Female duck injuried with infected wounds

Animal helper

Hatching
Jul 2, 2024
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Hello people.
I live in a condo and inside de condo are a few ducks.

A female duck had had a nest with eggs and I was been watching it.

But after a few days I went to see the nest and the eggs was damaged and broken and the female duck had a big wound in the middle of it's eyes and full of flies around her and insects inside the wound.

After an hour I come back to her and I noticed that a male duck was on her, like In act of reproduction..... Just after that the male duck left her alone and I see her with a little bit energy but still full of flies.

But now she is again weak.

I don't know what to do, and if is safe to do something. Or just wait for the recuperation or dead?

I feel a huge shame for the poor duck. Please tell me what to do.

some pictures attached

P.D: sorry my English is not the best.
 

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1. Treat for shock as the number one step. Mix one teaspoon of sugar into a cup of warm water with a pinch of salt and baking soda. Have the patient drink it all or syringe it into the beak.

2. Flush the wound well with saline. This is better than soap and water as it maintains the ph of the tissues. But warm soap and water will do. You need to wash away the bacteria from the wound. Scrub off any hardened black scabs. Remove all fly larvae.

3. Inspect the wound carefully. If it has a skin flap dangling, keep that. Do not cut it off. Look for bite, tear or puncture marks indicating a puncture wound. If you see this, the patient will need an oral antibiotic such as amoxicillin. Bacteria from the predator’s mouth can be injected deep into tissue and can kill in as little as 24 to 48 hours. You may want to try to obtain some amoxicillin from your vet to treat the bacteria that may have been left behind in the puncture wound.

4. Use a topical antibiotic ointment without pain killer in it to coat the wound. If there's a skin flap, lay it across the wound that has just been coated with the ointment. Then smooth on a generous amount over the top of the skin flap to hold it in place.

5. It's useless to try to stitch a wound on a duck. Don't even try. It's also useless to try to bandage a wound other than on the feet. The duck will not tolerate it. It will be pulled off faster than you can blink an eye.

6. Clean the wound every day following the above steps. Keep the wound covered with the ointment. Never allow the wound to get dried out or it will not heal.
 
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Thank you for helping this poor duck.

I rescue ducks and 3 weeks ago had three pekins that had been attacked by a dog. They have all recovered (although the 2 females have stopped laying).

My suggestion is that you hold this poor muscovy in a sink and directly irrigated (clean out) the wound with tap water. The three I had all calmed down when held in water in a bathroom sink.

Kote Blue spray from Tractor Supply Co or Amazon is a good antiseptic to spray into the wound. Please wrap the head with an old cloth to cover the eyes but expose the wound. That is so the Kote Blue goes into the wound not the eyes.

The duck may remain shocked and not eating for several days. You might get some pedialyte or Liquid IV sachets and make up a quart of oral rehydration solution. Give the solution for the duck to drink from a deep tub. Continue with oral rehydration solution until the duck is eating normally

Keep her quiet for the next few days. You could keep her in a pet carrier or a cardboard box so that she sits down and rests. I put puppy pads in the bottom of the carrier to soak up poop. But you can use old coths or towels or even newspaper.

I kept my 3 patients in pet carriers for 3 days, just letting them swim in shallow water once a day. They didn't actually swim, but it was good to let them out of the carrier for 30 minutes or so.

Your muscovy can fly, and so you can't leave her unattended in a bath as I did my three until they were well enough to go back to their owner who had built a new safe run for his ducks.

If you can get a dog crate, you could keep the duck in the dog crate from day 4 until eating properly and you know the wound is healing. The wound will be dry if it is healing. But it will start discharging if it is infected. If it is infected, it needs repeated daily irrigation with water or salt water, until it dries.

I think the duck should have oral antibiotic. Enrofloxacin 10% 0.1ml per pound--I would guess a female muscovy is 8lb wt. So she would need 0.8ml once a day, dropped into er bill at the side of her tongue. You can buy meloxicam 10% from
www.allbirdproducts.com and it comes with a plastic syringe to measure out the dose.

Can you get a small 5lb bag of duck pellets from Tractor Supply Co or Amazon to feed her? When she is recovered, she will need 1 cup a day but she is unlikely to eat that amount until she is getting better.

I'm sorry, I am in St Augustine in St Johns County. So I am too far away to help you. But we will all offer you advice and support in this group

Edited to correct antibiotic to Enrofloxacin 10% which is generic Baytril-10
 
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