Duck with Disloacted Neck

[juniverse]

Hi guys,

I have a full grown mallard female duck with what seems to be a dislocated neck.
Her head is facing completely horizontal. When it initially happened she was rocking and moving her head crazy in circles.

She cannot walk straight at all and walks in circles.
She was doing the same thing when she was swimming in water. It was horrible to watch.

We don't know what to do. We picked her up and put her in a shallow large container and we are feeding her for now.
At least she's eating.

Will she be okay? Any methods to make her neck normal?

 

[RanchGirl13]

I suggest you take her to a bird vet because if you try something yourself you can sometimes make it worse

 

[Amiga]

I agree a vet would be best.

Hard to tell from your description, but unless you saw the injury, you could be describing botulism poisoning.

If that is the case, then at least giving her food grade activated charcoal in her water, to absorb toxins, is important to do.

Is it possible she got into something like fetid water, dead animal or plant material? Or some other kind of poisoning?

Take a look at this

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/700526/flushes-for-aiding-in-toxin-removal#post_9508213

 

[juniverse]

She walked over to our balcony and was perfectly fine then it suddenly just started twirling her head around like she was trying to get it straight back up.
It happened right in front of us. Quite scary to watch. General vets cannot assist with her issue?

 

[RanchGirl13]

Well most vets don't do birds you should try to find a bird vet in your area or somewhere nearby to help I just call them bird vets because they also do birds or just birds

 

[Amiga]

A general vet may be willing to try to help . . . it depends on the individual.

But I would start right now giving charcoal in her water. You can get the charcoal where supplements are sold. Or, if you only burn clean hardwood in a wood stove, you can use the charcoal from the stove. Grind it up very fine.

Do not use firestarter charcoal briquettes - they contain poison.

I need to turn in now. Keep her in a clean area with plenty of fresh water, where you can keep an eye on her.

 

[juniverse]

Good news guys. It's really odd but her head is now normally placed. We took her back to the pond in a large container and when we placed her in it for transport she sort of bumped her head on the side (because she was freaking out). We suspect that sort of knocked her neck back into place!! Her sister is keeping her company and she's fine.

Thanks for all your help and advice.
I know she's just a duck but we helped care for her since she was only little.

 

[Amiga]

Nice to read she is better.

Keep an eye on her, though. If she is getting into something toxic, please re-read what I wrote above. Hope this was just a one-time thing.