Hobbling a Bowlegged Duckling High on the Legs UPDATE: Slipped Tendons

[ruthhope]

Let us know what hte avian vet says and treatment recommended

 

[3bird]

Let us know what hte avian vet says and treatment recommended

Will do! We made this today:

 

[ruthhope]

Will do! We made this today:
View attachment 3186564

Its so nice the the other duckling is there for your handicapped duckling!!

 

[905silkies]

Will do! We made this today:
View attachment 3186564

Will do! We made this today:
View attachment 3186564

This is so heartwarming!

 

[3bird]

Yesterday's Trial 1 and Trial 2 with Duckling #1's wheelchair:

 

[Miss Lydia]

Which one do you think worked better? Looked like the first video with her having her feet closer to the ground would give more traction. Ya'll have done such a good job working with her. If your offering any treats like mealworms you might could get her motivated to move more by offering her some and making her walk for them in her walker.
When is your vet apt?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I am so sorry to read about your duckling! I was too busy (again) to look into BYC…

Do you have any calcium enriched layer-feed? As far as i remember, Silver Appleyard ducks are a heavy duck breed and the ducklings of medium and heavy breeds often don't have enough Calcium in their food to build up their hip and leg bones.
Calcium becomes important especially in the phase of their growth when their legs seem to grow too large for the rest of the duckling.
I know everybody will yell at me: "But too much Calcium will cause kidney damage!!!"
No, it won't! - That is a myth. Sadly most of the commercial duckling-food does not contain enough calcium for heavier ducklings.
If those were mine, i would add some Calcium-Glucconate to the ducklings diet - that's the quickest way to get Calcium into any organisms (including ducklings). Finely ground up egg-shells work almost equally good.
And i would give both ducklings an OTC vitamin-D preparation.

 

[3bird]

Which one do you think worked better? Looked like the first video with her having her feet closer to the ground would give more traction. Ya'll have done such a good job working with her. If your offering any treats like mealworms you might could get her motivated to move more by offering her some and making her walk for them in her walker.
When is your vet apt?

The appointment was at 8:45 this morning (about two hours away--so it's been a long day so far). The diagnosis is slipped tendons. There is a surgical procedure to fix it, but the one semi-local vet that did it is no longer doing it. We are seeking other options without much luck. The vet recommended continued PT, Vitamin B Complex and nutritional yeast along with Meloxidyl.

After our visit, another knowledgable friend recommended splinting as well.

 

[3bird]

I am so sorry to read about your duckling! I was too busy (again) to look into BYC…

Do you have any calcium enriched layer-feed? As far as i remember, Silver Appleyard ducks are a heavy duck breed and the ducklings of medium and heavy breeds often don't have enough Calcium in their food to build up their hip and leg bones.
Calcium becomes important especially in the phase of their growth when their legs seem to grow too large for the rest of the duckling.
I know everybody will yell at me: "But too much Calcium will cause kidney damage!!!"
No, it won't! - That is a myth. Sadly most of the commercial duckling-food does not contain enough calcium for heavier ducklings.
If those were mine, i would add some Calcium-Glucconate to the ducklings diet - that's the quickest way to get Calcium into any organisms (including ducklings). Finely ground up egg-shells work almost equally good.
And i would give both ducklings an OTC vitamin-D preparation.

Thanks so much! We feed Mazuri waterfowl feeds at all life stages, but as soon as we noticed the leg issue on Day 11, we began Vitamin B Complex and nutritional yeast added to their food. The duckling began to improve almost immediately, but then the improvement stagnated and finally began to backslide. As of yesterday, the duckling was no longer standing on its legs at all (only on its hocks), and it is having a hard time moving around. Our vet is out of town, but we sought out an emergency consult with another vet this morning. The diagnosis is slipped tendon, and this vet doesn't do the corrective surgery. There is another vet that does the corrective surgery and is semi local, but apparently she has stopped doing it. So we're kind of stuck.

We did talk about the fact that the issue may be in the duckling's ability to utilize the niacin despite the fact that it is getting enough. The other duckling that hatched at the same time is doing great.

A knowledgable friend of ours recommended splinting the legs.

We did make the duckling a wheelchair, and we're going to try to give it as much time in the sling as possible. The duckling enjoys swimming and water walking, which seems good PT. It is eating and drinking, bright eyed and a great snuggler.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

[...]
We did make the duckling a wheelchair, and we're going to try to give it as much time in the sling as possible. The duckling enjoys swimming and water walking, which seems good PT. It is eating and drinking, bright eyed and a great snuggler.

Reading that »great snuggler« i felt reminded to the Soviet politician Leonid Brezhnev who was known to be a »great kisser«…

If your duckling turns out to be a boy, you could name him »Leonid Duckshnev« the great snuggler.

How is she/he doing today?