Duck with Weak Hock - Likely Arthritis

[Duck Duck Moose]

Hi folks,

I have a sweet pekin duck who has crunchy hocks, as in, when I hold her and move her leg at the joint, I can feel/hear it grind. I assume arthritis has set in on an old injury, as she has always had an awkward gait.

Months ago when I took her to the vet, I was told that she had good muscle mass in both legs and nothing was done. (It was early into her limp so she hadn't deteriorated as she has now.)

These days, she spends the majority of her time resting. She limps badly when she walks and sometimes just collapses while standing. I've guided her food intake to keep her from overeating since she forages less, have dosed her with niacin, glucosamine, turmeric, etc., and spend as much time as I can giving her a good quality of life. I check her hocks for resting sores (none to date), trim her toenails, and massage her hocks and scratch her head. Her greatest joy is time in the water, so I make sure she has access to her pool. The buoyancy helps her flap, stretch, and preen. She keeps herself beautiful. On days when I feel like she may just be suffering through life, I'll catch her hitting the pool and it reminds me that she is still spunky and deserving of my efforts.

I have made slings to suspend her, but she is still strong enough to get out of them. I know that's a good thing, but I also know that her one leg is tremendously impacting her movement daily. I am in this hard spot of letting her mobilize the best she can, or try to suspend her to take the pain from those joints.

If you have any advice on care, treatment, and experience, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

 

[HKG]

@DucksAreBest

 

[Quatie]

Sorry to hear about your duck. @Isaac 0 or @Miss Lydia may be able to help you.

I have seen things about duck slings to take weight off the legs.

This thread may also provide you with people and ideas to ask help from. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ducks-with-special-needs.1136769/#post-17613744

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'm sorry about your duck , seems as they get older they can develop arthritis same as us.
My 10yr old Muscovy drake injured his leg fighting my gander last spring and developed a limp from it. no outward sign of injury though. He isn't one to move around a lot anyway not like my Runners so I have just been giving him 81mg aspirin daily wrapped in a small piece of bread. We don't have vets around us that treat birds or I'd try and get Meloxicam for him. If you have a vet that will see your duck maybe that would be the way to go so you can get Meloxicam for her. Sounds like your giving her a good life.

 

[Duck Duck Moose]

Sorry to hear about your duck. @Isaac 0 or @Miss Lydia may be able to help you.

I have seen things about duck slings to take weight off the legs.

This thread may also provide you with people and ideas to ask help from. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ducks-with-special-needs.1136769/#post-17613744

Thank you for your care. She is a trooper so I will just keep taking it day by day. That was a very sweet forum. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Duck Duck Moose]

I'm sorry about your duck , seems as they get older they can develop arthritis same as us.
My 10yr old Muscovy drake injured his leg fighting my gander last spring and developed a limp from it. no outward sign of injury though. He isn't one to move around a lot anyway not like my Runners so I have just been giving him 81mg aspirin daily wrapped in a small piece of bread. We don't have vets around us that treat birds or I'd try and get Meloxicam for him. If you have a vet that will see your duck maybe that would be the way to go so you can get Meloxicam for her. Sounds like your giving her a good life.

Thank you for your reply and care, Miss Lydia. I will get her back on Aspirin. I realize that being a pekin, she was predisposed to leg injuries, but I'm sad that she's only 2.5 years old and suffering from these issues. Sometimes we're just born with a harder row to hoe. She is a little sassy toughie though, so I will keep working with her as long as she wants me to do so.

 

[CoriM]

@Duck Duck Moose I'd love to hear an update on your pekin. Mine is 3 years old and having a hard time walking.

 

[Duck Duck Moose]

@Duck Duck Moose I'd love to hear an update on your pekin. Mine is 3 years old and having a hard time walking.

Hi CoriM,

Thank you for reaching out. Unfortunately, her symptoms and problems only worsened. The crunchy hocks became (or were always) slipped tendons. One was always worse than the other, so when she tried to baby the worse one, she wore the good one. I made her suspension hammocks and wheelchairs, used trigger finger splints on her legs, and worked with her everyday. She never showed signs of improvement, but I was dedicated to helping her live a nice life with what she was given.

When I came home one day to find that her worse leg had "locked" due to the tendon not being able to slip back into place without my help, it broke my heart. She couldn't swim anymore and that is when I knew it was time to give her peace. Looking back, I think she should have been culled months sooner, but this was the first experience I had with ducks.

My truest, warmest advice is to watch your duck and assess whether it is still able to be a duck. When a duck cannot be a duck, I believe intervention should take place. Lots of love to you and your bird.

 

[CoriM]

I'm so sorry for your experience! That sounds so hard. You truly gave her your best efforts and did everything you could - I can tell you really cared about her and took great care of her! It's so hard to see them suffer, but yet you really want to give them every chance you can.

Last summer I had a 2.5 year old pekin go lame for no apparent reason. She was much worse than this girl, and could only move using her wings to stabilize herself. After a couple of months of carrying her around we put her down. This one I now have on calcium 2x a day, a collagen supplement, and vitamin B complex every day. She's been fed a quality waterfowl food, but I didn't have her on layer the past 9 months because she was laying weird eggs and I read an article that it might be best even for layers bodies to eat non-layer food. She didn't lay any eggs for several months all winter, and even now just lays a couple a week, so I wouldn't think the non-layer food would have depleted her calcium, but I switched to layer feed again just in case. She's always had oyster shells but didn't really eat them this winter. I'll keep up with the meds and see if she makes a gradual improvement. She's not getting worse, so thankful for that, and can walk around a little bit, just not distances of any length and she sits rather than forage with the rest of the ducks. I so hope it's not something I did wrong with her.

 

[Duck Duck Moose]

I'm so sorry for your experience! That sounds so hard. You truly gave her your best efforts and did everything you could - I can tell you really cared about her and took great care of her! It's so hard to see them suffer, but yet you really want to give them every chance you can.

Last summer I had a 2.5 year old pekin go lame for no apparent reason. She was much worse than this girl, and could only move using her wings to stabilize herself. After a couple of months of carrying her around we put her down. This one I now have on calcium 2x a day, a collagen supplement, and vitamin B complex every day. She's been fed a quality waterfowl food, but I didn't have her on layer the past 9 months because she was laying weird eggs and I read an article that it might be best even for layers bodies to eat non-layer food. She didn't lay any eggs for several months all winter, and even now just lays a couple a week, so I wouldn't think the non-layer food would have depleted her calcium, but I switched to layer feed again just in case. She's always had oyster shells but didn't really eat them this winter. I'll keep up with the meds and see if she makes a gradual improvement. She's not getting worse, so thankful for that, and can walk around a little bit, just not distances of any length and she sits rather than forage with the rest of the ducks. I so hope it's not something I did wrong with her.

I understand those feelings and empathize so very much. I repeatedly looked back at my "mistakes" and felt I had failed my bird. Be good to yourself and find comfort in knowing how much care you give your birds. I worried so much about my duck getting the proper nutrients since she couldn't forage like the others. She laid eggs right up to the end, which I found sad in a way. Her heart was there - her legs had just failed her.

It's a little sad loving things. But, I know it is worth it to have that expansion in my heart. I know you will continue to make good, sweet memories with your flock. Reach out anytime and all the best to you.