Duck attacked by coyote ):

[Alicia0795]

My girl was attacked this morning. I heard the animals freaking out but they are usually noisy in the morning so I thought nothing of it. Than it started to get excessive so I looked out the window and saw a huge cyote! I ran outside and scared it away but noticed one of my ducks were missing. I waited a couple hours and nothing so I was sure she was taken and dead. I just found her so she has been outside for hours. Like 9 hours. I just randomly looked outside and saw her standing there. She has two puncture wounds on both sides of her head. Looks like it was bleeding. One eye is closed shut and she cannot drink or eat. She tries but she just can't. She cannot close her beak fully. Any suggestions on what to do?

 

[SunflowerTheBun]

I hope someone more experienced can pitch in! (I'm not all that good at these sort of things, but I try tuo offer advice anyway! :/ ) All I can say is try syringe feeding her water at least, if not watered down mashed up food, and keep her seperated and warm. All the best!

 

[Cherib603]

Keep her warm and still. She's probably in shock. Flush the wounds. Are they deep?

@amiga?

 

[Amiga]

A vet would be best.

In any case, get her inside. Flies lay eggs in wounds. Get her into a tub of lukewarm water, do not leave her alone. Clip the feathers aroubd her wounds a half inch from the edge of the wound andtrim the feathers to a half inch long.

Look carefully all over including the vent and under the wings.

Her jaw may be broken or dislocated.

I would not force her mouth open, just look closely.

Look carefully for fly eggs and get them off if you see them. A squirt bottle of hydrogen peroxide is useful.

Hugs

After bath, drip a little hydrogen peroxide on her wounds - not her eyes.

Put a teaspoon of ACV in a quart of water for her if she can try to drink.

Later tonight and four times a day for the next few days rinse all wounds with mild saline solution.

Here is a post I saved from years ago

Post raccoon attack advice from Captain Cluck BYC DF 20120617

When my duck, Lucy, was attacked by a raccoon, I had head wounds to deal with, too. No jaw damage but she had a bite taken from the edge of her bill.

I put her on homeopathic for bites and vitamins at first, but homeopathics take a long time to work, so after a week on that (and an infection starting in the leg wound that I had missed) I switched her to Duramycin (got at Tractor Supply). Add 1/4 teaspoon to 20 oz of water (2 1/2 CUPS). Only mix up what you will use immediately and store the rest of the powder in a clean, dry jar. You will want to keep a measuring spoon in the jar just for the Duramycin. If you won't be using the entire 20 oz right away, put the extra in the refrigerator until you need it, but do not keep it for longer than 1 day. I have seen funk grow in it if kept longer than that. Lucy got her water in a 20 oz travel mug 2x a day.

After her first day of not eating, she only wanted cooked, mashed peas for 2 weeks. She refused anything else, so keep tempting your duck with things she loves to eat. You may have to use a syringe and squirt some liquified food into her bill to get her to eat. which means you will have to take some food and puree it in the blender and add enough water to make it liquidy. Lucy's bill was very sore and I had to mash her peas so she could eat them.

Examine your duck carefully to locate all the wounds you can find. Trim away feathers from the wounds so you can treat them effectively. Don't be afraid to trim away all her feathers if you think you need to to examine her. You can dress her in newborn t-shirts until her feathers grow back. If you keep her in a dim, quiet room, she will heal faster, and eventually start to molt. At least, that's what Lucy did.

Use saline to rinse out the wounds every day. Use a q-tip to pack the open wounds with antibiotic ointment.

If there is a puncture wound (which includes bites), you will need to debride it daily with a gauze pad. That means put peroxide on a gauze pad and scrub the scab off the puncture wound and scrub it enough to keep it open so it can drain. Punctures must heal from the inside out, or they get infected. Pack the punctures with antibiotic ointment, too.

Since you can't wrap a head wound on a duck, just let her wash her head at will. The only wound I wrapped on Lucy was her leg wound while it had Ichthammol on it to pull out the infection.


Let her rest and check on her every few hours. Change her towels at least 2x a day, or get those incontinence pads you put in a patient's bed and put one of those on top of the towel. Easy cleanup and less laundry. I got mine at Wal Mart.

I did not have the money for a vet visit, but if you do, I highly suggest taking her in.

 

[Amiga]

@Alicia0795 - how are you both?

 

[Alicia0795]

I cleaned out her wounds and she is doing a little better today I think. She is quacking more and I let her see her sister this morning for a bit to cheer her up. She still is having trouble eating and drinking. It is like her mouth is swollen but it's not. Not sure what is happening. She still gets a little water but most of the time it just falls right out of her mouth. I also am going to pick up some baby aspirin today to give to her for pain. We have an amoxicillin capsul that we can open and give her as an antibiotic but I'm not sure how much to give her. Any suggestions?

 

[Amiga]

Actually, I would give turmeric instead of aspirin . . . I am rather cautious, but I have read and heard that waterfowl can have liver difficulties with aspirin, and even ibuprofen.

If at all possible, getting some Metacam would be safest, but I was told by my vet recently that turmeric, an anti-inflammatory (that can therefore reduce some pain) is safe for ducks.

I do suspect her jaw is dislocated. See if you can look at her head from below - does everything line up?

Remember, they can recover from dreadful injuries with proper help.

There are dosage recommendations here and there - very important that you weigh her and use a dosage based on her weight.

@casportpony and some others have the ability to figure this stuff out pretty quickly. There are also some threads that contain dosage recommendations...

See if this helps - - - https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...gals-coccidiostats-and-wormers-preliminary/10

 

[Alicia0795]

Yes everything lines up fine. Well I did give her a low dose aspirin before I read this. I had 81 mg and gave her half. I'm sure that will be fine.

 

[Amiga]

Yes I think that should be okay

 

[Alicia0795]

let me just do a little update on her. She was doing great and i put her outside a while ago and she has been living out there with her friends again. The only thing i am worried about is that i would think by now she would be okay but she is just weird. She will follow her friends around but she just stands there and does nothing. She isn't acting like a "normal duck". She either stands there blank while the other look for worms and bugs or she is sleeping somewhere. I also noticed the other day that she is shedding feathers alot! She would lay somewhere and there would be feathers everywhere in that spot. I don't know if that is normal or not.