Duck attacked by dog! Need help please!

[Krismcgee]

My four month old khaki Campbell duck was attacked by a stray dog this morning. He is still alive but chewed up on his back pretty bad. The skin on his back is gone about the size of a deck of cards) and you can see the muscle underneath. I took him inside, cleaned the wound off with hydrogen peroxide, and put triple antibiotic ointment onto non-stick gauze and placed that over the injuries. He has water (w/ chick saver in it) and will drink a little. He is in a box with a towel and a brooder lamp over to keep him warm. What else can I do? Antibiotics? At what point should I consider culling? (Really don't want to get to that point but don't want him to suffer). Thank you.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My four month old khaki Campbell duck was attacked by a stray dog this morning. He is still alive but chewed up on his back pretty bad. The skin on his back is gone about the size of a deck of cards) and you can see the muscle underneath. I took him inside, cleaned the wound off with hydrogen peroxide, and put triple antibiotic ointment onto non-stick gauze and placed that over the injuries. He has water (w/ chick saver in it) and will drink a little. He is in a box with a towel and a brooder lamp over to keep him warm. What else can I do? Antibiotics? At what point should I consider culling? (Really don't want to get to that point but don't want him to suffer). Thank you.

Ducks are amazing and can come back for extreme wounds and injuries, Most important is to keep him away from flies which will lay eggs in the wound and then you'll have maggots which can be terrible to get rid of and can kill him. so inside in a dog crate or box will be best. Trim the feathers away from the wound and keep it clean. Not sure you should keep it covered though it needs to stay dry and fly free,, But he has an excellent chance of surviving this,. Make sure not to keep him to warm too. Do you have a way to tell what the temps are in the box . Once he gets over the shock he should start eating again. Please keep us posted on how he is doing. I'm not sure if you should start antibiotics right off hopefully someone else can answer that question.

 

[Amiga]

This may help. I saved this from a thread some time back, it's from Captain Cluck. Things I want to emphasize are keeping the duck away from flies, as Miss Lydia said, rinsing with saline solution or Vetericyn, considering oral antibiotics, since so much tissue is exposed. There are cover materials made now, kind of high-tech, like synthetic skin. Look into that. I think good pharmacies carry them.

Also, you may want to join us on the Duck Forum - more duck people check in there, I think.

Post raccoon attack advice from Captain Cluck:

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 ahve 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.
Too many chickens, not enough ducks. Plenty of Kids, dogs, cats.One loving, soft-hearted husband. I am rich!

 

[Miss Lydia]

How's your duck this morning?