Duckling with leg/foot abnormalities

[DwayneNLiz]

Good luck!!!!
So glad you are taking him to an avian vet and were able to find one!!!!!!

 

[Ravynscroft]

 

[SaeruhMariee]

Sad to report, Tiny passed away last night. I knew there was a chance he wouldn't make it but I'm still heartbroken. Thank you all for your help.

 

[DwayneNLiz]

Sad to report, Tiny passed away last night. I knew there was a chance he wouldn't make it but I'm still heartbroken. Thank you all for your help.

so sorry
you did everything you could

 

[Debs Flock]

Very sorry for your loss.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Sad to report, Tiny passed away last night. I knew there was a chance he wouldn't make it but I'm still heartbroken. Thank you all for your help.

So sorry for your loss!!
You did your best for him...

 

[Miss Lydia]

So very sorry.

 

[Kimmyh51]

Just came across this thread now, though I can see it is a few years old.

Was wondering what the vet had diagnosed Tiny with?
The photos look like my duck Mills did as a duckling. Mills hatched with her legs out behind her just like that. She was also positioned sort of breech in the egg and had a second small air sac half way along the egg (between the rounded top of the egg where a normal sized air sac was and the pointy bottom of the egg was this second smaller air sac which she piped into.

I had first thought her leg problem was splay/straddle leg, slipped tendon etc, but splinting etc that had worked well on other ducklings did nothing, and over the first few days after hatching Mills legs got more and more firmly in that position.

The tendon wasn’t slipped, it was in the right place at the back of the hock. (I have seen slipped tendons in ducklings and adults and know what they look like) It was more like someone had shortened a cm or two off the length of the tendon and pulled it tight. if you imagine if something grabbed that back tendon and pulled it really tight so that the leg and foot curled up, that’s what it is like.

Mills is just over 2 now and aside from her ‘crazy legs’ has kept good health. She obviously can’t walk, but still has an active and busy life both with me as my wee bestie and baby girl and also with the ducks who she spends time with daily.

Anyway I have never seen any other stories or photos or videos of ducks/ducklings like this so was interested in whether your vet had a diagnosis for tiny.

Also so sorry you lost the little one. I have a large flock of ducks, but Mills is so very special to me and I am so blessed to have her in my life so I wish you had had that chance also with Tiny.

The thing about ducks who are like Mills is, is that while I would love for her to have a chance to walk, which she never will, you do get an opportunity to become so much closer to them because of the fact that they need much more time and care every day. The relationship I have with Mills is something I know I am unlikely to have with another duck, we know each other so well, it’s hard to put into words how special the relationship is or how much she means to me.

If anyone else out there has ever had a duckling hatch with both legs curled up behind it, and the legs remained that way despite any attempts to correct it, I would love to hear from them, as till now I haven’t seen any other stories of ducklings like Mills.

Also if anyone else has a duckling hatch like this and would like some advice on the ways I have managed this with Mills (keeping her comfy, happy and her keel supported, exercise, swimming, and keeping her mentally occupied and interested, fitting nappies overnight when she is indoors, and various other things that Mills and I have worked out together. Despite never having walked, Mills is a happy, sociable, clever, duck who enjoys her life and has done pretty much everything any other duck does (except walk) and has also done a whole lotta stuff other walking ducks will never get to do. So for anyone who hatches a disabled duck falls in love with that duck but worries that it might not be able to have a good life, they can have a great life, you just need to work with them and sometimes think outside the box for ways to allow them to find their own joy.

 

[Sierra67]

Just came across this thread now, though I can see it is a few years old.

Was wondering what the vet had diagnosed Tiny with?
The photos look like my duck Mills did as a duckling. Mills hatched with her legs out behind her just like that. She was also positioned sort of breech in the egg and had a second small air sac half way along the egg (between the rounded top of the egg where a normal sized air sac was and the pointy bottom of the egg was this second smaller air sac which she piped into.

I had first thought her leg problem was splay/straddle leg, slipped tendon etc, but splinting etc that had worked well on other ducklings did nothing, and over the first few days after hatching Mills legs got more and more firmly in that position.

The tendon wasn’t slipped, it was in the right place at the back of the hock. (I have seen slipped tendons in ducklings and adults and know what they look like) It was more like someone had shortened a cm or two off the length of the tendon and pulled it tight. if you imagine if something grabbed that back tendon and pulled it really tight so that the leg and foot curled up, that’s what it is like.

Mills is just over 2 now and aside from her ‘crazy legs’ has kept good health. She obviously can’t walk, but still has an active and busy life both with me as my wee bestie and baby girl and also with the ducks who she spends time with daily.

Anyway I have never seen any other stories or photos or videos of ducks/ducklings like this so was interested in whether your vet had a diagnosis for tiny.

Also so sorry you lost the little one. I have a large flock of ducks, but Mills is so very special to me and I am so blessed to have her in my life so I wish you had had that chance also with Tiny.

The thing about ducks who are like Mills is, is that while I would love for her to have a chance to walk, which she never will, you do get an opportunity to become so much closer to them because of the fact that they need much more time and care every day. The relationship I have with Mills is something I know I am unlikely to have with another duck, we know each other so well, it’s hard to put into words how special the relationship is or how much she means to me.

If anyone else out there has ever had a duckling hatch with both legs curled up behind it, and the legs remained that way despite any attempts to correct it, I would love to hear from them, as till now I haven’t seen any other stories of ducklings like Mills.

Also if anyone else has a duckling hatch like this and would like some advice on the ways I have managed this with Mills (keeping her comfy, happy and her keel supported, exercise, swimming, and keeping her mentally occupied and interested, fitting nappies overnight when she is indoors, and various other things that Mills and I have worked out together. Despite never having walked, Mills is a happy, sociable, clever, duck who enjoys her life and has done pretty much everything any other duck does (except walk) and has also done a whole lotta stuff other walking ducks will never get to do. So for anyone who hatches a disabled duck falls in love with that duck but worries that it might not be able to have a good life, they can have a great life, you just need to work with them and sometimes think outside the box for ways to allow them to find their own joy.

My duckling hatched with twisted feet too, I managed to mostly get one fixed and the other is sideways. She’s now 8 weeks old and gets around, she walks slower than the others but she’s doing ok. My problem is that I’m not sure how long she will last like that
These photos are how she looked after hatching and after working on them, the last picture the mostly curled foot now sits open but she walks on the side of it

 

[Miss Lydia]

Did you try putting shoes on her to keep her feet flat and as normal as possible?

when I say shoes I mean like this?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...s-with-tape-picture-tutorial-and-video.75247/