duck with a broken leg

[RisingSpring]

so i think my magpie drake might have a broken leg

yesterday morning, i found his partner, a crested duck, dead in the road. they NEVER ever go in the road. i think something may have chased them during the night and they ended up in the road. anyhow.. the drake looks like he has some kind of head injury, one eye looks swollen. yesterday he looked okay otherwise. but he has been staying in the pond so i haven't been able to inspect him that closely. well, this morning i noticed he is only swimming with one leg while the other one he is kinda holding up and is just floating behind.

i'm going to wait a bit and cross my fingers that it might be sprained. but if it is broken, i am guessing not much can be done? anyone have anything like this happen?

 

[Amiga]

That's a tough one. Really, he needs veterinary care.

And if he's not used to being handled, I don't know how you'd treat him.

But hope springs eternal, and if it were me, I would bring him into sick bay, put him in a tub of deep lukewarm water and examine him closely. If nothing appears to be broken, I'd use Epsom salts compresses on the leg. I would get him on oral antibiotics, vitamins-electrolytes-probiotics, and keep him quiet for a few days at least.

 

[RisingSpring]

just wanted to give an update, so no one thinks i just let that bird suffer alone.
i kept a close eye on him that day, though i wasn't able to physically check him myself, he is not used to ever being touched or picked up. i got a feeling that his leg wasn't broken though, so i decided to wait it out. more than anything he honestly just looked sad and depressed from losing his partner

by the next day he was walking around, but not putting much weight on the leg or using that leg when swimming. he took it easy, resting for most of the day, and day after day he made improvement. he still has a slight limp but is otherwise totally back to normal. i am so relieved.

 

[Miss Lydia]

just wanted to give an update, so no one thinks i just let that bird suffer alone.
i kept a close eye on him that day, though i wasn't able to physically check him myself, he is not used to ever being touched or picked up. i got a feeling that his leg wasn't broken though, so i decided to wait it out. more than anything he honestly just looked sad and depressed from losing his partner

by the next day he was walking around, but not putting much weight on the leg or using that leg when swimming. he took it easy, resting for most of the day, and day after day he made improvement. he still has a slight limp but is otherwise totally back to normal. i am so relieved.

That is great news, thank you for updating.

 

[learycow]

just wanted to give an update, so no one thinks i just let that bird suffer alone.
i kept a close eye on him that day, though i wasn't able to physically check him myself, he is not used to ever being touched or picked up. i got a feeling that his leg wasn't broken though, so i decided to wait it out. more than anything he honestly just looked sad and depressed from losing his partner

by the next day he was walking around, but not putting much weight on the leg or using that leg when swimming. he took it easy, resting for most of the day, and day after day he made improvement. he still has a slight limp but is otherwise totally back to normal. i am so relieved.

From my experiences, as long as they can eat and drink normally, they will be fine.
I had one of my khaki hens get stepped on by my draft horse. It broke her leg up near her body. She would flap around as she didn't want to be left out of the flock. It was broken too high up for me to cast (I could feel it, and her bottom leg/foot was hanging limp). So I built a large pen in my coop. I put her and one other, small duck in there with food and water. I kept her in there, quiet and food and water close enough so she didn't have to move much to get to them. I left her in there for 4 weeks.
She healed almost perfectly. She only has a slight limp now but you wouldn't even notice it unless you were looking for it.

Ducks do not have nerves in their feet and legs so as long as you can prevent the leg from getting worse, the duck should heal itself

 

[chickenfreak101]

Poor duck.