I'm at a loss please help!

[DarkDucky]

Hi I'm new here and really need some help. I have 2 ducks that are a little over a year old, they were sold to me as Indian Runners, but I think they are Blue Swedish.

Anyway, we had one get attacked by a raccoon almost a week ago. The wounds are looking better now, but we seem to have a new problem. She was walking pretty good yesterday morning, a little shaky, but I figured that was just due to healing and tightness from the scabs. Well last night she started falling over and almost unable to walk. Today she can walk a little better but is still falling a lot and walking like she is drunk. She is still eating, drinking, and bathing.

Could this be an infection? The wounds don't have a rotting smell, they have that sweet wound healing smell. She did have some maggots get in there over the weekend, but we cleaned them out

and washed the wound out with betadine solution. I am a first time duck owner, we got them as tiny little ducklings, and I am at a loss on how to treat her.

Thank you!

 

[GitaBooks]

I've heard that cat saliva can cause dangerous infections in birds. I'm not sure if it works the same with raccoons or not. Since you cleaned it out so well, I don't see why it should be an infection though. Does She have a fever? Are the wound sights swollen at all?
Attacks can sometimes lead to internal damage, depending on where they are, though I'm not sure why it would take so long for the symptoms to show.

Could it be that the duck ate something toxic? Did she take any medications? Could she not be getting enough vitamins?

I hope she gets better. Best of luck to you!

 

[Amiga]

GitaBooks makes some good points. Sometimes in the weeks after a raccoon attack, a systemic infection will set in, in spite of your best efforts.

A good duck vet is always best, but not always possible.

Here is what Captain Cluck did.

Post raccoon attack advice from Captain Cluck BYC DF 20120617

When my duck, Lucy, was attacked by a raccoon, I had head wounds to deal with, too. No jaw damage but she had a bite taken from the edge of her bill.

I put her on homeopathic for bites and vitamins at first, but homeopathics take a long time to work, so after a week on that (and an infection starting in the leg wound that I had missed) I switched her to Duramycin (got at Tractor Supply). Add 1/4 teaspoon to 20 oz of water (2 1/2 CUPS). Only mix up what you will use immediately and store the rest of the powder in a clean, dry jar. You will want to keep a measuring spoon in the jar just for the Duramycin. If you won't be using the entire 20 oz right away, put the extra in the refrigerator until you need it, but do not keep it for longer than 1 day. I have seen funk grow in it if kept longer than that. Lucy got her water in a 20 oz travel mug 2x a day.

After her first day of not eating, she only wanted cooked, mashed peas for 2 weeks. She refused anything else, so keep tempting your duck with things she loves to eat. You may have to use a syringe and squirt some liquified food into her bill to get her to eat. which means you will have to take some food and puree it in the blender and add enough water to make it liquidy. Lucy's bill was very sore and I had to mash her peas so she could eat them.

Examine your duck carefully to locate all the wounds you can find. Trim away feathers from the wounds so you can treat them effectively. Don't be afraid to trim away all her feathers if you think you need to to examine her. You can dress her in newborn t-shirts until her feathers grow back. If you keep her in a dim, quiet room, she will heal faster, and eventually start to molt. At least, that's what Lucy did.

Use saline to rinse out the wounds every day. Use a q-tip to pack the open wounds with antibiotic ointment.

If there is a puncture wound (which includes bites), you will need to debride it daily with a gauze pad. That means put peroxide on a gauze pad and scrub the scab off the puncture wound and scrub it enough to keep it open so it can drain. Punctures must heal from the inside out, or they get infected. Pack the punctures with antibiotic ointment, too.

Since you can't wrap a head wound on a duck, just let her wash her head at will. The only wound I wrapped on Lucy was her leg wound while it had Ichthammol on it to pull out the infection.


Let her rest and check on her every few hours. Change her towels at least 2x a day, or get those incontinence pads you put in a patient's bed and put one of those on top of the towel. Easy cleanup and less laundry. I got mine at Wal Mart.

I did not have the money for a vet visit, but if you do, I highly suggest taking her in.
Too many chickens, not enough ducks. Plenty of Kids, dogs, cats.One loving, soft-hearted husband. I am rich!

 

[DarkDucky]

Thank you both so much. Unfortunately there isn't a vet around that'll see her. As far as we know she hasn't eaten anything out of the ordinary. I will go to the feed store in the morning when I get off work and pick up some vitamins to put in her water. Thank you again!

 

[Amiga]

I would go beyond vitamins. Get some antibiotics.

 

[DarkDucky]

Yes antibiotics too.

 

[Amiga]

 

[Weehopper]

Raccoon bites are horrible. There will be an infection unless kept perfectly clean. Wash with an antiseptic wash, then dry gently, then apply antibiotic ointment. Don't let it get exposed to flies.
I had a dog get bitten by a coon one night, and I did not clean the wound good enough. By morning her whole leg was swollen and hot, and she was crying with pain. She spent almost a week at the vet getting rid of a nasty infection. I almost lost her. So I take coon bites very seriously.