Anyone successfully healed a broken leg on a duck?

[HippieChickRN]

Sorry that i didnt see the whole thread. I see you did splint it! Looks like you did a fine job! We also placed out rooster in a small dog crate for a few days to prevent him from using his leg too much and also a baby aspirin. Good luck! I hope she makes a full recovery!

 

[TJAnonymous]

Just a quick update...

Bubbles is NOT a gracious patient. She hisses whenever anyone walks into the room. She also tries to bite any time you reach into the cage. Ungrateful hussy...

However, she IS eating again so that's a good sign. Still not really putting any weight on her leg if she can avoid it. I might see if the vet will xray it on Friday just so I can see how well it's healing.

I let her take a bath in my bathtub last weekend. She was SO HAPPY but made a righteous mess. I clean her cage every single day but Good Lord she is filthy. Smh...

 

[Luv Ducks]

Just a quick update...

Bubbles is NOT a gracious patient. She hisses whenever anyone walks into the room. She also tries to bite any time you reach into the cage. Ungrateful hussy...

However, she IS eating again so that's a good sign. Still not really putting any weight on her leg if she can avoid it. I might see if the vet will xray it on Friday just so I can see how well it's healing.

I let her take a bath in my bathtub last weekend. She was SO HAPPY but made a righteous mess. I clean her cage every single day but Good Lord she is filthy. Smh...

Whenever I have 2 ducklings in the house I have to change the puppy pads in the large tote 6 times a day so there is no smell. Luckily I can get 150 of them from our Warehouse club for 20 dollars and something. Otherwise I would be buying Stock in them, lol. So happy to hear she is eating again and unfortunately what goes in has got to come out, lol.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Whenever I have 2 ducklings in the house I have to change the puppy pads in the large tote 6 times a day so there is no smell. Luckily I can get 150 of them from our Warehouse club for 20 dollars and something. Otherwise I would be buying Stock in them, lol. So happy to hear she is eating again and unfortunately what goes in has got to come out, lol.

Yeah, I change the puppy pad every single day but I also spray out & wash the bottom of the cage since poop inevitability gets under the puppy pad or sticks to the side. Then she ends up sitting in it because the cage is only 18" x 24". I have a larger cage but I've been hesitant to use it because I wanted to limit her moving around. If the vet does an x-ray and her leg is healing well then I might move her to the bigger cage. Until then it's just daily cleaning along with a bath every few days.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Yeah, I change the puppy pad every single day but I also spray out & wash the bottom of the cage since poop inevitability gets under the puppy pad or sticks to the side. Then she ends up sitting in it because the cage is only 18" x 24". I have a larger cage but I've been hesitant to use it because I wanted to limit her moving around. If the vet does an x-ray and her leg is healing well then I might move her to the bigger cage. Until then it's just daily cleaning along with a bath every few days.

I hope that she does well. It sounds like you have a really good setup for her. They surely are messy. That is why a lot of people send them down the road but we have to take the bad with the good when it comes to ducks. I hope she recovers well.

 

[TJAnonymous]

It's been over 3 weeks since I discovered her broken leg. Appointment is tomorrow to get an x-ray and see how well she is healing. She still isn't standing on it really... She's also molting, go figure.

 

[Luv Ducks]

It's been over 3 weeks since I discovered her broken leg. Appointment is tomorrow to get an x-ray and see how well she is healing. She still isn't standing on it really... She's also molting, go figure.

I pray that the x-ray shows that it is healing well.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Good news! The vet said that the bone was perfectly aligned and healing well!


She still has another 3 - 4 weeks with my homemade splint on before we can even think about taking it off. However she is putting a little bit of weight on it which is a good sign. Vet said I can go ahead and move her into the bigger cage so she has a little more room to walk around.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Good news! The vet said that the bone was perfectly aligned and healing well!


She still has another 3 - 4 weeks with my homemade splint on before we can even think about taking it off. However she is putting a little bit of weight on it which is a good sign. Vet said I can go ahead and move her into the bigger cage so she has a little more room to walk around.

YEAH!!!!! So happy to hear this. Great job you have done. She was one lucky Hen.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Well I think we've had a setback.

This morning I noticed that the vet wrap around the splint was falling off. I also noticed that the ends of the popsicle sticks had come uncovered and were digging into the sides of her foot. So I decided to unwrap it all and redo the splint. Under the bandage, I realized that the scales on her legs were also peeling off and she had a sore rubbed by her ankle. She fought me the entire time and was kicking with both feet, hissing, and biting. I wrapped her in a towel except for the leg I needed to work on.

So I put a clean non-stick gauze around the leg. Repadded the popsicle sticks and re-wrapped them around the leg with new vet wrap. Just as I had done before.

This evening I checked in on her and noticed that she wasn't standing on the leg at all. I picked her up out of the cage and she's kicking but the injured leg is just hanging limply. She isn't moving it at all. I felt both feet and they feel the same temperature. Both a tad cold. I felt along the entire length of her leg all the way to the hip joint. She doesn't respond at all. Not like anything is hurting her or even just out of annoyance. If I touch her non-injured leg, she will kick at me. So now I'm concerned that one of the following has happened -

1. I wrapped the vet wrap too tight and her leg is numb. But if that were the case, wouldn't she acknowledge touch above the splint such as the hip area?

2. That in her thrashing and fighting me, she dislocated the hip joint.

3. That she re-broke the leg in her thrashing about when I tried to re-splint it.

Sadly I can't get her back into the vet until sometime next week because I'm out of town tomorrow to Sunday.