Duck attacked please help!!! URGENT

[ChilliDuck]

I just got home and my male call duck has been attacked. There is a puncture wound under his wing, it looks like cat teeth. There is a fair amount of blood. He's very quiet and just sitting down now. Please help, i dont know what to do. Should i wash him? Can i get antibiotics for him? Please help, any advice you can give will be helpful.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Bring him inside where you can see well under good light. Plain warm water to wash him off and give a good and complete once over looking for all injuries. Onced washed you can apply a triple antibiotic cream like neosporin (with NO pain reliever) on the wounds. Keep him inside, quiet and clean allowing the injuries to heal. This also allows you to monitor for additional issues. A dog kennel with a towel over it works great. A small bowl of food and water in with him on a towel or soft clean bedding. Dont worry if he doesnt eat, shock will cause them to go off food at first.

 

[70%cocoa]

Give the wounds a wash with saline - that means a cup of lukewarm water with a teaspoon of salt added and dissolved in it. Bathe the wounds gently with that - that will help to flush out any dirt and saliva. The salt helps kill any bacteria. Dry the wounds and apply some kind of antiseptic solution or ointment - whatever you use for humans is fine (e.g. betadine). Then keep your duck in a quiet, warm and dark place (not pitch dark, but somewhere he can feel safe and secure). Give him some water in a small dish.

The first 24 hours are important, as that is when shock may set in. If he makes it through that, infection is the issue. If you take your duck to a vet they will be able to prescribe some antibiotics. I don't think that anything you can buy outside of a vet's will help a lot, unfortunately. For now, if you can't get to a vet for whatever reason (cost, location), just keep the wounds clean and dressed with antiseptic. Ducks can recover from quite terrible injuries, so don't despair I hope that your boy makes a full recovery.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Are you able to get him into a vet? If so, the vet would most likely clean the wound and then prescribe Baytril as an antibiotic and then metacam for the pain. If you can't get him into the vet, then isolate him and clean the wound. You can use use iodine or just plain saline or water. If it is a cat bite, that can carry bacteria. i'm sorry i don't know what you should use other than what my vet might prescribe. Perhaps someone else can help with this.

If you don't have anything to stop the bleeding, corn starch will do the trick, or sometimes just simple pressure on the wound for approximately 1-2 minutes will stimulate the body's natural healing process. My vet explained it all to me one time, but i forget the specifics. But there is something about the pressure that brings the body's natural defenses into play to stop the bleeding.

How is he doing now?

 

[ChilliDuck]

Thanks, the bleeding appears to have stopped, but the wound is under his wing and i dont want to move him to much as I worry it will hurt him. We have washed him in warm water and now he's in a straw box next to our bed (his partner is in there with him) I guess we just have to wait now and hope that he sees out the night

 

[Amiga]

Getting any wounds well cleaned early on and keeping up with the antibiotics may head off worse trouble. Cat bites and scratches often cause blood poisoning (infection), so getting on it early and often is important.

Please keep us posted, with questions, observations, anything you need to share.

 

[Baylor]

As Amiga said getting them cleaned up right away and keeping them safely inside away from bugs, maggots other ducks who will pick on them etc...is crucial. My duck survived a horrid raccoon attack - she is blind so not completely recovered but it was many months ago and she finds her way around with the rest of the group and for the most part is normal again. Just keep on the wounds and warm cleansing baths. I had a slew of remedies all proposed from great folks on this site and they really helped out a bunch! Just ask questions if you need any guidance!

 

[ChilliDuck]

Thanks for your messages. He made it through the night and wee took him to the vet this morning. The lady cleaned him up, and when looking further found that a large chunk of his flesh is missing, right by his leg. They are keeping him in while he has daily antibotic injections and they are trying to keep him calm, but thats all they can do for him, just got to hope he pulls through this!

Poor little guy. He's a very lively duck, who loves to fight with me. But after this he just sits the staring into space, he seemed to be in shock.

I feel sorry for our other duck also, shes back in the coup now but very lonely, she keep looking for him! (

 

[ChilliDuck]

This is him : His name is mohammed!

 

[Baylor]

He is a very pretty call duck! I hope he makes it sometimes with the right care they can be quite resilient and other times it is just too much.