Duck attacked by fox!

[Leanne273838]

My duck was attacked by a fox and i think its whole wing has been ripped off but im not 100% sure.

This happened on the 4th June and since then I have bought an antiseptic suitable for birds and have been spraying it three times a day. However, at first i thought it was just some feathers been pulled out but after closer inspection i think the fox has pulled out the whole wing. I feel terrible and dont know what to do. Will it grow back? do i still need to take him to the vet eventhough he seems fine? (hes eating, drinking, swimming, running normally)

Both ducks have been brought inside to heal and stop flies getting into the wounds.

Can someone please help because i feel horrible - its my first time owning ducks and i didnt realise they needed to be herded into their shelter for a couple weeks as ive only ever owned chickens.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hi! If it was ripped off she wouldn't be able to hold it in the closed position. It would just hang loosely. Clean the wounds with saline and then slather with plain antibiotic ointment, twice a day and sniff it every couple of days to make sure it doesn't stink, which means it's infected. That's right, keep her separated and indoors until the wound has a really good scab on it.

You'll need to have a predator proof pen for them.

 

[Leanne273838]

Hi! If it was ripped off she wouldn't be able to hold it in the closed position. It would just hang loosely. Clean the wounds with saline and then slather with plain antibiotic ointment, twice a day and sniff it every couple of days to make sure it doesn't stink, which means it's infected. That's right, keep her separated and indoors until the wound has a really good scab on it.

You'll need to have a predator proof pen for them.

But hes only stretching out one wing now not both as he was before and i can see the wing on the other side but not on this side - theyre only a couple weeks old so havent got proper feathers on their wings yet. Will it end up growing back or will it just heal over and he will have to readjust to having only one wing?

See attached a photo of before the attack, you can see the wing with no feathers on. He only now has that on the unwounded side. Ill be honest, I have never owned ducks before only chickens and I dont really know what im looking for to tell if hes in pain or not.

 

[SmiYa0126]

It depends if the feather follicles were damaged. My rooster was scalped and is mostly healed. One narrow ribbon of missing feathers.

How is she eating and drinking?

 

[Leanne273838]

It depends if the feather follicles were damaged. My rooster was scalped and is mostly healed. One narrow ribbon of missing feathers.

How is she eating and drinking?

eating, drinking and swimming absolutely fine. Also still happy outside with the dog which i was worried about from trauma. I feel like it looks a lot worse than it probably is but im just concerned about the fact its the wing and not just a couple feathers.

(Just to note I only let them outside for about 20 minutes while i cleaned out their little pen that i have inside and my dog takes no interest in the ducks)

 

[SmiYa0126]

Those are very good signs. Keep taking care of the wound, she'll heal up quickly. Is she getting her wound wet when she's swimming? If she is you'll need to clean it afterwards and redress it.

 

[Leanne273838]

Those are very good signs. Keep taking care of the wound, she'll heal up quickly. Is she getting her wound wet when she's swimming? If she is you'll need to clean it afterwards and redress it.

he wont get fully in the water, hes just putting his head in all the way, cleaning himself and splashing the water all over my kitchen floor lol but i will make sure to keep a close eye on the wound and will keep them both inside until i’ve upgraded the pen and made sure they both 100% okay to go back out.