a mink attacked my ducks

[chickenlady2004]

last night, around 5am, i heard some quite noises coming from my ducks, which is weird at this hour. I decided to go check and found my one female duck with a mink on top of her. i ran over and grabbed the closest thing i could see and hit the mink with it. it ran under my deck, and i went to check on my female duck. when i went to corner the mink he had disappeared back into the woods. he tried dragging the duck into the pond, i dove in and pulled her out, hitting him in the process but probably didn’t do much damage.

anyhow, my female duck is badly injured around the neck/head area. i wish i could have gotten out sooner to check. something felt off, and i couldn’t tell why. i was wondering if anyone could help me or give me tips on what i should do with her. she was inside all morning but looked like she had energy to be re introduced to the other ducks. i let her out and she’s been sitting alone but she follows them when they move. she seems tired and maybe a little sad? i’m not sure what to do, she won’t eat and i haven’t seen her drink. ill
insert photos to help show what i mean !

GRAPHIC PHOTOS OF INJURY !!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

How bad are her wounds? I think she'd be best staying inside so you can monitor her eating and drinking. More than likely she is in shock so another reason to keep her in. She won't eat or drink while in shock. Clean the wounds real good you can make up a saline rinse which can help. Then either spray Veterycin for wounds and infections. Or an antibiotic like Neosporin or triple antibiotic keep her where flies can't get to the wound or you'll have maggots and you def don't want that. Can you get some real good pictures of her wounds? also were your ducks locked up when this happened? if not trust me that mink will be back. All poultry need safe secure housing, especially at night. Is it possible to get her to a vet she may need to be on an antibiotic to prevent infection.

 

[chickenlady2004]

How bad are her wounds? I think she'd be best staying inside so you can monitor her eating and drinking. More than likely she is in shock so another reason to keep her in. She won't eat or drink while in shock. Clean the wounds real good you can make up a saline rinse which can help. Then either spray Veterycin for wounds and infections. Or an antibiotic like Neosporin or triple antibiotic keep her where flies can't get to the wound or you'll have maggots and you def don't want that. Can you get some real good pictures of her wounds? also were your ducks locked up when this happened? if not trust me that mink will be back. All poultry need safe secure housing, especially at night. Is it possible to get her to a vet she may need to be on an antibiotic to prevent

i have many animals and they are always always locked up with high grade cameras and motion detectors around each enclosure, as well as motion sensors lights.

but recently, the ducks i have, haven’t been locked up that well. this spring when my ducks got they’re adults feathers they all left! i looked for weeks for them and no trace. i assumed they had all taken off somewhere. we took down their enclosure as it wasn’t in use and used the material to make a larger goat pen. a couple days ago they came back with babies ! they didn’t seem to leave and have slept here since. i decided to take their old house (which is meant to fit 3 ducks not 13 lol) and out it outside by my window with four motion lights attached to it as well as a radio. my step dad won’t be back to built a new enclosure and i’m not sure how to. i ordered two ducks houses and they should be here tomorrow or the next day. i’m constantly worried about them outside as they have little protection but it was the best i could do by myself ! anyways, my moms work bunkie isn’t in use right now so i’m going to make it up in there for them (it’s heavily safe, i’ll attach pics) and im going to sleep in there with them tonight to watch them.


as for her wounds i have no good pics! i will get some when we change her bandages. we cleaned her wounds with some anti infection spray my mum made (she’s a naturopathic doctor so it should help we hope) and some actual disinfectant. and then wrapped it and i spoon fed her some water with electrolytes for a little bit.

thanks so much for responding this is my first mink attack and it was very scary for me.

 

[chickenlady2004]

How bad are her wounds? I think she'd be best staying inside so you can monitor her eating and drinking. More than likely she is in shock so another reason to keep her in. She won't eat or drink while in shock. Clean the wounds real good you can make up a saline rinse which can help. Then either spray Veterycin for wounds and infections. Or an antibiotic like Neosporin or triple antibiotic keep her where flies can't get to the wound or you'll have maggots and you def don't want that. Can you get some real good pictures of her wounds? also were your ducks locked up when this happened? if not trust me that mink will be back. All poultry need safe secure housing, especially at night. Is it possible to get her to a vet she may need to be on an antibiotic to prevent infection.

also about the vet, they’re about 5 hours away from me (i live in rural newfoundland) and it’s about 200 dollers to even get them to come out if she needs it we will 100% call a vet as she’s a very special girl and means a lot to us. it would just be sort of annoying to do so.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That’s great your mom has the experience to deal with wounds. I sure hope she makes a full recovery. Bless you for caring so much that you’re going to sleep with them to make sure they are safe. Keep us updated and if you can get pics later that will be good. Minks are nasty predators so infection is going to have to be watched for in the coming days. It’s a miracle you weren’t bitten.

 

[chickenlady2004]

That’s great your mom has the experience to deal with wounds. I sure hope she makes a full recovery. Bless you for caring so much that you’re going to sleep with them to make sure they are safe. Keep us updated and if you can get pics later that will be good. Minks are nasty predators so infection is going to have to be watched for in the coming days. It’s a miracle you weren’t bitten.

yes i definitely shouldn’t have tried grabbing it with no gloves on, i think my farm mama instincts kicked in i was wondering what you would recommend as a disinfectant? i’ve heard vetericyn but i don’t have time to order it for her and there’s no places around with it. is there something i can get at a drug store? thanks so much for your help i appreciate it !

 

[Miss Lydia]

You could get an antibiotic ointment that should be available. Here we can get Neosporin with out pain or Triple antibiotic

 

[Miss Lydia]

A friend makes this for her flock and she said it’s the same as Veterycin
https://knowledgeweighsnothing.com/how-to-make-an-antiseptic-solution-from-bleach/

 

[chickenlady2004]

A friend makes this for her flock and she said it’s the same as Veterycin
https://knowledgeweighsnothing.com/how-to-make-an-antiseptic-solution-from-bleach/

okay thank you! just re applied some of the disinfectant we made hoping to go somewhere tomorrow and get some. i didn’t want to leave today after the attack (the mink came back around 1:30pm today) i was shocked to see it during the day time.

unfortunately the girls didn’t want to go inside tonight, i slightly chased them around trying to herd them in but i’m assuming they’re traumatized and don’t want to go inside for some reason. i pitched a tent next to them and put the sick duck inside it with me. hopefully then if it comes back im close to them.

 

[Miss Lydia]

How is she this morning? And you did the mink come back after dark?