Help! Duck attacked by fox, damage to wing.

[ComtesseDeSpair]

Hello all, hoping to get a bit of advice here - I’m a duck owner in urban London and local vets haven’t been much help, none will see or give advice on a bird.

One of my girls got attacked by a fox yesterday evening. She got away but I suspect he managed to grab one of her wings in his mouth and did some damage - I’ve attached a photo, I can’t work out if that’s a bone visible. She’s still holding the wing as normal properly tucked against her body rather than it drooping or hanging loose, which Dr Google says is a good sign; she’s still wandering about with the other two and eating and drinking, but I know that doesn’t mean much with ducks as it’s instinct to keep going rather than show weakness.

I’ve sluiced the whole area under the wing with saline solution and sprayed it with antibac and a spray bandage, but not sure whether she’s a gonner and the best thing is to try and find somewhere which will PTS Thank-you so much if you can offer advice.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

She is most likely in shock. She should probably be separated as much as possible to recuperate and so that you can monitor her food and water intake. Give her a nutritional boost with whatever you have available (electrolytes or vitamin supplements especially vitamin B). Since she is a duck and that could also stress her, I suggest a blocked off area where she can still see her duck pals. If a puncture wound, it could have damaged organs. If no vet, it's really a treat and see - so patience.

I don't know what you mean by PTS. Euthanize? Again, it takes time and monitoring. As long as she is doing OK and not suffering, she still has a chance.

 

[ComtesseDeSpair]

Thank-you so much. I’ve sectioned off a small part of the coop for her and given electrolytes, will keep checking and treating the wound over the next few days. It’s just hard to tell what sort of state she’s in, but the wing not drooping and her standing up and walking and eating and drinking rather than huddling down in a pile looking miserable gives me some hope Again, much appreciate your answer.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Sending good thoughts for a speedy recovery!

 

[GodLovesU]

Out of curiosity,how is she?

 

[ComtesseDeSpair]

Out of curiosity,how is she?

Thank-you for asking - very happy to report that she made a full recovery. We kept the wound clean and kept spraying with antiseptic spray and spray bandage every couple of days for a week, and kept her out of the water, then began using a spritz bottle of water on her to encourage her to preen. There was definitely some damage done somewhere to the structure of the wing as she can’t flap it quite as well as the other wing (but it doesn’t stop her trying.) She must have been in pain, though I think the most traumatic part of it for her was not being able to bathe and being away from her sisters whilst healing.

I think one of the reasons it looked so bad to me initially was copious amounts of blood on a pure white duck giving the impression of lots more flesh damage than there was.

 

[ComtesseDeSpair]

Gratuitous photo of all three of them with muddy faces: it rained overnight and they spent all morning happily foraging for slugs and snails and worms in the undergrowth of our garden. There are three water pools of different sizes to choose from, but they always gravitate towards this one and stuff themselves in together.