Duck Attack Emergency

SNGray

Hatching
Feb 7, 2023
4
8
6
My duck was attacked by a raccoon tonight. What can I do to help him? Pain meds and cleaning and doctoring recommendations please and thank you. He is missing muscle on the back of the neck and missing skin all the way around his neck and up under where his beak begins. I did apply vetricyn on the wound. I did not want to cause too much more stress on him. He is currently in a kennel with his favorite girl in our laundry room with plenty of blankets to stay warm. With food and water of course.
 

Attachments

  • BC7BFD48-EDB2-4A2E-8D64-B21008B239CD.jpeg
    BC7BFD48-EDB2-4A2E-8D64-B21008B239CD.jpeg
    489.7 KB · Views: 21
How is he?
Vet care would be best if at all possible.

He's beautiful.

If vet care is not an option, then you'll want to clean those wounds very well. I mean very well.
You can find Chlorhexidine (Hibiclens) at stores like WalMart, CVS, etc. Use this to flush/clean the wounds. Normally, I'd say apply triple antibiotic ointment so you can keep the wound relatively moist for a few days, but the tissue is quite meaty looking that I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not. I'd spray with the Vetericyn a few times a day and see.

More photos of the wounds? You may need to pluck or cut back feathers to keep them out of the wound while it's healing.

He likely will go through a shock period, so giving a bit of sugar water or electrolytes would be good. Work on hydration. Then offer some food.

Any other wounds? You may want to check him over for more.

As for antibiotics, if you have some on hand, then I'd consider giving them. I don't have ducks, but they do tend to want to dabble in water (right:D) so I can see the wound under the neck getting wet with water/food, etc. Amoxicillin is a good choice, you can order it online. If he's not meant for food (you're not going to eat him anytime soon) then Baytril would be another good one to give.

I don't know if I've missed something, I'll tag in @Quatie and @HollowOfWisps
 
How is his breathing? Can you get a picture of the right side of his neck? Look for two larger tubes going down your ducks neck. They will be the Trachea and Esophagus as shown in the picture. I personally would take this duck to the vet immediately and if you can't I would put it down. From what I can see its not just muscle, but the the tendons are damaged as well. If the trachea or esophagus were damaged your duck will most definitely need a vet to repair those. I'm not sure how he is going to eat with his throat ripped out like that and I would be very worried tube feeding could cause even more damage.
Duck-and-goose-trachea-and-esophagus-A-right-lateral-view-of-the-neck-of-Aix-sponsa.png
 
Last edited:
I saw a similar attack on here. I think @Miss Lydia may have helped with at it at one point. It was a muscovy girl, but she only had skin missing. I don't remember what happened with her. But I know she did well for a while. But again she only had the skin missing. If there is more damage, @HollowOfWisps is correct, you will really need vet help for your duck to stand a chance.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom