Rescue Duck deformed leg

Well once again I found myself looking at the chicks and ducklings at TSC. I have yet to purchase any animals from TSC, but I have ended up with 3 rescued birds. Ivan is the latest. The manager recognized me when I was asking her if she could make an exception to the 6 chick rule, because one of the chicks I rescued was a tiny bantam chick. She is lonely by herself, as she it too tiny to put in with my large chicks. Since we couldn’t get just one and I wasn’t about to buy 6, we turned to leave. Knowing that I don’t mind taking on sick chicks, she offered to give me a lame duck. Um…a duck? I have no idea what to do with a duck! I have no pond…no pen for a duck. I have chickens and guineas and large livestock. Where am I going to put a duck? My children all looked at me with big ‘Puss in boots’ eyes. Before I knew what was happening, I was rushing to the check out so I could get the duck in the warmth of the car.
I knew my husband wasn’t going to be happy with me bringing home yet another bird…but especially a duck! I was right. He frowned when he heard it chirp and thought it was another chick. He scowled when I told him it was a duck and mumbled “well I guess I get to build a duck enclosure.” He stopped what he was doing when I told him that the duck had nowhere else to go. He knew that there was something up. He walked over the box and looked in. There he was…quiet and looking up at the big guy. My husband took one look at his deformed leg and said “well he has a chance to be happy here.” He proceeded to pick up Ivan and in baby speak said “Nice to meet you, lil fella.”

Meet our homestead’s first duck, Ivan. I have no clue what kind of duck he is or how exactly to care for him, outside of non-medicated starter. I am not even sure he is a he.
What do we do with a duck that swims in circles and hops on one leg? We love him, of course!

Ivan on his monkey pillow.


Ivan hopping to my son.


Ivan right where he wants to be

Imma Okie said:

Well once again I found myself looking at the chicks and ducklings at TSC. I have yet to purchase any animals from TSC, but I have ended up with 3 rescued birds. Ivan is the latest. The manager recognized me when I was asking her if she could make an exception to the 6 chick rule, because one of the chicks I rescued was a tiny bantam chick. She is lonely by herself, as she it too tiny to put in with my large chicks. Since we couldn’t get just one and I wasn’t about to buy 6, we turned to leave. Knowing that I don’t mind taking on sick chicks, she offered to give me a lame duck. Um…a duck? I have no idea what to do with a duck! I have no pond…no pen for a duck. I have chickens and guineas and large livestock. Where am I going to put a duck? My children all looked at me with big ‘Puss in boots’ eyes. Before I knew what was happening, I was rushing to the check out so I could get the duck in the warmth of the car.
I knew my husband wasn’t going to be happy with me bringing home yet another bird…but especially a duck! I was right. He frowned when he heard it chirp and thought it was another chick. He scowled when I told him it was a duck and mumbled “well I guess I get to build a duck enclosure.” He stopped what he was doing when I told him that the duck had nowhere else to go. He knew that there was something up. He walked over the box and looked in. There he was…quiet and looking up at the big guy. My husband took one look at his deformed leg and said “well he has a chance to be happy here.” He proceeded to pick up Ivan and in baby speak said “Nice to meet you, lil fella.”

Meet our homestead’s first duck, Ivan. I have no clue what kind of duck he is or how exactly to care for him, outside of non-medicated starter. I am not even sure he is a he.
What do we do with a duck that swims in circles and hops on one leg? We love him, of course!

Ivan on his monkey pillow.


Ivan hopping to my son.


Ivan right where he wants to be

Click to expand...

Hi, and congrats on taking in Ivan, he is adorable, I believe he is a mallard, as far as sex you have to wait till a little older to know that one, girls quack real loud drakes kinda have a raspy voice, can you take a picture of Ivans leg so we can see it and maybe tell you what is the best approach for it. But for now I would give Ivan some kind of poultry vitamins, save a chick is one Poultry nutri drench is another this will help him get strong, and let him have swim time everyday with supervision, in shallow warm water which will help him use his leg. Hopefully he will grow out of what ever the problem is or heal rather. but he will fly so when he gets his big boy or girl feathers you may want to clip on wing to keep him home. I will get a link for you that give very good info on how to raise ducklings. All the best and please keep us updated on how Ivan is doing. Looks like he has all the love he needs.
http://feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKRaisingDucklings.html

Miss Lydia said:

Hi, and congrats on taking in Ivan, he is adorable, I believe he is a mallard, as far as sex you have to wait till a little older to know that one, girls quack real loud drakes kinda have a raspy voice, can you take a picture of Ivans leg so we can see it and maybe tell you what is the best approach for it. But for now I would give Ivan some kind of poultry vitamins, save a chick is one Poultry nutri drench is another this will help him get strong, and let him have swim time everyday with supervision, in shallow warm water which will help him use his leg. Hopefully he will grow out of what ever the problem is or heal rather. but he will fly so when he gets his big boy or girl feathers you may want to clip on wing to keep him home. I will get a link for you that give very good info on how to raise ducklings. All the best and please keep us updated on how Ivan is doing. Looks like he has all the love he needs.
http://feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKRaisingDucklings.html

Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the advice, and the link as well! I have kickin' chicken as well as Durvet water soluble vitamins. I will check to see if those are safe for ducks.
He didn't want his picture taken, but here are a couple of shots of his foot. The deformed leg joint is a bit more bulbous and the leg turns out a bit. Also, it seems that half of his foot is missing. That is to say that he seems to be short a toe.
1st pic: right leg and foot

Actually I am shocked at how clean my son's hands are after playing outside all day! LOL


Notice how the right leg turns out a bit, as well as the missing toe.

does this remind you of Ivan? and as far as his leg and foot maybe a deformity of some kind, sounds like he is getting around good, but still could heal and be fine.

actually its a rouen,he has 2 eye stripes.

country_girl011 said:

actually its a rouen,he has 2 eye stripes.

Click to expand...

Thank you country_girl 011 after looking at that video i was thinking the same thing, boy is he tiny for a rouen.

Miss Lydia said:

does this remind you of Ivan? and as far as his leg and foot maybe a deformity of some kind, sounds like he is getting around good, but still could heal and be fine.

Click to expand...

So cute! @ the video
He does hop around pretty well. It doesn't seem to bother him much.

country_girl011 said:

actually its a rouen,he has 2 eye stripes.

Click to expand...

Thank you. I will look up rouens.

Well, I say that he hops around fairly well, but only for a few feet at a time. He definitely is a special needs duck.

Awww, he's cute! He might improve with the vitamin treatment, but I also wonder if there's a way to correct the joint problem? We have a feral duck at our lake who is missing half his foot (actually most of his foot) and he does just fine living out in the wild for several years now. Many of the more "normal" domestic drop-offs have died, but he lives on.

Good on you for taking the little one, So many others wouldnt have- and without proper care and extra attention he wouldnt survive long.

If the joint is [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]" a bit more bulbous" it could mean that the leg is dislocated or the tendon has slipped. I have cared for a few ducklings that have hatched this way. In older chicks or ducklings that tendon slipping can be a sign of a vitamin deficiency- but in this little fellows case I would think it happened while still in the egg. It is likely that the bones are already too deformed in the joint for it to be fixed. [/FONT]

Disabled ducks can live a fairly normal life at times- but others will need more intensive care. At the moment I have Ollie. He has both the joints effected and has never been able to walk. He is soon to have his second birthday. There is other things wrong with him- he hasnt quite made it all the way through molting to his adult set of feathers yet. Usually they do this by 18 weeks. I have also cared for ducks that have only had one leg effected- but they dont normally fair as well as Ollie has. The constant hoping can put a strain on their heart.

The unused foot will most likely wither up a bit as the muscles dont get used much and will atrophy in time. Keep an eye on the toenails- as they can curl under too and try and poke back through the foot if allowed to get to long.

As the baby gets bigger it may not be able to preen properly so you may have to assist with cleaning his face so his eyes dont get irritated. You may also have to do some experimentation with bedding, Ollie lives inside in a childs playpen on towels as he cant be on shavings or hay. He loves swimming though and scoots himself around when he is outside on the grass.

I dont mean to scare you with some of what I wrote- caring for a disabled duck is very rewarding, but I hope some of this helps.