Anyone successfully healed a broken leg on a duck?

[Miss Lydia]

Best to get her to a vet ASAP.

 

[Luv Ducks]

After hearing your spouse does not really want to put that much money out and you already have too many ducks, I would at least do what I could with wrapping it and splinting it myself and see where it goes from there. I wouldn't just give up and put it under. That's just me though and I totally get not having the money to spend on a duck because vets are not cheap and where I am we don't even have access to one. Good luck with your decision. It will be a learning experience in case something happens to one that you just can't part with. A baby aspirin might help for the pain it might be in. If we put people under for pain I would have been gone a long time ago, lol.

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree that I would try to help the duck myself at home with splinting. I would keep her inside a crate or pen with food and water for some time to limit her activity. It can take 3-5 weeks for a bone to heal.

 

[MGG]

Yeah I don't know that I'd just call her, but just know her chances aren't great. You could use a sling, I did that when a duck I had had a bad slipped tendon. I did countless splinting attempts and even took him to the vet twice, when ultimately a friend and I just amputated it which worked for a while, until he hurt his other leg trying to over-conpensate and I had to put him down anyway.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I have a small quarantine cage that I use for sick chickens. It's 24 x 18 in. I will try to splint it and see how it goes. Right now I have her inside a puppy pen in my sunroom with 3 young ducklings but I can't keep her there overnight.

 

[TJAnonymous]

My attempt at the splint. I cut a popsicle stick in half and wrapped it with vet wrap to give it some padding. We placed them on either side of her tarsometatarsus, wrapped medical tape to hold them in place, and then wrapped the whole leg with vet wrap.

I gave her some Metronidazole and some aspirin for pain. I only had adult aspirin (325 mg) so I cut it into four pieces and gave her one of those. It's the closest I could get to 81 mg.

 

[Eggcessive]

Let us know know how she is doing.

 

[Luv Ducks]

My attempt at the splint. I cut a popsicle stick in half and wrapped it with vet wrap to give it some padding. We placed them on either side of her tarsometatarsus, wrapped medical tape to hold them in place, and then wrapped the whole leg with vet wrap.

I gave her some Metronidazole and some aspirin for pain. I only had adult aspirin (325 mg) so I cut it into four pieces and gave her one of those. It's the closest I could get to 81 mg.

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So happy to see this. At least you will know if something like this will work if it should ever happen again in the future.

 

[HippieChickRN]

I do have non-stick gauze pads. Is that the same thing? I also have popcicle sticks and vet wrap. As for antibiotics, I have Metronidazole and maybe some Amoxicillin. I can't take off work tomorrow so I'll have to have my daughter take her to the vet for me.

I couldn't get good pictures because there's no one to help me and she won't hold still. It's broken in the middle of the tarsometatarsus. It looks like the bone came through the skin on the inside of the leg although it is scabbed over right now. She still has blood on her belly feathers from the break. View attachment 3571570View attachment 3571571

 

[HippieChickRN]

I would recommend cutting a paper towel down to the size you need and wetting it. I learned that from the ER when I sliced my finger and couldn't get it to stop bleeding. You could also apply a little Vaseline on the towel to keep it from sticking to the injury once the towel dries. If a duck is like a chicken maybe you can have someone hold it on its side while you apply the bandage...our chickens become very still when the kids cradle them like babies.