I need to put my duck out of her misery

[kitchenwdinah]

We have ducks as pets. Our chronically ill cayuga, only a year old, has been dying since January. We have spent about a grand in vet care, getting her just better enough (she almost fully recovers each time) so she can deteriorate again. We have exhausted our options. The vet wants her to be in so much suffering before he will call it. Whatever this thing is that she has, it takes weeks for her to get bad. It is extremely slow developing. Something is wrong with her lungs. Her other two siblings are fine, never had any problems. How do you cull a duck? If its head chopping or breaking the neck, I dont think anyone in my family has the guts to do that. We are way too attached. Is the vet the only option then?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am so sorry your going through this. Did they check her for hardware disease?
I am not sure why your vet wont go ahead and euthanize her if she is suffering. And it sounds like you have exhausted all vet care. A very hard place to be. I'll be more than willing to answer any questions.

I have never done this with any of my ducks but I have had to use this method with my chickens. Since I cannot do hatchet To me this is the most humane way. Only you can make the decision. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...re-culling-the-injured-and-sick-babies.72140/

 

[DobieLover]

We have ducks as pets. Our chronically ill cayuga, only a year old, has been dying since January. We have spent about a grand in vet care, getting her just better enough (she almost fully recovers each time) so she can deteriorate again. We have exhausted our options. The vet wants her to be in so much suffering before he will call it. Whatever this thing is that she has, it takes weeks for her to get bad. It is extremely slow developing. Something is wrong with her lungs. Her other two siblings are fine, never had any problems. How do you cull a duck? If its head chopping or breaking the neck, I dont think anyone in my family has the guts to do that. We are way too attached. Is the vet the only option then?

First of all, I'm very sorry about your duck.
You are doing the right thing in letting her go.
I, too, have been unable to euthanize my chickens. But my neighbor is a hunter and actually quite passionate about animal welfare. He respects their lives so when he hunts he kills as quickly as possible.
I asked him to shoot my first chicken that had developed cancer at 6 months old and was steadily declining. It sounds horrible but she was gone in an instant and it is considered a humane way to end a birds life. Do you have any hunter friends that could take care of the job for you?
When our bird was euthanized, we left the house and left the chicken in an isolation crate. He came over after dark when birds are most relaxed and easily handled and took care of her.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

https://the-chicken-chick.com/how-to-humanely-euthanize-chicken-by-dr/

 

[DucksOhio]

I’m so sorry about your duck. It kinda angers me that the vet won’t let it go in peace.
Dobielover has a good suggestion. And it would be very quick.
not sure I could do it myself though.

 

[CoriM]

Try a different vet. I was taking my duck to an avian specialist and thought at one point i would put her down and couldn't do it myself. I also didn't want to drive far and traumatize her, so I just called my nearest vet and they said they would do it if I needed to. I'm sorry for your painful experience!

 

[DucksOhio]

We have ducks as pets. Our chronically ill cayuga, only a year old, has been dying since January. We have spent about a grand in vet care, getting her just better enough (she almost fully recovers each time) so she can deteriorate again. We have exhausted our options. The vet wants her to be in so much suffering before he will call it. Whatever this thing is that she has, it takes weeks for her to get bad. It is extremely slow developing. Something is wrong with her lungs. Her other two siblings are fine, never had any problems. How do you cull a duck? If its head chopping or breaking the neck, I dont think anyone in my family has the guts to do that. We are way too attached. Is the vet the only option then?

Did you find a resolution?

 

[kitchenwdinah]

Thank you for all the advice and support. My phone stopped notifying me that I was getting messages so I didnt see the responses until just now. So I actually didnt put her down. She had a really severe bacterial infection in her lungs that took us months to cure prior to this. We found out that when the air gets cold and the air pressure drops that she really struggles to breath. I got the vet to agree to put her down if we think it's time. I was waiting for her to no longer be able to follow her siblings around, just gaping by the water dish. That moment never came and as the weather improved, so has she. My hope is this summer she can heal and maybe survive.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh wow that is so awesome. I hope so too. Bless her heart!

 

[CoriM]

That's great - so happy for her and you.