HELP! Ducklings injured- no feathers, bloody backs, one wing completely gone

[noisycottage]

We have a homestead and our yearling duck recently hatched out some babies. She is a superb and attentive mother and we kept two of the babies- Zek and Gillian. They were both thriving and strong and everything has been great- until today. We have two fully grown females and one drake in addition to the babies. We don't know the genders of the ducklings but we call Gillian a "she" and Zek a "he".

The ducklings are two weeks old as of today and tomorrow. Everything has been wonderful and everyone has been healthy and gotten along pretty well. But we need HELP now- there's been an accident.

Here's what happened:

We let everybody out this morning, gave fresh water and food and checked in and then went about our day. When we checked back a couple hours later, the ducklings were missing and when we found them (hiding) we discovered that both of them had no fuzz left on their backs, the backs were bloody (as if they had road rash) where they had been attacked viciously (presumably by the drake) and Zek is missing an entire wing- all that is left is the end of a tiny white wing bone. It is horrible.

Here's what we have done so far:

I carefully picked them up, googled some tips online and proceeded to delicately wash them off in clean water in the house. Then I gently squeezed a paper towel soaked in hydrogen peroxide over the wounds so that the solution could gently drip onto the wounds but not agitate the injuries by rubbing them. Then we applied triple anti-biotic ointment (soon to have Neosporin per online recommendations). A neighbor who rescues parrots suggested putting a little piece of plastic bag (clean and new) over the wounds to protect them for the first little bit and to watch them closely to make sure they aren't eating the plastic. So, we cut a little rectangle of clear plastic and put it on their backs protecting the red, raw area but we are watching every single minute.

Gillian is rather large and much more bloody but is also more talkative and active and if it weren't for the bloody back, we wouldn't know there was anything out of the ordinary going on with her.

Zek, on the other hand is very small, has far less blood but his back (like Gillian's) is completely raw and he is missing his left wing. He is quiet (but always has been) and wants to be very still (poor baby). He immediately nestled into my shirt and went to sleep near my armpit (awkward but warm). Once in a while he will poke his head up and look out of my shirt but mostly he is staying nestled in. His bill and feet are cooler to touch than Gillian and I am worried about shock.

The neighbor also suggested probiotics and gave us a little with a tiny (needle-less) syringe to administer if the ducklings are willing.

1. Am I doing the right things?
2. What else can I do?
3. Are there tips for proceeding?
4. What is the likelihood of survival?
5. Has anyone run into anything like this before?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions or information.

 

[noisycottage]

Evening Update:

The ducklings are still alive. Zek started peeping and moving around. We started to worry about the way they were pecking at their raw backs so we made little plastic bag raincoats to keep their backs covered- it was that or make tiny little duckling-sized cones of shame like the dogs and cats wear and we were worried about them getting strangled.

I hope this is the right thing to do. The redness is almost completely gone on both of their backs and we cleaned the wounds again with clean water and then hydrogen peroxide and then slathered on generous portions of triple antibiotic ointment before slipping them oh-so-gently into their little plastic raincoats. They are both eating and drinking and pooping so I hope these are all good signs.

We'd still love to hear from anyone who might be able to offer advice. You can see my questions in the previous post.....