Animal bite (rat possibly?) on duckling’s neck, HELP!

[finneasW]

Another duck post.. they just keep getting into trouble. anyways, I have a duckling that’s just almost 4 weeks old, today i left their door open for a little too long and I believe an animal went into their area to seek warmth (it was snowing a bit.) A duckling that had just hatched that day got killed and the 4 week old baby got 2 puncture wounds on her neck. There’s three other girls in there, 2 are about 2 months old so pretty big, and the mama is almost a year old. When I realized, she was walking around fine, talking fine, and acting normal. She was just very skittish. I immediately got everything from the store and started spraying and applying medicines and anti infection stuff to it. I wrapped it with gauze and secured it. She seems to be getting weaker and won’t drink. I put vitamins in her water so she’d get stronger but she isn’t showing any interest. She sort of eats, but only out of my hand and only VERY little. Like, 5 pellets. I’m so worried for this little girl and I need some advice on if she’ll pull through or what to do if it’s too late.. I cant afford a vet so I’m doing everything in my power to give her the right treatment. Here’s a photo of her neck injury. (There’s two puncture wounds but the bandage is slipping and only covering one. Here’s the one it isn’t covering)

 

[azygous]

The problem with a super closeup photo is that it lacks context (where it is in relation to the overall body and scale to let us know how large it is. The photo above would be okay if you were to include a similar photo showing the entire duckling with the same view of the wound. We would then have context and scale.

That said, it may be too late for this little guy. A puncture wound by its very nature, injects bacteria deep into the tissues causing an immediate infection to take old. It can kill in as little as twelve to 24 hours without antibiotic treatment at the outset. You can try an antibiotic, but I'm doubtful it will do any good at this point.

If you live in the US call Tractor Supply and ask for tetracycline or amoxicillin.

 

[finneasW]

The problem with a super closeup photo is that it lacks context (where it is in relation to the overall body and scale to let us know how large it is. The photo above would be okay if you were to include a similar photo showing the entire duckling with the same view of the wound. We would then have context and scale.

That said, it may be too late for this little guy. A puncture wound by its very nature, injects bacteria deep into the tissues causing an immediate infection to take old. It can kill in as little as twelve to 24 hours without antibiotic treatment at the outset. You can try an antibiotic, but I'm doubtful it will do any good at this point.

If you live in the US call Tractor Supply and ask for tetracycline or amoxicillin.

Thank you for the reply and concern, shes starting to scab and eating and drinking normally. We have hope that she's gonna be okay, as she's acting completely normal

 

[finneasW]

Thank you for the reply and concern, shes starting to scab and eating and drinking normally. We have hope that she's gonna be okay, as she's acting completely normal

photo update! it’s getting so much better!

 

[azygous]

The wound looks well cared for and healing nicely. Time will tell if there is deep infection from the puncture wounds. I would say this duckling is currently showing all signs of being on the mend. It would still be wise to give a round of antibiotic to play it safe.