Duck Concussion

[Miss Lydia]

Please let us know how she is doing. Probably the vets will give you instructions on what to do once you get her home.

 

[astrickler]

So I searched on BYC and didn't see duck concussions addressed so I thought I would post about it since my Pekin just suffered one.


Signs
One or more signs may be exhibited:

• Depression.
• Loss of balance.
• Falling over and unable to right itself.
• Circling with or without head tilted.
• Weakness of wings and legs.
• Convulsions.
• Blown pupils or unable to focus eyes

Treatment

• Keep the duck warm and quiet to ward off shock.
• Confine the duck in a box padded with a piece of towelling and place in a quiet, secluded area with air temperature at approximately 30°C (86°F).
• If possible seek an avian vet (but my vet didn't actually do anything but tell me to keep her quiet)

So my 5 week old Pekin was coming into the house two night ago and she fell backwards off my stairs and hit her head on the concrete. She laid on the ground but couldn't get up and she flapped her legs and wiggled her wings but couldn't get upright. So I brought her in the house and put her in the pen with her flock mates. At the time I didn't know what was wrong with her and thought she might have hurt her leg when she tumbled.

The next morning she still couldn't stand up and would fall over. I thought she was suffering from a sprain or strain so I ran a hot bath for her and some epsom salts to give her a soak. Once she was floating in the tub I realized that she had a bigger issue than her legs. She would try to swim but would roll over on her side. At this point I realized that she had an equilibrium problem. So I removed her from the tub and dried her with the hair dryer since she couldn't preen herself. She would still roll on one side then end up on her back and then lay there looking pathetically at me like "help me".

I called a friend of mine who works for a vet and she had me bring Jack Jack over. Her pupils were blown and the doc said she has a concussion.

So treatment was to put her in a box with side close enough to keep her upright and as dark as possible so she would relax. Offer water and food where she could reach them but not fall in the water or knock it over. This morning is day two after the injury and she is able to kind of stand halfway and hobble on her hocks to get to the water and food but when she tries to stand up and stretch she falls over backwards and then lays there kicking her feet until I roll her back over. However she is starting to get her balance back in little increments. Vet said she should be as good as new in a week as he was unable to detect any hemorraging or severe neurological damage. I'm keeping her in her padded box until I know for sure she won't fall over backwards as I don't want her hitting her head again.

@DucksAndGardens what did you use for her box and how did you keep her from flipping? I have a 6 week old pekin with a neuro issue (vet says she has scoliosis and may have had an injury) and she is behaving the same. I tried putting her in a small box to keep her upright but she still keeps flipping over.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Try the donut take a large towel make it similar to a donut and place the duck down in feet first you’ll have to place water an food close by so she can get to it. How do her pupils look?

 

[Cuccoo Shack]

So I searched on BYC and didn't see duck concussions addressed so I thought I would post about it since my Pekin just suffered one.


Signs
One or more signs may be exhibited:

• Depression.
• Loss of balance.
• Falling over and unable to right itself.
• Circling with or without head tilted.
• Weakness of wings and legs.
• Convulsions.
• Blown pupils or unable to focus eyes

Treatment

• Keep the duck warm and quiet to ward off shock.
• Confine the duck in a box padded with a piece of towelling and place in a quiet, secluded area with air temperature at approximately 30°C (86°F).
• If possible seek an avian vet (but my vet didn't actually do anything but tell me to keep her quiet)

So my 5 week old Pekin was coming into the house two night ago and she fell backwards off my stairs and hit her head on the concrete. She laid on the ground but couldn't get up and she flapped her legs and wiggled her wings but couldn't get upright. So I brought her in the house and put her in the pen with her flock mates. At the time I didn't know what was wrong with her and thought she might have hurt her leg when she tumbled.

The next morning she still couldn't stand up and would fall over. I thought she was suffering from a sprain or strain so I ran a hot bath for her and some epsom salts to give her a soak. Once she was floating in the tub I realized that she had a bigger issue than her legs. She would try to swim but would roll over on her side. At this point I realized that she had an equilibrium problem. So I removed her from the tub and dried her with the hair dryer since she couldn't preen herself. She would still roll on one side then end up on her back and then lay there looking pathetically at me like "help me".

I called a friend of mine who works for a vet and she had me bring Jack Jack over. Her pupils were blown and the doc said she has a concussion.

So treatment was to put her in a box with side close enough to keep her upright and as dark as possible so she would relax. Offer water and food where she could reach them but not fall in the water or knock it over. This morning is day two after the injury and she is able to kind of stand halfway and hobble on her hocks to get to the water and food but when she tries to stand up and stretch she falls over backwards and then lays there kicking her feet until I roll her back over. However she is starting to get her balance back in little increments. Vet said she should be as good as new in a week as he was unable to detect any hemorraging or severe neurological damage. I'm keeping her in her padded box until I know for sure she won't fall over backwards as I don't want her hitting her head again.

Thank you. I think that's what's going with mine. I found her on her side and thought she was dead! She couldn't get her legs to work and would end up back on her side. Her eyes seemed strange and I checked for dilation and seemed like there was no reaction in one eye. She started having what I thought were seizures after about an hour or 2 from finding her. I put her in a box with blanket and a towel over it, in a dark room and she finally seems to be able to rest.

 

[Isaac 0]

Thank you. I think that's what's going with mine. I found her on her side and thought she was dead! She couldn't get her legs to work and would end up back on her side. Her eyes seemed strange and I checked for dilation and seemed like there was no reaction in one eye. She started having what I thought were seizures after about an hour or 2 from finding her. I put her in a box with blanket and a towel over it, in a dark room and she finally seems to be able to rest.

How is she doing now, could you post a video of her?

 

[Cuccoo Shack]

How is she doing now, could you post a video of her?

Thank you for responding. Actually she is totally fine today!. Checked on her atv2am and 5am just to make sure box was still covered. This morning she was standing up and calling for me. Preening. Put her back with her friends and they were all excited. She's swimming now and being normal. She is a bit skidfish of the bigger ducks and the dogs, so I'm thinking one of them had something to do with it. I'm just guessing though. The big ducks have been fine with them. They stay to themselves. They're not in a run together. Everyone just hangs out on the farm wherever they please, so I'm truly at a loss as to what happened. I'm just happy she's OK! She's about 3 weeks old, and was my "emergency " egg when hatching. So we are pretty attached......well, I am, she could care less lol. But now that she's bigger, the adult ducks aren't picking on them. So again, I'm at a loss. I watched a video of a duckling having seizures and that's not what she was doing, but she would lunge and her head go forward and her foot would go behind her head. She seemed super tired but unable to sleep until I put her in the dark. Then she was quiet the whole night. Couldn't stand. Thought her leg was broken. Thought her neck was broken. It kept going to the side, but then she shook her head real hard like shaking off water, and I knew that wasn't the case. I don't know. Unsolved mystery for now.

 

[Cuccoo Shack]

She did have a whitish color on her inner eye lid so maybe she got poked in the eye by a piece of straw? And caused her to lose balance? That seems to be gone now too though.

 

[Isaac 0]

Glad to hear she is doing better.