*cry* one of my beautiful anconas was attacked this morning (WARNING: PICS)

[toadbriar]

can you let him swim in the tub and rinse off the matted blood? that will get the matted bits cleaned out, and a good splashy cool bath seems to be how they get themselves feeling a bit more normal.

When my guys are injured I rinse-spray with a chlor-hex (nolvasan) solution and then pack the wound with neosporin, then unless someone's got organs hanging out they go back with the flock because they get less stressed - BUT I haven't had fly issues. Maybe give him a day or so to scab over. Ducks are hardy and can recover from really severe injuries, I wouldn't write this guy off at all.

 

[cskotek]

Totally off topic, but to Cskotek, doesn't the Blue Kote bottle specifically say NOT to use on cats? Pretty sure it does. At least it always used to.
Valtyn- I hope your duck pulls through. Good luck to you both.

It dose but when you cant go to a vet its all I had. And she cleard up great!! I used a small fan to dry it. She wouldnt lick it. And it kept her clean.

 

[Miss Lydia]

There is a salve you can get at the feed store to put on and around the wound to keep flies off, sorry I can't remember the name but it works great. I hope he pulls through and they are safe now. I'm sure if you asked at the feed store they could take you right to it.

 

[ImperialAcres]

If you need a way to keep flies away, and he doesn't mind the smell, look into some of the horse fly sprays... or people bug spray. You can spray it onto a paper towel and then wipe the towel on him. Just make sure to wipe around the wounded area. It will sting if you get it on or in the wound. Should only need to reapply once, maybe twice a day, like when you catch him to check progress on healing. The sprays can also be sprayed on walls, and whatnot to help keep the flies farther away.

I would also read the labels very well, and make sure they won't hurt him. I've not used them on birds, only on my horses, my dogs, and myself.

 

[jdywntr]

Rinse the area well. I would use a sprayer, the kitchen sink will do fine. I have worked as a vet assistant for a while and while I deal with mammals mostly, you will be surprised at the amount of water pressure that you can apply to a wound. You will not make the wound worse and spraying will ensure any fly eggs are rinsed away. Apply either antibiotic ointment or blu kote as suggested. Unless you can get blu kote, i'd keep him inside until his wound scabs over or heals completely.
I don't think you would need to cull unless things take a turn for the worse.
Good luck


oh and get those holes filled and secure. That would be my priority so you have no other injuries. Whatever got in may well be back again.

 

[Valntyn]

The bath was definitely a good idea. Freckles is half floating, relaxing, drinking, looking like he could fall asleep on the water any time. Oop, now he's walking and wagging his tail. We'll wash/check his neck one more time tonight, then let it dry overnight and see what the possibility is of putting him back with his mate tomorrow. He does seem like he's going to be fine, just bald and beat-up looking.

My husband and I kicked butt getting the new pen/run almost completely finished. The only thing missing is the roof. We'll buy roofing for the coop Saturday, The roof for the run is actually going to be the fencing of the old pen... but we can't disassemble the old pen yet. We have two nests about to hatch -- one in a couple days and one a week later. Not worried about hawks because of the beautiful tree canopy over the new set-up and not worried about digging predators because of buried wire.

Thanks again, all, and thanks also for the product names you shared. Hopefully I won't ever need them, but they're good to know about! Will update tomorrow. Good night, all!

Edit to add: Oh, yah, and we did 'fix' the old pen, where the nests and mothers-to-be are.... plus took some poultry netting and added that along the wall where the digger visited. Hopefully that'll work for a few weeks, or whenever it is that we can move the new babies to the new digs. Any suggestions there are welcome, too.

 

[veronicasmom]

Miss Lydia are you talking about Swat? I use it for my horses, don't know about using it on the ducks. It is possible. Will have to look into it.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

It sounds like Freckles will be fine. Congrats on doing a great job. Good luck with the other hatchings.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Miss Lydia are you talking about Swat? I use it for my horses, don't know about using it on the ducks. It is possible. Will have to look into it.

Yes thats it Thank you.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Ms. Lydia: I'm so sorry to hear about Freckles. I had the same thing happen to one of my hens last year. I carefully cleaned the area and then sprayed it with blue cote, then put the SWAT ointment on top of that. I had to re-apply the "toppings" every couple of days and watched her like a hawk.

Now, Yuli (named her after Yule Brenner since she was bald) is find, just looks like she has a crest on the back of her head and neck.

We all know you'll take super care of Freckles. I hope you find out who or what did this!