Duck Bill and Head Trauma - Assistance Please

[DanJ702]

We fed our by syringe for about a week before she could eat on her own also gave pain and antibiotic shots once a day for a week. Pictures attached are of her about 1 1/2 weeks after the attack and one recent

 

[Miss Lydia]

@3bird She is precious

Mine free range in half acre fenced with a lot of trees and bushes for protection, except in winter all leaves are off the trees.

Could have been a bird of prey maybe the bill injury is talons. Just hard to know for sure.

We have very huge trees and I never would have thought as large as a red tail hawk is it would be able to fly in have room to fly in but one fall day it not only flew in but went between the trees and the fence and killed one of my bantam hens That hawk was huge too. No way we can cover the fenced in area where our flock hangs out we just hope incidents like this one with the hawk make them more aware of the dangers. My ducks use to stand and look up when a hawk was close by while the roos were giving the warning call all the chickens would be running for cover. The ducks don't do that anymore they take off too.

 

[3bird]

We fed our by syringe for about a week before she could eat on her own also gave pain and antibiotic shots once a day for a week. Pictures attached are of her about 1 1/2 weeks after the attack and one recent View attachment 1077524 View attachment 1077544

Thanks for sharing! She looks like a special girl.

 

[3bird]

Getting the

@3bird She is precious

Mine free range in half acre fenced with a lot of trees and bushes for protection, except in winter all leaves are off the trees.

Could have been a bird of prey maybe the bill injury is talons. Just hard to know for sure.

We have very huge trees and I never would have thought as large as a red tail hawk is it would be able to fly in have room to fly in but one fall day it not only flew in but went between the trees and the fence and killed one of my bantam hens That hawk was huge too. No way we can cover the fenced in area where our flock hangs out we just hope incidents like this one with the hawk make them more aware of the dangers. My ducks use to stand and look up when a hawk was close by while the roos were giving the warning call all the chickens would be running for cover. The ducks don't do that anymore they take off too.

We thought about maybe running a couple of strands of monofilament across the top of the garden. It already has high posts on all sides.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Be worth trying some even hang old CD I use the predator tape and hang in trees around the half acre. I have to replace every fall.

 

[3bird]

Amelia is feeling much better! Once she's completely off the Metacam, we'll re-introduce her to her buddies outside, but for now, she's still living inside with us.

 

[luvmyduckies]

Amelia is feeling much better! Once she's completely off the Metacam, we'll re-introduce her to her buddies outside, but for now, she's still living inside with us.

she is a beautiful duck and you have taken great care of her. Ducks are amazing healers. I have a few that have made it through injuries with basic care and lots of patience.

 

[3bird]

Amelia has been doing great living inside, and we were able to stop the pain meds yesterday. She is still on the oral antibiotics 3x/day. We'd like to reintroduce her to her little flock, and so this morning we brought her out. We put her in the fenced area outside the duck run and kept the other six ducks inside the run. There was a lot of talking and bill action, as well as bomping necks and jockeying about amongst the ducks in the run. It seems that they may reassess the entire pecking order. After about an hour, we let one of Amelia's buddies out (another hen that is near the bottom of the pecking order), and they really went after each other with bill grabbing and lunging their necks onto each other's backs. I stayed with them and intervened from time to time, as I don't want Amelia to re-open any of her wounds. Eventually, we put the healthy duck back in the run. They are now settled mostly. Amelia is sleeping right against the hardware cloth on the outside, and the others are going about their routines on the inside with an occasional inspection.

What are your ideas for a (relatively) peaceful re-introduction?

 

[luvmyduckies]

i would toss some pellet in the grass to keep them busy and distracted from Amelias return I imagine all will settling again

 

[3bird]

Amelia was a trooper and so badly wants to run with her flock, but all but two are really giving her a hard time. She does have one real buddy that intervenes on her behalf, but we stuck close not wanting her stitches to get pulled or any of her wounds to get re-opened. We brought her back into the house last night. Today we're going to try splitting the flock and keeping Amelia with her best bud and one of the other hens for a while. Any additional tips, tricks or strategies for re-introducing a duck to the flock would be greatly appreciated.