Help! Broken beak!

er1833

Chirping
6 Years
Jan 4, 2016
3
2
64
Help! My 4mo old duckling was bit by a snapping turtle. Not sure how to help her or make her comfortable. The flock (9 others) started pecking at her and pushing her away from their food. Not sure if she can eat enough. Drinking seemed to be ok. We moved her into a dog crate with fresh water and food (oats and chia seeds, all I have until I can find some acceptable fruits and veggies tomorrow) I also plan on giving her an epsom salt bath tomorrow and trying to fix her beak with vet bond the best I can. Any other advise would be greatly appreciated! TIA!! ❤️🦆
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What a nasty bite! Just make sure to feed her soft foods (vegetables !!) and take her to the vet asap, best wishes to her💗
 
Help! My 4mo old duckling was bit by a snapping turtle. Not sure how to help her or make her comfortable. The flock (9 others) started pecking at her and pushing her away from their food. Not sure if she can eat enough. Drinking seemed to be ok. We moved her into a dog crate with fresh water and food (oats and chia seeds, all I have until I can find some acceptable fruits and veggies tomorrow) I also plan on giving her an epsom salt bath tomorrow and trying to fix her beak with vet bond the best I can. Any other advise would be greatly appreciated! TIA!! ❤️🦆View attachment 3226761
yikes! Poor baby!
You mention the foods you have for her, what do you usually feed them? Do you not give them duck feed?
Usually feeding some cool wet duck food would help them to eat after sustaining an injury like this, I imagine she would be able to eat that, but put the food in a deep bowl.
I can't see any blood, do you know how old this wound is?
I dont know if epsom salts and vet bond is going to help here. Her beak needs time to heal, perhaps some triple antibiotic ointment could help, but the most important thing is keeping her drink bucket as clean as possible.
If your ducks are loose on a lake with snapping turtles in, you can bet that it wont be long before their feet, faces and bills get attacked too. Please, for their safety, and your peace of mind, get them fenced away while you try to deal with the turtle problem
 
yikes! Poor baby!
You mention the foods you have for her, what do you usually feed them? Do you not give them duck feed?
Usually feeding some cool wet duck food would help them to eat after sustaining an injury like this, I imagine she would be able to eat that, but put the food in a deep bowl.
I can't see any blood, do you know how old this wound is?
I dont know if epsom salts and vet bond is going to help here. Her beak needs time to heal, perhaps some triple antibiotic ointment could help, but the most important thing is keeping her drink bucket as clean as possible.
If your ducks are loose on a lake with snapping turtles in, you can bet that it wont be long before their feet, faces and bills get attacked too. Please, for their safety, and your peace of mind, get them fenced away while you try to deal with the turtle problem
They eat duck pellets usually with some treats here and there. I didn’t want to wet them and leave them in the crate all night with her. I did do that today though. She seems less interested in the duck food and more interested in the watermelon she got as a treat today.

They have duck house and run fenced in, but are out during the day. We’ve known the pond has had a turtle or two in it but they have never been a problem as they have plenty of fish in there to pick at. I will be making sure my husband does something about them though, i feel horrible this happened.

I’ve been changing her water a couple times a day and making sure she has clean bedding.

Her beak still looks pretty rough, but hopefully staying in the crate for a week or so helps. 😭
 
They eat duck pellets usually with some treats here and there. I didn’t want to wet them and leave them in the crate all night with her. I did do that today though. She seems less interested in the duck food and more interested in the watermelon she got as a treat today.

They have duck house and run fenced in, but are out during the day. We’ve known the pond has had a turtle or two in it but they have never been a problem as they have plenty of fish in there to pick at. I will be making sure my husband does something about them though, i feel horrible this happened.

I’ve been changing her water a couple times a day and making sure she has clean bedding.

Her beak still looks pretty rough, but hopefully staying in the crate for a week or so helps. 😭
I would stop with treats for a bit so that she'll take a bit more interest in the food- Experiment with the duck pellets, dry, mash, really wet n soupy, see what she is most comfortable eating. You're fine to leave the wet food in with her, but it may need replacing with fresh once occassionally if left uneaten. If/when you do give treats, does she have grit available in the crate? Have you seen her eating grit without trouble?

I know its hard seeing them unwell, one of my girls is currently in the recovery crate too with a poorly leg. I'm sure youre doing your best to keep her comfortable :hugs
 
I used to work on a farm where the owner decided to try out 6 ducks after just having moved there. Within 2 days of letting the grown ducks out on the new pond, 5 of them had been eaten from the feet up by snapping turtles. The method they used isn't the most humane, but it was cheap and it worked for them. They tied a large hook to some heavy fishing line and wrapped the other end around a section of 2x4. They baited the hook with raw chicken, let out enough line that it rested on the bottom of the pond, and waited. Overnight all of the traps they set ended up with a huge turtle on the business end and they were able to pull them ashore and dispatch them quickly. I have heard of other people making crates/traps that would be a lot kinder than getting them to swallow a sharp hook, but rest assured this will happen again and it really sucks to have to put one of your sweet ducks out of its misery.
 

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