For the past two years, I've kept my 1 - 2 month old ducklings in a big, wire dog crate overnight in the garage before they move into the adult pens. The crate has a wire floor with pans underneath - the wire is small enough (about 1/2" wire mesh) that I figured it was safe - I'd never had a problem with it, even when my little Mallards lived in there.
Well, this morning I went to let them outside, and one of my Stanbridge White drakes is lying on the floor, flopping around and struggling. I let all the other ducks out, at which point, it became obvious that he was somehow stuck. I thought maybe he had pinched some feathers or a wing along the edge of the crate, but when I started feeling around to figure out where he was caught, I discovered that he had managed to get his entire leg and foot woven down through the wire, so that his leg was stuck down to his hock joint, and the foot came back up through the wire underneath him. Like I said, I've NEVER had a duckling manage to get a foot caught in that wire, I've never even seen one of them stumble on it, but this BIG 7 week old Stanbridge White drake managed to WEAVE his leg through it.
It was bad. I had to run next door and get my neighbor to help me manipulate the duck around to see what I could do. The wire is just too thick to cut away (and the ducks leg was so swollen, I don't think we could have cut the wire without cutting the leg too), and the way the leg was woven though the wire, we weren't sure which way to try and pull without causing more damage.
In the end, my neighbor bent down with a flashlight so he could see from underneath, we poured olive oil all over the leg, I managed to get a hold of his leg just under the hock joint, and pulled straight up. It was tight, the duck was obviously in a LOT of pain and he complained, but we finally managed to pull the leg out!
I took him inside and cleaned him up, to get an idea of the damage. His leg is very swollen - it was a little gray when it was stuck, and I was worried that the circulation had been cut off too long, but it got it's color back just a few seconds after we pulled him out. There's a small open wound on the leg, below the hock joint, where it was stuck, and I'm pretty sure that we dislocated something when we pulled him out. He's limping bad (which is to be expected), but he seems to have pretty good use of the leg, and the foot moves in response to my touching it - which is a really good sign!
He also did a LOT of damage to his wing while he was struggling to free himself. He broke LOTS of blood feathers - I'm not sure if I should pluck them or leave them be.
Anyways - I cleaned the wound on his leg with hydrogen peroxide and put a dab of antibiotic ointment on it, but I'm not sure what to do with the wing. I cleaned it really well, and now he's in a new, clean run that I set up quickly, with a few friends to keep him company. He ate, and he even preened himself after the bath I gave him in the bathtub (he kept losing his balance though
). I'll be keeping him and one companion separate from the other ducks for a few nights (NONE of them are going back in that wire crate!), and giving him lots of electrolytes in his water.
Any other suggestions? Especially about that wing - it's soooo tender, I want to do something to help him!
Plus, I want to avoid any infections - are there any antibiotics I should be giving him, in addition to the electrolytes?
I've been very lucky for the past 5 years - I've never lost a bird to a predator, and I've never had to deal with any injuries besides one broken blood feather on a wing of another of the Stanbridge Whites this year - so I apologize if I'm overreacting!
EDIT: He's having a lot of trouble keeping his balance - if he did dislocate a joint, is there anything I can do here at home to fix it? My vet is really great about helping me out with my ducks, but she closed an hour ago and won't be in again until Tuesday!
Well, this morning I went to let them outside, and one of my Stanbridge White drakes is lying on the floor, flopping around and struggling. I let all the other ducks out, at which point, it became obvious that he was somehow stuck. I thought maybe he had pinched some feathers or a wing along the edge of the crate, but when I started feeling around to figure out where he was caught, I discovered that he had managed to get his entire leg and foot woven down through the wire, so that his leg was stuck down to his hock joint, and the foot came back up through the wire underneath him. Like I said, I've NEVER had a duckling manage to get a foot caught in that wire, I've never even seen one of them stumble on it, but this BIG 7 week old Stanbridge White drake managed to WEAVE his leg through it.
It was bad. I had to run next door and get my neighbor to help me manipulate the duck around to see what I could do. The wire is just too thick to cut away (and the ducks leg was so swollen, I don't think we could have cut the wire without cutting the leg too), and the way the leg was woven though the wire, we weren't sure which way to try and pull without causing more damage.
In the end, my neighbor bent down with a flashlight so he could see from underneath, we poured olive oil all over the leg, I managed to get a hold of his leg just under the hock joint, and pulled straight up. It was tight, the duck was obviously in a LOT of pain and he complained, but we finally managed to pull the leg out!
I took him inside and cleaned him up, to get an idea of the damage. His leg is very swollen - it was a little gray when it was stuck, and I was worried that the circulation had been cut off too long, but it got it's color back just a few seconds after we pulled him out. There's a small open wound on the leg, below the hock joint, where it was stuck, and I'm pretty sure that we dislocated something when we pulled him out. He's limping bad (which is to be expected), but he seems to have pretty good use of the leg, and the foot moves in response to my touching it - which is a really good sign!
He also did a LOT of damage to his wing while he was struggling to free himself. He broke LOTS of blood feathers - I'm not sure if I should pluck them or leave them be.
Anyways - I cleaned the wound on his leg with hydrogen peroxide and put a dab of antibiotic ointment on it, but I'm not sure what to do with the wing. I cleaned it really well, and now he's in a new, clean run that I set up quickly, with a few friends to keep him company. He ate, and he even preened himself after the bath I gave him in the bathtub (he kept losing his balance though
Any other suggestions? Especially about that wing - it's soooo tender, I want to do something to help him!
Plus, I want to avoid any infections - are there any antibiotics I should be giving him, in addition to the electrolytes?
I've been very lucky for the past 5 years - I've never lost a bird to a predator, and I've never had to deal with any injuries besides one broken blood feather on a wing of another of the Stanbridge Whites this year - so I apologize if I'm overreacting!
EDIT: He's having a lot of trouble keeping his balance - if he did dislocate a joint, is there anything I can do here at home to fix it? My vet is really great about helping me out with my ducks, but she closed an hour ago and won't be in again until Tuesday!
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