Broken duck leg- how to treat

[thewildgoose]

This is all so helpful, thank you very much. i will be sure to post updates as we go.

 

[CayugaJana]

@casportpony what do you think about feeling the good leg then the injured leg to tell if there is any obvious break?

 

[thewildgoose]

We tried to do that, but having no experience, it was so hard to tell. there didn't seem to be any obvious breaks in the bones, at least the lower ones. to me the injury seems to be at one of the femur joints if not higher. when i felt the duck's good side, i could find the structure of the thigh through the down feathers with my fingers, but i couldn't easy find it on the injured side. i'd say that was the most marked difference i noticed. with the small wound on the duck's back, i can kind of imagine the dog biting the duck in the hindquarter...

 

[casportpony]

@casportpony what do you think about feeling the good leg then the injured leg to tell if there is any obvious break?

Yes, or course!

We tried to do that, but having no experience, it was so hard to tell. there didn't seem to be any obvious breaks in the bones, at least the lower ones. to me the injury seems to be at one of the femur joints if not higher. when i felt the duck's good side, i could find the structure of the thigh through the down feathers with my fingers, but i couldn't easy find it on the injured side. i'd say that was the most marked difference i noticed. with the small wound on the duck's back, i can kind of imagine the dog biting the duck in the hindquarter...

Yeah, injuries up high can be really hard to detect. And with ducks and all of their down, wounds are hard to find too. A couple of years ago someone gave me a call drake that could not walk after an attack. With him I plucked the feathers from an area where I saw blood. Once I had that area cleared I kept plucking and found more wounds and lots of bruising. It's been my experience that when attacked by a dog, fox, racoon, etc that most will have more than one wound, and my best guess is that one is from the top of the mouth, the other is from the bottom.

I guess what I am saying/suggesting is to check for more injuries, bruising, swellings, etc.

 

[thewildgoose]

Thank you so much that's very helpful. How did you end up treating the call drake? Did he heal ok?

 

[casportpony]

Thank you so much that's very helpful. How did you end up treating the call drake? Did he heal ok?

I kept him in a small area for several weeks and he eventually got better.

 

[thewildgoose]

that's encouraging! my fiance is concerned about prolonging this duck's pain but i can't imagine putting it down without trying our best to fix it or giving the duck some time to try and heal...from what i've been reading online, it seems that there's decent chance the duck could be ok, especially considering no bones have broken through the skin.

 

[casportpony]

I think as long as you can't feel any obvious things, like dislocations or bones moving that there is a very good chance it will heal.

 

[thewildgoose]

Good morning! have some updates to share. brought duck out to re-inspect and do a water test. in the water, Duckie did not use injured leg. on the ground, there seems to be slight mobility high up, but none in the visible part of the leg. when looking again at the wounds, it appears the dog grabbed it by the back, I think there is a wound on either side of the spine. Duckie seems chipper and we re-homed it into a wire pen which it seems to enjoy.... any thoughts as to additional treatment, ie wrapping or splinting?

 

[BullChick]

I can’t help with wrapping, but water therapy is good for relieving pressure on the leg. As long as the duck is grooming, IE spreading its oil on its feathers, it will float fine.