Duck leg injury

[karin krumin]

I have batam roosters and my neighbor put out rat poison and one ate it and got real docile. I went to my neighborhood pet store and got antibiotic for birds . you put it in there water, I brought him inside warmed him up feed him and he drank that water for 2 days a year later that boy is crowing in my back yard right now.
However i have new muscovy ducklings (teenagers) and the female was limping yesterday and didnt wanna move or walk, So i brought her in side with her mate and put her in the tub with warm water and epson salt for a hour than took her to an inside pen, she didnt eat or drink till i brought her boy in with her and then they ate and sleep thru the night. this morning i took the pen out side and opened it and she followed her boy out but only sat around the yard all day. so we just brought them back in for the night and they are back in a tub of hot epson salt water for an hour then i feed them and they will stay inside together.
am i doing the right thing for my girl (spice)????? I love her and saved her from being someones duck dinner at a live action. sugar her mate would be devastated if we lose her.

 

[Limpyduck]

I Have two ducks about 3 weeks old that were fine one day and then the next they both could not use one of their legs. Im at a loss as what to do for them. The only thing that I changed was I had put news paper under there water dish because they were making such a mess. I did notice that the paper had been nibble one. Could the inks in the paper do this to my little babies? I have since removed the paper and will not be putting anything under the water bowl. Are my ducks to young to try the garlic that you gave to yours? Thanks any advice would be great.

 

[Amiga]

The newspaper may have been too slippery and they can develop spraddle leg.

If you are feeding chick starter they are not getting enough niacin, and that can also lead to leg troubles.

Could you please post over on the Duck Forum? There are so many resources there for learning how to raise ducklings.

Here is one.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711

And for spraddle leg, you can find advice here


https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

 

[Limpyduck]

I took the ducks to the vet last week and the vet told me that it was spraddle leg. I am taking them back on Monday for a check up and to have the bandages removed from the legs. I am a little concerned that one of the ducks seems to be walking on the side if her foot. The vet did say her foot was a little turned. I am hoping that when the bandages come off the foot will go back simi normal if not normal. Does any one know of any ducks that do well with a twisted foot?

 

[Amiga]

Are you giving them 100 to 150 mg of plain niacin per gallon of drinking water? That is the recommendation of Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks by David Holderread, who has been raising ducks for over 40 years.

 

[ChessySailor]

Hello and thank you for this thread...

I have a similar question but being new to this whole area of wild birds am kind of at a loss and am looking for some advice.

We live on the northern Chesapeake Bay and we have a couple of wild mallards that have adopted us. The drake and duck are "married" in that they are always together and will not be seen without one another. They have been coming up from the water at least twice a day for food, which we give them and I have grown quite attached to them.

About 3 days ago I noticed that she was coming up for food but that he was not. I went down to the shore line and saw them sitting together and noticed that when he attempted to walk he was limping -- his right leg. I got within about 3 feet of him to take a look and saw that while he was favoring this leg I saw no external issue: no hooks, no blood, no fishing line, no puss. It actually looked normal and like the other leg.

He has resumed coming up from the beach into the yard for food, limping all the way, and I try to come down and give him food closer to the water so he does not need to walk quite as far. I have verified that he can swim and can fly. He flew away from me this morning when I was trying to get close enough to capture him to take him to bird rescue to have his leg checked out.

Aside from the obvious issue, my main concern here is that this couple is very close. They have no ducklings but they are like an old married couple and I fear that if I capture him to take him to bird rescue (as I have been advised), we will succeed in traumatizing both he and his partner. My wife and I are at a loss as to whether we should see if he improves or declines and only take him to bird rescue should he grow worse.

Any advice or experience is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

ChessySailor...

 

[Limpyduck]

Late up date on my ducks. Two of my ducks legs turned out fine after bandages were removed.. The one duck with the twisted foot had to back to the vet.. The vet wrapped her legs two more times after that then told me that the leg will never be normal and to save the ducks hip the leg would have to be removed.. Dutchess had her leg removed about 5 or 6 months ago and is doing ok. But struggles to get around so I am happy to say that within the next few months she will be getting a prosthetic foot. I'm hoping that she will take to it like a duck to water It will be nice to see her running around with her sisters.

 

[Florida Chickee]

Hi I read your post on the Duck with the hurt leg what type of anti Inflationary did you get for the duck?

 

[donaquijote]

Piotr, my 3 year-old Pekin just started limping this morning and has sat most of the day in a pile of soft wood chips in the back garden. I examined the undersides of his web feet and nothing seems amiss, however, this is most unusual! He hasn't used his swimming pool today and seems quite listless as does Posey, his year-old female Pekin friend. What might be the cause? I thought to splint the leg but I prefer to let a few days pass to see if he doesn't recover on his own. Meanwhile, I will keep the two of them contained in a 25 ft by 5 ft. area, rather than giving them the run of the garden. Very concerned and please offer advice if you have any. We live in San Francisco and the weather is mild but no rain this year.

 

[Amiga]

Listless - could they have gotten into something toxic? I would put a teaspoon of food grade activated charcoal per pint of drinking water overnight tonight.