Injured duck - any advice appreciated!

[mettafour]

We got two ancona ducks with our great pyr puppy (15 weeks) to train him to guard them and other poultry. I have not put them together yet, but they have pens next to each other in the barn. The female duck has some how gotten out of her pen a few times before I go in in the morning (never have figured out how she got out). This morning she got out again and was in the dog's area and he had gotten a hold of her and chewed on her neck. I got her and brought her into the house, ran water over the wounded area, then applied neosporin to the red spots on her neck. There were no gaping wounds, almost no blood, but her neck looks really raw. I put her in my shower with a couple towels, water and food. She is quiet, but will get up when you enter the room and she is drinking her water and eating her food... but when I have gone in to check on her and change her water, I swear I can hear her heart beating - fast and loud. Anybody have any thoughts on this? These are my first ducks since I was a little girl and have never had to deal with an injured duck. It was a hard morning for her. When I herded her partner to the pasture, I found her first egg in the pen. Broke my heart.

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

She could be in a little shock but it sounds like she'll be fine. You've done everything right. Ducks are very resilient little things. Give her some quiet time and she'll be better tmw.

And Welcome to the BYC!!

 

[mettafour]

Thank you! I've been stalking Backyard Chickens for months now in preparation of getting my little farm started. I hope she is good in the morning! Her partner is missing her badly.

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

Well if it's just a skin abrasion and no real puncture or bleeding I think she'll be fine. Mine recovered from having her skin ripped off. Ugh.. it was gross. So yours sounds pretty "clean".

 

[Amiga]

Just watch her as closely as you can, and consider having oral antibiotics on hand or know where you can get them and what the dosage needs to be. Sometimes surface infections can become systemic, and you don't have much time after that point.

Some vitamins and electrolytes will boost her system and help her recover. You are doing well by her. It goes without saying you need to find her escape route ASAP.

 

[dbolak]

I only have one duck left after a Bobcat attack. She somehow received a wound that opened through her skin from the edge of her crop to her left side. The laceration was completely through the skin and no vets were available. My husband is a dentist so he went to the office and got some suture and sterile saline. Since there was very little bleeding we sutured it and now three weeks later you would never know. I thought she was not going to make it. We did dissolve some levaquin in her water. Very little since we did not want to OD her.

She tangled with a dog prior to this and there was more blood from that wound. Neosporin was used on the small wounds that time. We talk about her being super duck! I keep her in the bathtub when she has been wounded. I think a lot has to do with the breed too. The amount of stress they perceive is important. I had a Khaki that was not injured much in the previous Bobcat skirmish and just stopped eating and died a week later.

Cleaning and neosporin seems like the answer to minor wounds.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I only have one duck left after a Bobcat attack. She somehow received a wound that opened through her skin from the edge of her crop to her left side. The laceration was completely through the skin and no vets were available. My husband is a dentist so he went to the office and got some suture and sterile saline. Since there was very little bleeding we sutured it and now three weeks later you would never know. I thought she was not going to make it. We did dissolve some levaquin in her water. Very little since we did not want to OD her.

She tangled with a dog prior to this and there was more blood from that wound. Neosporin was used on the small wounds that time. We talk about her being super duck! I keep her in the bathtub when she has been wounded. I think a lot has to do with the breed too. The amount of stress they perceive is important. I had a Khaki that was not injured much in the previous Bobcat skirmish and just stopped eating and died a week later.

Cleaning and neosporin seems like the answer to minor wounds.

So happy to hear how well she is doing. I hope you'll look for her a buddy soon as ducks like company..

 

[dbolak]

I will be getting another two or three girls this spring. Thinking about which breed now. Thanks for encouragement. Really do like this duck!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Be sure to post back with pics of your new lil family when you get it... we all love pictures..

I will be getting another two or three girls this spring. Thinking about which breed now. Thanks for encouragement. Really do like this duck!