Help! Hurt ducks!

[swanbird11]

Some neighbor dogs ran through our property and hurt some of our ducks. Two ducks got a bite into their back right in-between the wings. I cleaned the spot with a warm washcloth and put some antibiotic vet cream on the spot. One duck seems like he got his leg hurt as well. Limping a little but i looked him over good and it doesn't seem like its broken. Any suggestions?

 

[Amykins]

I have one...make your neighbors pay for the damages. Few things upset me more than irresponsible dog owners!

Please keep us updated, it sounds like you got VERY lucky and none of your ducks are seriously injured. Good on you for treating them so quickly! Do you have a separate clean area where the one with the hurt leg can recuperate a bit before rejoining the flock?

 

[swanbird11]

Right?:/
We live in the outskirts of town and we have never seen these dogs before.. we had our 8 chickens and our 3 ducks out roaming on our property- Normally locked up but today was just a lucky day. All 3 of the ducks got shooken up so i have them in their separate box tonight with food and water. Im thinking as long as i keep the wound clean they will be fine.. not sure about the leg though.. Might have been due to the bite in the back? Hes lookn pretty good.

 

[DurhamDuck]

Check and see if there is a bird vet hospital. There are more of them than you might imagine, and you could be surprised. Even if you don't need it now, it's good to know where one is. The key is looking for "parrot" or "exotic" vet, not "farm" or "livestock" vet. We took our goose to a vet who specialized in exotic birds (they even treat toucans) but she knew about geese, and one of the vets there even owned a pet goose.

I hope you can do something about the dogs. Consider putting up fencing if your birds free-range. If there already is fencing and the dogs got through it, get something sour, bitter, or spicy and line the fence-line with it. There are products made of citrus or hot peppers. It would irritate a dog's eyes/nose/mouth, but I don't think poultry would notice it. Check nearby feedstores. I was at a feedstore the other day and saw coyote urine for sale! I don't know if that would scare off a dog, but that gives you an idea of how many different products are out there.

Also, if a dog does ever get one of your birds, you should take a picture so you have proof.