Beak injuries

[RJKnott]

So day before yesterday as the ducks were coming out of the pond, I noticed Nibbler had blood smeared all over his chest feathers. I couldn’t find any cuts or bites. Then I noticed he had blood just pouring from his mouth

called every vet in north Alabama, finally found one that would see a duck but they couldn’t til the next day. By the time I found the vet the bleeding had stopped and Nibbler seemed fine...
Took him to the vet and he said, admitting he was far from an expert, that’s Nibbler seemed fine and it looked like something may have nipped him on his bill. Probably one of the crayfish in the pond.

so a few things

1) wow ducks bleed a lot from even a minor cut

2) in the event of something more serious how would one go about stopping the bleeding in the bill?

3) if you ever want to see a bunch of vet techs act like kids on Christmas morning, bring a duck to the vet heh

he’s doing well today thankfully

attached some pics of Nibbler in the basket I took him to the vet in

 

[EverythingDucks]

Poor thing! It's hard to find vets that can care for animals other than dogs and cats. Animals like rabbits, parrots, horses, and poultry are hard to find professional vets for. I'm glad he's doing better now, he's so cute!

 

[viennaproto]

I am so glad Nibbler is feeling better This has happened to me before as well, I let my khaki out to forage around the yard and two minutes later I heard a VERY loud quack. She cracked/cut open her beak on I assume a rock or something hard she found in the ground. I found the best thing to do for her was wash the wound out with hydrogen peroxide and then I took some cornstarch put it on the spot to help calm the bleeding. I also used neosporin (without lidocaine of course) and put it on a cut to size gauze pad and let it stick on for a couple hours while she sat in my screen in porch. Hope this was helpful!

 

[RJKnott]

I am so glad Nibbler is feeling better This has happened to me before as well, I let my khaki out to forage around the yard and two minutes later I heard a VERY loud quack. She cracked/cut open her beak on I assume a rock or something hard she found in the ground. I found the best thing to do for her was wash the wound out with hydrogen peroxide and then I took some cornstarch put it on the spot to help calm the bleeding. I also used neosporin (without lidocaine of course) and put it on a cut to size gauze pad and let it stick on for a couple hours while she sat in my screen in porch. Hope this was helpful!

It is! Wasn’t sure what would be ok to put on it if it was in their mouth

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

I’m glad that Nibbler is ok! Daphne injured(?) her beak or had some weird beak condition in late winter. I thought it was healing, but one day there was a raised area that burst and bled everywhere. You are right about them bleeding a ton! I didn’t medicate Daphne’s beak at all, but kept her from foraging (aka making drill holes everywhere) until there was granulation tissue forming. Now, she has finally healed. Are you able to see the wound on Nibbler’s beak, or is it inside?

Btw, you are totally right about Vet Techs and ducks! I am one, and we mainly see dogs and cats at my hospital. Any time anything “fancy” comes in, it’s very exciting

 

[RJKnott]

No couldn’t see the wound. It was on the inside. Vet thought he saw a little mark but Nibbler didn’t like having his beak opened. Was near the edge so probably one of the crayfish nipped him

heh I could hear them talking in the back
“It’s really a duck!?”
“ yeah what were you expecting?”
“I thought it was a duck hunting dog or something! That’s so cool!”

wgen I brought him back to be weighed every employee was back there to see him heh

 

[Miss Lydia]

How sweet! It was the same when I took my Runner in. Could it have been a snapping turtle?

 

[RJKnott]

How sweet! It was the same when I took my Runner in. Could it have been a snapping turtle?

Possible but I’ve been trying to be diligent about turtles and Haven’t seen any evidence of turtles of any kind. Put traps out and the water is crystal clear In the pond most days and you can see to the bottom and haven’t seen any sign of a turtle. It has a ton of crayfish and one or two huge ones almost baseball size so that’s likely what it was.