6wk old duck injured, can't support weight on 1 leg...Help, pls!!!

[cjeanean]

Both of my boys have the chore of cleaning out the duck brooders once a day, and I just now discovered that they were playing "firewood bombs away" by sliding the brooders down a set of 5 steps while I am at work. Yesterday my son took one of the ducks out and let her walk- or rather fall -down the steps by herself (against my EXPRESS instructions) and now she cannot support her weight on one leg. I don't know if she was hurt during the sliding thing or when she went down the steps. This is exactly what's going on:

I put her in the bathtub with some water, and discovered that her left leg is the problem. When she went to scratch at her head she was able to scratch a few times and then it was like her foot/leg froze up, unlike her right foot which went the usual 100mph. She was also swimming in circles. When she is NOT in water she has to use her head against the floor to move around, and her tail is jack-knifed to the right for balance.

I don't know what to do. It doesn't appear to be broken, but there is something going on. I don't know if it will heal, but if it does my concern is that her muscles will freeze like that and she will never go back to normal. She can still eat and drink.

Can anyone give me some advice? My niece is VERY torn up about this and I don't want to have to put the duck down. I'm running to the feed store to get more feed, so I will be back on just not for about 30-45min. Please post any suggestions, and any additional info you all might need I'll post when I get back!! Thanks so much!

 

[cjeanean]

BTW, I don't know when this injury happened. It could have been either yesterday or Monday, because apparently hubby has no clue and I wasn't home....

 

[clhbubba]

Last year when I went to buy some ducklings, there were 2 that couldn't walk on one of their legs...so of course I bought them. I just isolated them in a dog crate and put their food and water close. Within 2 weeks they were able to walk on both legs. We have also had an occasional duck get stepped on by the horse. Again we just isolated them for 2-3 weeks and before we knew it they were good as new. I believe(and I'm certainly no expert), that as long as there is no bone protruding, and they are given the opportunity they will usually heal. Isolation and minimizing movement is the key. We never used splints, they just distressed the ducklings more so than doing any good.

 

[cjeanean]

Okay, cause from what I can tell there are no breaks, and she can move the leg to an extent it's just the supporting her weight and the grooming in the tub that seem to be bothering her. She doesn't like it that she can't stand up, her food and water are close and she's in a big rubbermaid container/brooder with her sister. She's pretty DARN LOUD, which sucks, but for the most part it doesn't seem like she's in pain or anything. Thanks for the reply, I think I'll just let her chill and see how it goes....The thought of keeping these darn things in the house for 2-3 more weeks is horrifying, though....