HELP: Injured ducks due to dog attack! **UPDATE: bloody wing still!**

[maralynn28]

should I start putting honey in the wounds instead of neosporin or is there advise how to do both? Also, is it too late to do anything about the droopy wings? The tips of the feathers are grazing the ground.

They are not eating, food is still in the trough from LAST NIGHT. They have eaten peas which I have given them, but not many and the duck with worst injuries is most shy and eating least (maybe 5 peas tonight)

I had some vites to put in water but of course it has turned up missing now that I need them, will go get more tomorrow. Anything else I can do in meantime?

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

 

[tigerrrrrrrlilly]

Maybe this will help you check for breaks in the bones. When my duck was attacked I had a similar situation. He did not have a break in the wing, but definitely had an injury where he was not able to hold it up. I decided to cut his primarys off to help lighten the load since he was able to move it some I thought it was likely just a bad sprain. You could also bandage it or sling it to keep it stationary while it heals for a while. I would take that off after a week or two (depending on severity) so it can regain strength.
Mine did end up healing fine and is completely back to normal without any support. If you do find a break you can try splinting the area with popsicle sticks and bandage it up. As far as wounds, you got good advice from everyone.
I wish you luck with the poor babies.

 

[maralynn28]

Quote:
Wow, talk about GREAT information. I really appreciate all your help. Where I imagine a break would be is at the 'Carpus' joint. I have felt the area over and over and can't feel anything that feels different from the uninjured wing. I didn't know if I was just missing something. Due to what you are describing, I am thinking it might be a sprain. I like the idea of cutting the feathers to lighten the load but would I have to worry about blood feathers still?
I have tried bandaging and apparently they REALLY don't like it because they pick and wiggle them off. I am thinking of using a kind of tape that is strong enough to adhere to the feathers but not yank them out when I take it off....is there such thing?

 

[tigerrrrrrrlilly]

Yes, you need to watch which feathers you clip. You can clip all primarys off, it is ok to clip the secondarys halfway also if you want to.

Here is a chart of the muscles. It is probably a sprain, once you know what bones you are looking for it's pretty easy to spot a break.

and the tape and bandaging I use is just plain old Curad gauze and Curad waterproof tape which is pretty good for not sticking to feathers but sticks well when wrapped around and attached back to the tape. You can get it at Walmart for around a buck. I avoid it if possible because they hate it, and being the way ducks are you will constantly need to change it.

Glad to help, keep us posted on how their doing. I feel so sorry for them, especially after seeing those huge holes in them. Make sure they stay really clean and they will be ok. Ducks are pretty resilient.

 

[maralynn28]

Thank you so much, tigerrrrrrrlilly!!! I will look into doing that, if I think I can otherwise I will just bandage. I looked at her wing further and noticed more damage on her elbow area so maybe that's what's bothering her? Either way, I'm sure your suggestions will help her feel better.

Update, I have BLUE ducks! LOL I got some bluekote and sprayed down their wounds. Problem with that is that I can't tell if the woundsite is looking better since it's all blue now, but based on everything I've heard about that stuff I'm sure they will be healing at a faster rate now. I have vitamins in their water but they are not eating still...

They won't eat their food but they do eat peas when I bring them. I'm going to work on the wings today, I know it's a bit late but hopefully my efforts will still help them heal better.

Saddest part is that the ducks that were injured worst are my 9 yr old daughter's ducks that she wanted to take to the fair (her WH). She had an emotional breakdown in school the other morning.

I think she still plans on showing them, but I told her it is more important for her to be proud of her work than to get a ribbon or anything.

Again, I can't thank you all for your help enough. I felt very overwhelmed at the prospect of having to nurse these babies to health and I know I couldn't do it without you!

 

[Kasia]

Quote:
It can be overwhelming, that's for sure. Debridement is fairly easy. Once you see the dead parts start to peel off, just gently cut them off, but still leave a little bit of the dead tissue edge so that you don't clip a piece of healthy living tissue by mistake. If you're not comfortable doing that, then that's ok too. It will fall off on its own, but debridement just speeds up the process.

The feathers won't grow back over where the skin is gone, but other feathers will cover those spots completely so you won't be able to tell that the skin is gone. Yes, it will be a big scab, and no it will never close up but over time the skinned area will get tough and act like skin.

The honey will keep out infection and promote healing, but if you can't wrap the ducks up (I know how hard it is to wrap up a duck), then just make sure you keep the area clean. Neosporin without the lidocaine in it is good. I wouldn't put honey on the wounds unless you can keep the wounds covered because honey can kill a duck if ingested.

Here is a photo of Hope, the Muscovy that was brought to our door on Christmas Eve night. As you can see, the skin is gone off her back. And now you can't even see where she was skinned. She has no skin there, but feathers cover the whole area and other than her not having a tail (her tail was ripped off by the car) you can't tell she was this close to dying.

 

[maralynn28]

Thank you for the extra information, Kasia. Wow, those pics do remind me of when I found my poor babies hurt. They look so much better now, partly because they are all blue from the bluekote. lol But I can tell they are feeling better. I left the garage door open today to let some fresh air in (it's drizzling out too) and when I was leaving they tried to follow me out into the yard. I think they really miss their munchies (weeds/slugs) and the pool but it's a sign they are feeling better rather than hiding in the dog kennel like they were.

Hope is a beautiful girl! Seeing that last pic, you never would know she went through that ordeal. That really is amazing.

Oh, I tried clipping the primary wings and had to stop because she was crying. I know the clipping of the wings doesn't hurt but I think stretching her wing out and holding it did.

I got them shorter but not as it shows on the photo, I figure a little is better than none and it's better to also not torment her injury. I might try again later when I have help calming her and holding her still. The wing is injured worse than I thought, I don't see any bone or feel any bones out of place, but where I sprayed bluekote on her 'wrist' area and also on her 'elbow' looks like they were bleeding? The other duck with saggy wings seems to have perked them up a bit so I won't disturb her.

They look so much better, I am feeling really good about it...I just wish I could get them to eat their food. I don't think they can live on peas alone and even that is very little.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hi maralynn, happy to hear your babies are doing better. You say they aren't eating, are they drinking water? Have you tried yogurt or scrambled eggs? I'm with you they need to eat. Maybe because of the trauma they aren't yet I don't know but your right they can't live on peas alone. I sure hope they heal quickly and never have to go through anything like that again. My hen muscovy had most of the side of her face yank off by a big drake last year and I was amazed at how quickly she healed up. all the best

 

[tigerrrrrrrlilly]

I use liquid B complex in the water to boost appetite in situations where they won't eat much.

 

[Kasia]

I'm glad to hear your babies are doing better. They're smart too, they won't eat anything but peas because they know their mommy feels bad about them being hurt and they take full advantage of the situation. Just like kids who are sick and you letting them eat junk food.

What is bluekote? I've never heard of it and I would like to get some and keep in my first aid kit.

Hope was brought to us on Christmas Eve. She was hit by not one, but TWO cars. The couple behind the second car slammed on their breaks and got out and got her. I have no idea how they got our number, every vet and store were already closed that usually refer people to us. Will and I were getting ready to go out to dinner when the couple and their very distraught little girl came to drop Hope off at our house. Her right leg was also broken and the bone was sticking out.

Of course I thought it was too much for us to handle but our vet had just left town for a week so we had to do whateve we could and we did. She lost her oil gland too. It was ripped off. After I gave her an antibiotic injection and some Metacam for pain, I went to work to clean her off and patch her up. I was sure that she would be gone by morning. And I told Will, "I hope she makes it through the night." The next mornings she was still alive, so I was like, I hope she makes it till tomorrow...So that's how she got her name.

Then we got another Muscovy hit by a car, her leg broken and her bottom skinned. She also survived and is with us. Her name is Faith. Hope and Faith can't be released because they do have problems walking on the leg that was broken because the foot atrophied and curled under. Now I know to also splint the foot flat out in front of the leg. I didn't know that then and they both hop on one foot and use the other as a crutch. I guess we all learn as we go along. When we were training, we didn't have any animals with such severe injuries to train with because those were usually put down.