Help! My duck has a broken leg

[Sarah-has-a-zoo]

Hi everyone. I am looking for some advice please.

My runner's were out playing in a puddle and one got killed on the road. Another appears perfectly fine other than his leg. He cant stand and he was just sitting quacking at me when I went to him. He pulls himself along but cant stand. I put him in their box and gave him water. He seems to be perky enough so I think he will be ok other than the leg.

I remember years ago my uncle put a splint on a duck leg. How can I do this?

I am going to take him into the porch in a box to keep him quiet and rested. They are very friendly so he wont stress by me carrying him. I will have a proper investigation then. I didn't want to stress him immediately. But it was a few hours ago now so I'm going to take a look.

Thanks in advance

Sarah

 

[Orca5094]

Are you positive it's actually broken? If so, where is the break exactly? You can splint it of course, but HOW you splint it depends greatly on where the break is. If it's some other leg injury (sprain, strain, tendon damage, etc) the care of the injury will be very different and probably wouldn't require a splint. Is the area swollen or warm, is there any blood?

You might want to post this in the Emergencies/Diseases/Injuries/Cures board to get more help. It's under the "Raising Backyard Chickens" section of the forum.

 

[Sarah-has-a-zoo]

Thanks for the reply. I will post in the other section too.

I've since had a closer look and there appears to be no actual obvious break. So he maybe hasn't broken it. There is a balder area to his thigh region and it may be a little swollen there too. It is so hard to compare two legs when the other is waving about. Its doesn't feel any warmer than the other. Both feet have graze marks on the sole.

I have taken him inside the garage in a small box. I put him in a lukewarm 'bath' where he paddled about a bit. He actually seems a bit better since.

What do you suggest?

 

[Orca5094]

Is he using the leg at all now? He might just need a little TLC and time inside where he's safe to recover and can have a little more restricted movement for awhile to rest the leg. You might not need to do much more than that, especially since it doesn't seem like it's broken. Swimming is great therapy for leg injuries, so good job with that. Soaking the leg in Epsom Salts might help as well. He could just need a few days for the soreness of the leg to dissipate and the swelling to go down.

Is the skin broken at all on his feet? If so, you'll want to keep those grazed areas clean and maybe apply some antibacterial gel/ointment (without pain reliever!) to them a couple times a day to keep them from becoming infected and possibly turning into bumblefoot in the future.

I'm not an expert, but those are my suggestions. Hopefully others will see this or your other post and give you some more ideas.

(Of course taking him to a vet is the best thing, but we all understand here that isn't always possible with our backyard fowl.)

 

[Amiga]

Sarah, I just found this thread.

How is the duckling? I need to turn in soon, but here are some ideas.

The leg could be sprained - an Epsom salt compress will help. It is a laxative, so don't let him ingest any. Put two tablespoons Epsom salt in half a cup of warm water. Soak a clean rag or paper towels in it. Lightly wring it out and wrap the leg and foot and hold the duck as long as you can. Ten minutes is good, longer is better. Do that three times a day.

There is cream called Traumeel. I use it on my ducks for leg injuries. Just a tiny dab, rub it on the leg and foot at night before bedtime.

Time in the bathtub - right before the compress is good, lukewarm water, deep enough to float in, stay with the duckling at all times.

Some poultry vitamins in the water twice a week will help the little system heal also, I feel.

Hugs.

Sad for your loss…an unbreakable mirror in with the lonely duckling will help, but a duck friend soon is best.

 

[Sarah-has-a-zoo]

Hi, thankyou for the advice. I will get some Epsom salts today.
We have other birds so he could be ok. They were my only 2 runners. I have muscovy's too. I don't want to get any others just b4 the winter. The sales start here in the spring. We had problems with people stealing our birds too. We live on a farm. They conveniently took trios so it's unlikely a fox. I doubt mr foxy would be so choosy!

Thankyou for the advice. I will try it today. He seems ok this am. I will take him out of his box soon and take a look.

Ps. I'm in Scotland so our times are clashing considerably

 

[Orca5094]

Glad he seems to be doing ok. Is he eating well for you? Is he using that leg any better today?

 

[Sarah-has-a-zoo]

He got on much better in the bath today. I actually threw some feed in and he was happily splashing and eating. He cleaned himself up a bit too. He just seems to sit quietly in his box. I couldn't get Epsom salts in our little shop so will go to supermarket this evening. I got my Dad to take a look he said try the vet in the next town he keeps ducks so he might know more about them than our farm and horse vets. I will give him a few days to see if it improves. It's swollen and hot compared to the other leg. Hopefully the Epsom salts will help.
Thanks again for all the advice, it's very much appreciated

 

[Amiga]

Swollen, hot sound like he may need antibiotics. Watch very closely. Anything wrapped around the leg? Look closely, all up and down.

 

[Sarah-has-a-zoo]

I did have a look and it also feels very smooth, not as if there is anything there. I'm pretty convinced it was a car. He has a balder patch at the thigh area too