Duck With Swollen Ankle

[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.

 

[Mimi13]

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?

Well that is interesting and I’ll try that. My vice is out in the barn though, but I’ll see if I can’t produce some “hic-ker” nuts that way. They do taste very similar to pecans, but a little more bitter, maybe.
Here is what is funny. My huge Sadie, a GP/GS mix, will lay in the yard, crack those nuts and eat them. When the chickens see her doing that, they will all gather round and take part in eating what she’s cracked. Needless to say, she doesn’t eat many after they’ve gathered. I happened to catch it happening and took a picture. This was in January 2019.

However, I hate those nuts and wish I could cut the trees. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve fallen because of them.

 

[Mimi13]

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…

Yep, I remember you telling me that. And that also makes sense about the WL and BO sized birds keeping fit following the runners around. But let me tell you one thing, Ralphie is quicker than the eye. Just while ago he was in the pool when I was going through the gate. Somehow he got out of that pool and all the way up to the gate before I could turn around to latch it. And I didn’t even hear the little sucker. But there he stood, standing tall as could be!

 

[Mimi13]

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

Oh yeah, I hear ya!