Crippled Duckling

[SouthernPride]

3 weeks ago I hatched 8 Ducklings. One of them, a Black Swedish, has a deformed leg, totally useless. He has also not been growing as quickly as the others. I have him in his own enclosure in the house. He is very attached to me. Any ideas of what to expect with him? I realize he will always be an inside duck so I will need to start diapering him. He hops around pretty good but not for very long. He uses a stuffed animal to rest on so his chest and belly are not always on the ground. His little body is becoming somewhat deformed due to the muscles developing on one side and not the other. I probably should have culled him once I saw his leg but I just did not have the heart to do it. Has anyone experienced anything like this before?

 

[SouthernPride]

Here is a picture of his leg

 

[SouthernPride]

Anybody?

 

[ShayBaby]

N'aw! Poor little baby. I wouldn't have the heart to cull it, either. I wish I had some advise to give, but unfortunately (fortunately?) I don't have experience in this sort of situation. Sending good thoughts and wishes little Stumpy's way!

 

[EJPedrazzi]

I had a khaki that had really bad legs, fortunately with a hobble I managed to get her walking again but the reason I'm replying is that I thought she would never be able to walk. We talked about those little devices they have for dogs - like a stick with a wheel on? Is there any way you could make something like that for him? I don't know if I'm being overly positive but I feel there must be some way to give him the most normal life possible. Something you could strap on when he wants to walk around and by moving his little crippled leg it could wheel him along?

 

[SouthernPride]

Hmmm. I'll have to think that one over a bit. I'm not sure how that would work. I'm really concerned about his overall growth. He is about half the size of his fellow hatchlings. A real runt! I have him in with a rehabbing wild mallard and it won't be long before the mallard is bigger than him.

 

[seashoreduck]

Since the skin is bumpy it makes a good surface for a prostetic. My idea would be to get a mold of the leg then using nylon (like a kite) and thin aquarim tubing make a a lower foot. I would attach it to the upper foot by a protestic molded from sylacone and bucked on (may be a very tiny buckle)

The sylacone could be a natural bathub one formed around the mold to the tube with a wire in it for support


then given to the duck

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Ah, poor ducky! i'm sorry. i know you're in a difficult situation. i have had chicks hatch with bad legs. i do my best for them for as long as i can. When it is painfully obvious that their quality of life is not good, then i make the decision to euthanize. Sometimes you can correct a leg with splints and such, sometimes you can't. One little chick, i couldn't tell until she got older that she was horribly deformed in her whole body. That was a hard one.

Seashoreduck has a great idea. i've seen leg prosthetics for geese, so it can be done. If she can get around, and is eating and drinking, i say give her a chance. i have a silkie who broke her leg who lives in the house. Even with surgery and a pin, she just refuses to use it. So she hangs with us now. We also have a goose who broke her leg and pelvis. She probably also has degenerative bone disease. She gets carried out every day to a small pen to enjoy the sunshine, then back inside with us at night. It's sort of like The Island of Misfit Toys here. But i think those special birds with disabilities can be the sweetest.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ah, poor ducky! i'm sorry. i know you're in a difficult situation. i have had chicks hatch with bad legs. i do my best for them for as long as i can. When it is painfully obvious that their quality of life is not good, then i make the decision to euthanize. Sometimes you can correct a leg with splints and such, sometimes you can't. One little chick, i couldn't tell until she got older that she was horribly deformed in her whole body. That was a hard one.

Seashoreduck has a great idea. i've seen leg prosthetics for geese, so it can be done. If she can get around, and is eating and drinking, i say give her a chance. i have a silkie who broke her leg who lives in the house. Even with surgery and a pin, she just refuses to use it. So she hangs with us now. We also have a goose who broke her leg and pelvis. She probably also has degenerative bone disease. She gets carried out every day to a small pen to enjoy the sunshine, then back inside with us at night. It's sort of like The Island of Misfit Toys here. But i think those special birds with disabilities can be the sweetest.

Such a sweet story about your 2 Enchanted. Honestly you may not have the little one long especially if it's not growing much but I think doing all you can for it while you have it is just the greatest idea, doing what you can to make it's life the best while you have it. Maybe fashioning some similar to what seashore has posted. All the best.
maybe you could get some ideas here also, scroll down to the leg issues. https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

 

[SouthernPride]

Little Nemo passed away overnight. He was fine yesterday. Had him outside, playing in the water with the others. Not sure what happened, may have been his overall bad health. I did my best for him while he was here, and I'm grateful I had that opportunity.