck. I want to fix him

I'm not sure ... did he get hit by a car?

I'm just assuming he did.. he was by the road when I found him. I'm pretty sure he was in shock, he let me pick him right up. But now he's being super feisty, he tries to bite my hand whenever I get near him

give him a good look over, he really wont like being handled but look for strange looking spots or places that feel hot. Ducks are really stream lined so anything that looks lumpy or what ever could be injuries. Neither of you will like doing this. try not to get flogged or scratched.

Rod-T said:

I'm not sure ... did he get hit by a car?

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I'm pretty sure he did, he was by the road when I found him. I'm pretty sure he was in shock when I picked him up because he just let me. Now he tries to attack me whenever I get near him, so I think that's a good sign

Update: I went in there again and picked him right up this time. I didn't feel any weird lumps or hot spots or anything. But he's definitely not as feisty as he was a couple hours ago..

this my me a difficult experience, but I'm happy you are trying to help the duck. It seems you have already looked him over, but if you suspect being hit by a car I'd be worried about internal injuries and broken limbs... I'm surprised he wasn't killed immediately if that is the case. Could be animal attack? Is he still not using his legs? I'd really check those out if you can handle him gently to see if the legs are bent. If you find any sores, scratches, or wounds I'd put a small amount of neosporin on it.

Since there probably isn't much you can do immediately on your own, I'd at the least try getting him through the night. Keeping him warm and calm in a comfy, safe environment with access to water and food. I'd try providing a few different foods. I'd even go try flipping a rock outside and see if I could find a few worms as that's what he'd likely encounter as a young wild duckling. Then I'd try leaving him alone for 20 or 30 minutes to give him a chance to pick at the food and water. Other than that, I'm not sure what else to do other than hope he makes it through the night until you can call a wild animal vet in the morning.

I've done similar attempts at rescuing young wildlife, once on a baby squirrel fallen from a tree and another on a baby rabbit my cat attacked and "gifted" to me, and unfortunately both did not make it through the night :/ I hope for the both of you that this situation turns out better. Best of luck, and please let us know how he is doing in the morning

You should also consider trying to find similar stories on this website or else where to get an idea of what others attempted to do for found wildlife