- Mar 24, 2020
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Video provided below. I bought 3 ducklings last week and had a pretty bad event happen. I've had a lot of ducklings in the past 8 years so I was doing everything normal and how I've always done them no problems in 8 years. I always keep my babies in a brooder in the laundry room. What I didn't know is some kind of forest critter had made a hole near the dryer vent. I went in to check the babies to find one missing. I looked all over and couldn't find it thinking it escaped somehow. I picked up the other two thinking maybe it was in the bedding somewhere and saw another duckling bloody on it's side and I realized there was a hole in the side of the brooder. Something came up through a hole around the dryer vent and ate through the brooder and stole a duckling and harmed a second one.
I thankfully knew to immediately give it antibiotics. My daughter had pink eye and I had some liquid amoxicillian so I put it bit in the ducklings drinking water and it was drinking just fine. I figured it okay for the healthy one to have it too just in case. I cleaned and bandaged the wound and it looked like it was at the top of the leg. I kept it bandaged with limited mobility for a few days until it kept breaking free of the bandage. It's been a week and the duckling seems healed and the wound scabbed over. It is moving around on one leg and eating and drinking and traveling the brooder just fine. It's growing and I see the beginnings of feathers on it's little rear end. But the one leg looks shriveled. I'm not sure what to do. Will it just fall off if the thing bit and severed the leg?
If it's healthy will it be okay? Do I need to do anything about the shriveled leg or just leave it be? I figured it was so small a dog/cat vet couldn't help. No farm animal vets anywhere within 2 hours. I'm already looking up how to build a duck wheelchair in case it will be fine and needs mobility help.It's a tough little duckling.
I thankfully knew to immediately give it antibiotics. My daughter had pink eye and I had some liquid amoxicillian so I put it bit in the ducklings drinking water and it was drinking just fine. I figured it okay for the healthy one to have it too just in case. I cleaned and bandaged the wound and it looked like it was at the top of the leg. I kept it bandaged with limited mobility for a few days until it kept breaking free of the bandage. It's been a week and the duckling seems healed and the wound scabbed over. It is moving around on one leg and eating and drinking and traveling the brooder just fine. It's growing and I see the beginnings of feathers on it's little rear end. But the one leg looks shriveled. I'm not sure what to do. Will it just fall off if the thing bit and severed the leg?
If it's healthy will it be okay? Do I need to do anything about the shriveled leg or just leave it be? I figured it was so small a dog/cat vet couldn't help. No farm animal vets anywhere within 2 hours. I'm already looking up how to build a duck wheelchair in case it will be fine and needs mobility help.It's a tough little duckling.
