Duck With Swollen Ankle

[Texag87]

@Mimi13 please do not give up on ducks. We love your stories and no matter what, Ralphie is wrong. Ducks are the best pets. You just have to be willing to give more care and realize it’s all worth it in the long run. Your Ralphie, my Bandit, and Hillbillies Limpy are my favorite drakes. Yess they are @$$holes but we love them anyway.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Sounds like you're doing everything right.

I've kept heavyweight breeds for quite a few years, and wouldn't recommend them to anyone that wants "matinence-free ducks", after three years of age, IME, they become less mobile and prone to hygiene-related problems and injuring their legs, I've left a brick out in the yard and have watched one directly trip over it instead of walking around it, and develop a limp soon after. Of course, taking every single trip-able item out of yard would be laborious and time-consuming, but taking time to pick up a few logs, that's in its walking path would be a precautious measure nonetheless.

It's sad, but the truth that Pekins are supposed to be butchered, not kept as pets. They can be, but problems are a given.

The secret is not to keep heavier birds alone! By the way the White Layer is considered a light-weight breed and so is the Buff Orpington.
(See here: http://ducks.database4specialists.com/)
If you keep the heavier birds together with some active light-weight breeds like Swedish or Runners, they will keep up with those agile ducks and develop much stronger muscles than they usually would. And stay healthier for a much longer time.
I can only talk about my experiences with the White Layers, no clue about the Pekin breed. And i discourage everybody to keep Pekins as pet ducks (@Mimi13 you remember?) because, sadly you are correct: They have been bread as meat-birds, the same way as the Aylesbury, Rouen, Saxony and the Silver Appleyard, ready to be dinner at an age of 3-4 months…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

The aches and pains always have to happen to the “heavier” ones, huh? That’s just not fair, but probably explains why my hips and legs hurt.

That video is a bit disturbing for me. I’m gonna have to research the whole trachea/esophagus layout in a duck before I’d try that. I can’t imagine just “sliding the pill over the trachea.” Something sounds amiss.

Anyway I am giving her (all of them, actually) the High Level Vitamin B Complex.View attachment 2274727

As far as her feed goes, I feed my whole mixed flock (gender, age & species) Kalmbach Flock Maker. It is a 20% feed. There is oyster shell a la carte for all the ones that need it. Yes, and even my goofy rooster munches on it every now and then.

How is she doing by now? Did she lay another egg?

Yes, even my drakes help themselves at the Calcium bar from time to time. I believe they know what they're doing! Like us, when we crave for salt after working outside on a hot day and sweating out gallons…
So you're feeding crumbles to everybody? - I started with crumbles too, but quickly switched to pellets, which turned out to be the favorite for the ducks. Whenever i now try to feed them crumbles (the local feed mill inists to give me samples) they look at me with that »You want to poison us?« look, try a bit, spit it out and then run to the waterer to clean out their bills. It is not the taste they dislike, it is the texture. I ground up some pellets for this year's ducklings - yes, i admit: I have fed ground up layer pellets to my ducklings and they grew up faster than weed, so shut-up y'all! - The grown ups would not touch the duckling's feed bowl, not even when i mixed ground up cat-food under the pellets.
The main reason why i tried the pellets was that my ducks wasted almost ½ of their crumbles: It fell out out of their bills to the ground, it ended up as a slimy mud at the bottom of the water bowl, it was a total mess. - I did tell you that ducks are messy eaters?
With the pellets there is so much less wasted feed! Still some is lost, but much much less.

Sorry about the excursion to the pellets,

back to Petey: Panting is not a good sign, unfortunately! - It means that she is feeling too hot and is trying to lower her body temperature. Duck and dogs don't have sweat glands in their skin and pant to evaporate their saliva in their mouth to cool their blood. Other than dogs, ducks have a second mechanism to cool down: Their legs and feet! On hot days you can see Bazilla duck just standing in a bowl of cold water to cool down. She just stands there for an hour, then hops out, continue to do duck chores and hops back in when she gets hot again. Have you tried to offer her cold water - not with ice, just tap water cold?
She may has developed a fever, which can lead to leg cramps. I had that last year with Bazilla, her legs were locked behind her and she could no longer stand. Had her in a cold bath for ~2 hours and suddenly she went back to semi-normal.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/white-layer-duck-unable-to-use-her-legs.1334200/

By the way, by looking at the pictures you have posted i don't think her foot is swollen at all. The white layers do have clumsy looking feet - like the Pekin ducks too . The six White Layer feet here are all looking different in size and shape, it seems they adjust to how the individual duck is using them by growing additional tissues.

 

[Mimi13]

How is she doing by now? Did she lay another egg?

Yes, even my drakes help themselves at the Calcium bar from time to time. I believe they know what they're doing! Like us, when we crave for salt after working outside on a hot day and sweating out gallons…
So you're feeding crumbles to everybody? - I started with crumbles too, but quickly switched to pellets, which turned out to be the favorite for the ducks. Whenever i now try to feed them crumbles (the local feed mill inists to give me samples) they look at me with that »You want to poison us?« look, try a bit, spit it out and then run to the waterer to clean out their bills. It is not the taste they dislike, it is the texture. I ground up some pellets for this year's ducklings - yes, i admit: I have fed ground up layer pellets to my ducklings and they grew up faster than weed, so shut-up y'all! - The grown ups would not touch the duckling's feed bowl, not even when i mixed ground up cat-food under the pellets.
The main reason why i tried the pellets was that my ducks wasted almost ½ of their crumbles: It fell out out of their bills to the ground, it ended up as a slimy mud at the bottom of the water bowl, it was a total mess. - I did tell you that ducks are messy eaters?
With the pellets there is so much less wasted feed! Still some is lost, but much much less.

Sorry about the excursion to the pellets,

back to Petey: Panting is not a good sign, unfortunately! - It means that she is feeling too hot and is trying to lower her body temperature. Duck and dogs don't have sweat glands in their skin and pant to evaporate their saliva in their mouth to cool their blood. Other than dogs, ducks have a second mechanism to cool down: Their legs and feet! On hot days you can see Bazilla duck just standing in a bowl of cold water to cool down. She just stands there for an hour, then hops out, continue to do duck chores and hops back in when she gets hot again. Have you tried to offer her cold water - not with ice, just tap water cold?
She may has developed a fever, which can lead to leg cramps. I had that last year with Bazilla, her legs were locked behind her and she could no longer stand. Had her in a cold bath for ~2 hours and suddenly she went back to semi-normal.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/white-layer-duck-unable-to-use-her-legs.1334200/

By the way, by looking at the pictures you have posted i don't think her foot is swollen at all. The white layers do have clumsy looking feet - like the Pekin ducks too . The six White Layer feet here are all looking different in size and shape, it seems they adjust to how the individual duck is using them by growing additional tissues.

Where to begin.

Oh yes, she laid another egg. It was a dramatic morning in how it all came about. Read about it Here. I posted it in My Love Affair With Ducks! I’m convinced Petey will be the center of attention no matter what. Diva Duck!

Back before I had chicks mixed in with adult birds, I fed Purina Layer with Omega 3 pellet feed...to both female and the few males I had. But once the bitties started eating with their broody mothers I switched to Purina All Flock. No where around me sold it in pellets, only crumble, even though I saw on Purina’s website that they made the All Flock in pellet form. After about 3 1/2 years of feeding Purina, TSC started being really slack about their stock and seemed to only have old feed, like 4-5 months old. The crumbles also seemed to be more “fines” than crumbles. So I started looking around for another brand. I decided several months ago to switch to Kalmbach Flock Maker crumbles. It’s a 20% feed like the All Flock. The Kalmbach crumbles is a real crumble, not a near powdered feed. However, I am now having difficulty with the feed store I found to keep the Flock Maker in stock. It pisses me off that these stores don’t realize the seriousness/importance of keeping birds on the same feed and not bouncing from on to another. I’ll step off my soapbox now. But, yes, I want to change back to pellets because you are right, these dang ducks’ waterer has about an inch of feed in the bottom of it each time I empty it. And there is so much of the fines around all the chickens’ feeders that I’m at war with the d@mn ants. Horns are now sprouting out of my head cause I’m so mad about it.

That ankle joint is definitely swollen and even feels like it has fluid in it. However, I am happy to report that Petey is outside with her buddies, confined to their run, and is doing very good. Provided she continues doing well today, I will leave her with the others.

Maybe panting wasn’t the correct word to use, but that’s what it looked like. Here is a video showing what I was referring to. You will have to zoom in on her, past the dog worn ottoman, to see her mouth and body, and hear her breathing. But despite what you see, she is completely fine...fine as wine! She didn’t skip a beat when I put her down into the pool this morning, right after I took this video.

Let me know what you think.

 

[Mimi13]

And don't worry about your property not being a »good setup« for ducks! - I wish i just had those hickory-nuts (i read they taste yummy!), here i have pine-tree cones with pointy thorn like hooks that easily penetrate skin - humon and duck!
And i wouldn't even consider your "slope" a slope! I have 45° slopes here that are impossible to mow and still the ducks run up and down like they are training for the Pikes-Peak hill climb race… I have all kinds of terrain too: Soft muddy surfaces, pasture (with hidden pine cones!), gravel and even some concrete. The ducks conquer them all without problems.
And ducks can hop steps up- and down without injuring themselves. Up is never a problem, down all my ducks have a different strategy: The Runners just hop down, the swedish »fly« and the White Layers just slide down and use their front and bottom »airbags«.
Petey is still growing, and growing ducks do hurt themselves from time to time, but they also have incredible healing capabilities. Don't worry! All your ducks will be fine and happy at your place!

Well this post is definitely reassuring. Thank you! I guess most places have their own aggravations.

And about those hickory nuts — I’m not sure how anyone would crack the darn things without pulverizing the nut. They can only be cracked with a hammer.

 

[Mimi13]

Sounds like you're doing everything right.

I've kept heavyweight breeds for quite a few years, and wouldn't recommend them to anyone that wants "matinence-free ducks", after three years of age, IME, they become less mobile and prone to hygiene-related problems and injuring their legs, I've left a brick out in the yard and have watched one directly trip over it instead of walking around it, and develop a limp soon after. Of course, taking every single trip-able item out of yard would be laborious and time-consuming, but taking time to pick up a few logs, that's in its walking path would be a precautious measure nonetheless.

It's sad, but the truth that Pekins are supposed to be butchered, not kept as pets. They can be, but problems are a given.

This is very good info too. Thank you so much for your help! I do appreciate every bit you’ve shared.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Where to begin.

Oh yes, she laid another egg. It was a dramatic morning in how it all came about. Read about it Here. I posted it in My Love Affair With Ducks! I’m convinced Petey will be the center of attention no matter what. Diva Duck!

Back before I had chicks mixed in with adult birds, I fed Purina Layer with Omega 3 pellet feed...to both female and the few males I had. But once the bitties started eating with their broody mothers I switched to Purina All Flock. No where around me sold it in pellets, only crumble, even though I saw on Purina’s website that they made the All Flock in pellet form. After about 3 1/2 years of feeding Purina, TSC started being really slack about their stock and seemed to only have old feed, like 4-5 months old. The crumbles also seemed to be more “fines” than crumbles. So I started looking around for another brand. I decided several months ago to switch to Kalmbach Flock Maker crumbles. It’s a 20% feed like the All Flock. The Kalmbach crumbles is a real crumble, not a near powdered feed. However, I am now having difficulty with the feed store I found to keep the Flock Maker in stock. It pisses me off that these stores don’t realize the seriousness/importance of keeping birds on the same feed and not bouncing from on to another. I’ll step off my soapbox now. But, yes, I want to change back to pellets because you are right, these dang ducks’ waterer has about an inch of feed in the bottom of it each time I empty it. And there is so much of the fines around all the chickens’ feeders that I’m at war with the d@mn ants. Horns are now sprouting out of my head cause I’m so mad about it.

That ankle joint is definitely swollen and even feels like it has fluid in it. However, I am happy to report that Petey is outside with her buddies, confined to their run, and is doing very good. Provided she continues doing well today, I will leave her with the others.

Maybe panting wasn’t the correct word to use, but that’s what it looked like. Here is a video showing what I was referring to. You will have to zoom in on her, past the dog worn ottoman, to see her mouth and body, and hear her breathing. But despite what you see, she is completely fine...fine as wine! She didn’t skip a beat when I put her down into the pool this morning, right after I took this video.

Let me know what you think.

Petey is not panting! - Ducks in general breathe much faster than humons and other birds like xickens! They have an incredibly fast metabolism, which helps them a lot to fight off infections and even parasites. Ducks can't catch fleas, for example. They will unavoidably get them from other animals, but the "poor" fleas will be roasted by the duck's body heat before they can even bite the duck. Also minor injuries, scratches, strains heal really quickly, especially in young ducks like Petey.
An example for a duck in distress: This is Bazilla Duck panting and salivating last year when she was over-heated.

You can see her saliva dripping out of her bill and her fast and shallow breathing.

The swollen ankle: All you are showing in the picture is her foot. The ankle is the joint that sits in the middle of her leg and the knee is further up, under her feathers…

And still, her foot looks perfectly healthy to me.
I guess her limping was due to the beginning of the egg laying process. I have always asked myself how such a small duck is able to push out an egg with a circumference of three fingers. Her body needs a bit of time to adjust to this!

And yes, i am sure she will be a Diva Duck! Guess why o have recommended the White Layer? - Everybody needs to have a white Diva Duck! is always the White Layers that come running at me first when i sit down somewhere in the garden or i start digging or doing something. It might be food motivated, but it is just sweet!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Well this post is definitely reassuring. Thank you! I guess most places have their own aggravations.

And about those hickory nuts — I’m not sure how anyone would crack the darn things without pulverizing the nut. They can only be cracked with a hammer.

I just asked our common fried google and the first hit was this:

Seems much harder to crack than Pekan-nuts, but i would use my drill-press vise from Harbor-freight - would i have a hickory-tree. Sadly they don't grow here. I did not even knew that hickory trees produce nuts! Back in Texas they were growing wild in every undeveloped plot of land. Do mesquite trees produce nuts too?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

@Mimi13 please do not give up on ducks. We love your stories and no matter what, Ralphie is wrong. Ducks are the best pets. You just have to be willing to give more care and realize it’s all worth it in the long run. Your Ralphie, my Bandit, and Hillbillies Limpy are my favorite drakes. Yess they are @$$holes but we love them anyway.

I can only agree! - And Roosters can be much worse a-holes than drakes! (Personal experience with a tiny red rooster!!!)

 

[Mimi13]

Petey is not panting! - Ducks in general breathe much faster than humons and other birds like xickens! They have an incredibly fast metabolism, which helps them a lot to fight off infections and even parasites. Ducks can't catch fleas, for example. They will unavoidably get them from other animals, but the "poor" fleas will be roasted by the duck's body heat before they can even bite the duck. Also minor injuries, scratches, strains heal really quickly, especially in young ducks like Petey.
An example for a duck in distress: This is Bazilla Duck panting and salivating last year when she was over-heated.

You can see her saliva dripping out of her bill and her fast and shallow breathing.

The swollen ankle: All you are showing in the picture is her foot. The ankle is the joint that sits in the middle of her leg and the knee is further up, under her feathers…
View attachment 2275707
And still, her foot looks perfectly healthy to me.
I guess her limping was due to the beginning of the egg laying process. I have always asked myself how such a small duck is able to push out an egg with a circumference of three fingers. Her body needs a bit of time to adjust to this!

And yes, i am sure she will be a Diva Duck! Guess why o have recommended the White Layer? - Everybody needs to have a white Diva Duck! is always the White Layers that come running at me first when i sit down somewhere in the garden or i start digging or doing something. It might be food motivated, but it is just sweet!

I should have taken a pic of both of her feet for comparison. Her right foot (ankle) was definitely swollen almost twice the size of her left. The area circled even had a reddish tint underneath/in between the orange outer skin. And it was squishy, like there was a fluid filled sac in there. I thought that joint was called the ankle and the one just above it was the knee. I’m probably wrong, but regardless of what it’s called, that joint where her leg bends and becomes her foot is where the swelling is. I will try to get another picture of both her feet together when I go to let them out. They are being sequestered until 9, so they’ve got another hour in the pokey.

And trust me, I do everything I can to make sure every one of the ducks get a treat from my hand, but Petey does everything she can to wiggle herself around and get the treat, not meant for her, out of my hand. She is a pig and very forceful. But she’s also very lovable when laying in my lap.