Injured duck with horrible pictures

[Mommanoe]

********pictures are rough****** I did not witness the attack yet I heard it. My ducks and dogs are normally never unattended together. Regardless that seemed to not matter tonight I heard my dog get aggressive he has had issues in the past and we have done everything to keep him from getting put down but apparently it’s not enough! He is food and toy aggressive so idk if the duck got to close or what but he was attacked and immediately went to his pool after the attack. I put my dog up and went to get my duck I was able to get him down and alone it was hard but I found this so far it’s also late here so I did what I could by myself I would rather not put him down but I’m afraid I’m looking at something far worse than a flesh wound not to mention no vet around here takes fowl. I’m a stay at home mom with no car having to wait for my partner to get home until I can do anything no to mention I have a part time job I race to when they get home. If I can treat this myself I will I am also totally fine throwing 100s down on my duck too. I can add more pictures when it’s daylight and I have my daughter to help.

 

[coach723]

Flush the wound out well with sterile saline, a chlorhexidine solution (hibiclens), or mild soapy water. If you have veterycin you can use that. Once clean and dry, apply some plain triple antibiotic ointment or plain neosporin ointment, or honey (Manuka is good) if you don't have those, to cover the wound and keep it moist. Don't bandage it, leave it open to the air. You may need to trim back the feathers to keep them out of the wound so it stays clean. Keep it separated/crated, so you can monitor eating, drinking and droppings, on clean towels or puppy pads to help keep things clean. Reapply the ointment several times a day to keep the wound covered in it and moist. Watch for any signs of infection, discharge, redness or swelling more than the trauma would indicate, any bad smell. If that happens then an oral antibiotic might be necessary. Amoxicillin is available on line without a prescription as a fish antibiotic, Aqua Mox.

 

[coach723]

In addition, check it over thoroughly for any other injuries that might be hiding in feathers, punctures can be easily missed. If you find any, treat the same way. Dogs tend to squeeze and shake also, so the bird could possibly have internal injuries that are not obvious, time will tell. It may be very, very sore also. Any bruising may show up and look dark or greenish.

 

[Mommanoe]

I was able to use vetericyn to clean the wound and Neosporin the wound looked a lot smaller which I’m guessing is good I smelled no foul odor. He had a cut or two on his beak but I just put some ointment on it as well emptied both pools and gave a small bowl with electrolyte water he has his spunk back started talking to me again and has continued the assault on my toes so I think he is doing well. I will treat the wound as needed until it starts healing on its own! I couldn’t find any other wound but I also highly underestimated feather. I will check again tomorrow. He is drinking but I haven’t seen him eat I’m thinking of offering some eggs and mealworms in the am. Thank you all for your great advice! The vet wouldn’t take us and referred us 3 hours away! Will keep this thread posted for future duck parents!

 

[coach723]

I'm not sure soaking is a good idea due to bacteria, but I'm used to chickens not ducks. If you get an oral antibiotic then you will give it directly to him orally, the female won't get any. For chickens I use 57 mg per pound of body weight twice a day for 5 - 7 days. Most dosing I'm finding for ducks is 15 - 20 mg per kg of body weight for 3 - 5 days (1 kg = 2.2 lbs). You might try asking on the duck forum for dosing, to be certain. Amoxicillin is usually well tolerated. It does not mix well in water, it settles out. For chickens I mix the dose in some coconut oil and freeze it, and it goes down easy like a custom pill.
I understand about the dog, I had two dogs that hated each other, for years, they had to be muzzled when together, and we spent our lives managing them and their environment. It can be an enormous undertaking. With some dogs it's more about managing things than permanently fixing it 100%. But I didn't have small children around at that time, that is a game changer. Depending on the breed, you may be able to locate a rescue that takes difficult dogs and tries to rehabilitate them. Some dogs just need different environments or different humans, like us they are all different. But an aggressive dog takes a particular kind of human and particular management, and it can be very difficult to place them. I'm sorry you are faced with that. Sincerely.

 

[JNC]

Same thing happened to one of my ducks! What we did is we sprayed some blue-kote on it. As stated above dont try to bandage it, we tried and It would only last a couple of hours before he picked it off, so it’s not worth the hassle. If they have a kide pool I would take it away for a few days to avoid infection.

For stress add electrolytes in their water.
Praying for speedy recovery

 

[JNC]

We also gave him some ibrepoufen. It was children’s ibrepoufen so we gave .11ml per pound

But for for info on giving ibuprofen

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ibuprofen-dose-for-ducks.1308956/

 

[Gremchild74]

********pictures are rough****** I did not witness the attack yet I heard it. My ducks and dogs are normally never unattended together. Regardless that seemed to not matter tonight I heard my dog get aggressive he has had issues in the past and we have done everything to keep him from getting put down but apparently it’s not enough! He is food and toy aggressive so idk if the duck got to close or what but he was attacked and immediately went to his pool after the attack. I put my dog up and went to get my duck I was able to get him down and alone it was hard but I found this so far it’s also late here so I did what I could by myself I would rather not put him down but I’m afraid I’m looking at something far worse than a flesh wound not to mention no vet around here takes fowl. I’m a stay at home mom with no car having to wait for my partner to get home until I can do anything no to mention I have a part time job I race to when they get home. If I can treat this myself I will I am also totally fine throwing 100s down on my duck too. I can add more pictures when it’s daylight and I have my daughter to help.

Our chicken was attacked pretty ferociously by our dogs who thought it was time to play. She ended up losing a wing and i thought for sure her neck injury was going to be the death of her. We soaked her in the "chicken" bathbtub to get her cleaned up and quarantined her in an enclosed dog carrier. We treated her neck one to two times daily with medicine (find what works for you and your bird). I didn't expect her to make it but she did. We nicknamed her Nemo. If it helps at all, my chickens neck injury was worse looking then your precious duck. I hope for a speedy recovery.

 

[coach723]

Blu-kote is better for superficial wounds, not deep ones. It can also make it hard to assess what the tissue looks like as the healing goes on since it stains everything purple. An antibiotic ointment is better for deeper wounds. You can get electrolites that you can mix in water at most tractor supply stores, picture below.
It's a good idea to give it to them for half the day and then plain fresh water the rest of the day. You can mix up half the pack in 1/2 gallon of water to make it last longer and waste less.

 

[JNC]

We only have tractor supplies by me can I get the electrolytes there and if I use blue kote should I not use ointment does it take it’s place. Was your ducks wound that exposed? Also even my smallest animal bowl they can fit in what do you recommend for drinking since they submerge their beak? I really wanna keep him he and my female are amazing as you know ducks and their personalities not to mention my female loves him dearly she was attacking me as I was taking the photos

If I remember correctly we used both. But only the put the ointment for the first couple of days. The bowl is fine as long as he can’t submerge his body. In my opinion I wouldn’t separate, that would only cause more distress. Unless you see he’s scared and wants to be alone you can. Ducks are very resilient but they can die from a scare, so give treats and lots of cuddles This is what our wound looked like. He had 3 wounds on him too. (The purple stuff is blue-kote).

The last two pictures were taken about two weeks after and you can still see the indent.