Help with dislocated “knee” on my duck

[Duck-Norris]

hi there! New to the forum, so... I have a duck (Duck Norris) who he and a few of his flock mate were attacked by a fox, he being on of the survivors, was pretty badly injured with bites to his neck, so I cleaned all wounds got antibiotics and he has since healed from those wounds, but his right leg has been dislocated at what I would consider the “knee” all confirmed with x-rays by a vet. I was told by said vet that there isn’t really much that can be done to “fix” said dislocation, that in the past have wrapped and braced but to no avail. So my question is, is there anything that I can do to help in correcting his dislocated “knee” other then the recommended “rest, and little to no movement” or should I just face facts and start focusing on how to have a one legged duck?

 

[Duck-Norris]

I think @Eggcessive and @WVduckchick might have some good pictures of slings or "chairs".

I have a chair, think I can have him in that for a long period of time? He does seem to have a way of finding a way out as soon as I take my eyes off of him

 

[MissChick@dee]

Hiya
Nice to meet you!


I’m glad you had his leg x-ray’d and took him to the veterinarian. Don’t know if you’ve ever dislocated a joint ... boy I have! Follow the vets recommendation. Keep it wrapped and supported. Sometimes a dislocated joint can pop back out. If that be the case have the vet readjust it and re-wrap it. Sometimes that happens especially with animals that just don’t want to sit and rest. You might want to restrict his movements with a small enclosure. Best wishes. And welcome to BYC

 

[Duck-Norris]

Oh no, that almost looks as if the joint if frozen in a very unnatural position. Did the vet think it was broken as well as dislocated? I really think that is out of my limit of knowledge. Hopefully, others with duck experience will chime in. I would hate to tell you to do something that would make it worse. @WVduckchick, @Miss Lydia, @casportpony, and others, can you look at this?

The vet took multiple x-rays and said it wasn’t broken just dislocated, unfortunately I had gone to make the appointment closer to the holidays so had to wait almost 10 days before they could even see him, not sure if the wait had made it harder to fix or not, she didn’t say so either way. But it can in fact move just a bit, but I’m not really willing to push it to see how far really. He does move the leg both above and below the dislocation when in water. I was giving him multiple baths and water time a day, but the vet told me not to for at least the next 3 days to allow him to rest and heal

 

[Miss Lydia]

Does this vet have experience with water fowl. Where in the country are you ? Majestic water fowl maybe able to help you if want an expert water fowl opinion you could contact them and send pics along with vet report.

 

[Eggcessive]

Did the vet put it back in place or was that possible? I don’t know much about ducks, but if there is a dislocation, their may be swollen tendons. Anti-inflammatories such as metacam from a vet, or plain aspirin can be given twice a day to help. If the dislocation gets back in place, then you could splint it with padding and vet wrap for support. Vet wrap can be cut into smaller strips, and in human first aid aisles they also sell cohesive bandage in 1 inch widths. Any duck experts, please tell me if that sounds wrong.

 

[Eggcessive]

The swelling should have subsided by now after 2 weeks. It the leg still dislocated? At this point, I might just splint it for support again, and see if the duck can walk on it. You might want to try another material for splinting. Have you tried vet wrap? Just make sure that it isn’t too tight. Here is a good link about splinting:

 

[Duck-Norris]

Does this vet have experience with water fowl. Where in the country are you ? Majestic water fowl maybe able to help you if want an expert water fowl opinion you could contact them and send pics along with vet report.

And I am on south Shore New England

 

[WVduckchick]

I’ve never had a duck with a dislocation, so I’m not much help either. I would have thought swim therapy would have been good, I’m kinda surprised the vet said to hold off on that.

How about a pool noodle, cut to fit his leg, wrapped with vet wrap to stabilize it?

Maybe @Pyxis had some ideas

 

[casportpony]

Source:http://libertywildlife.blogspot.com/2011/01/this-week-at-liberty-01032011.html