corriemartin
Songster
For us, no. As much as we love our ducks, they're livestock.
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I agree . I do at home treatment if that does work I take me chicken or the duck to the vet.and talking a chicken or a duck to the vet is cheaper than talking a dog or cat. If the vet nurse is nice enough she will give you a discount. Most vet nurses give you a discount. I have gotten really good discounts. It makes taking them to the vet cheap. People do not realize unless they take there poultry bird to the vet. They may make it sound expensive but they give you surprise discounts. They try to go cheap with all the hard work they do. Now for some vets if they do not give discounts all they want is money.It's really impossible to tell what the vet will end up costing unless you take them there and find out. Generally I won't rush to the vet right away because I will make a thread on here first about the injury or problem just to see if there is any easy way to treat it. If I try treating it myself and don't really get anywhere within a few days, that is when I will take to the vet. The hundred dollar exam fee is absolutely worth it, for sure. Whatever treatment or medicine your vet prescribes could be anywhere from $20 to $2000, its really hard to know unless you take them there and get some tests done. And then you just have to decide whether the amount you'll have to pay is worth it to you.
This would be a tough call for me. It's not the expense - which luckily I can handle - it's the unhappiness I would likely be inflicting. My duck Clementine broke her toe last spring and it was an absolute nightmare trying to fix it. I took her to the avian vet probably a dozen times over the course of a couple of months (she started out with mild bumblefoot but one morning about 3 weeks in I came downstairs to the mudroom where she was convalescing and her toe was broken). She was on twice daily antibiotics for months (the first was ineffective against the infection), the pain medicine made her vomit (dose prescribed was likely too high given her weight loss) and she was isolated in a small pen the regular duck pen to try to keep her more immobile. She was SO unhappy - she would shout "Bwock!" at the top of her lungs when I came near. She pulled off the splint and wrap that the vet applied overnight and when I drove back (45 minutes each way) to have it re-wrapped they decided not to splint it. Her toe never healed straight and she seems to have a permanent callus/swelling where the break is, as though she is putting awkward pressure on the foot when walking, though she doesn't limp at all. Anyway, about eight months from the end of treatment she acts totally normal, has her sassy personality back and FINALLY seems to have forgiven me for all I subjected her to. (She actually let me stroke her tummy yesterday for the first time ever and even closed her eyes dreamily while I was petting her - it was sooooo cute!) I love her, so I would definitely try to help her, taking her to the vet as needed, but if the treatment started to seem utterly miserable for her for months on end, I'd have to really weigh it in my heart and might decide to cease treatment.I have a Peking drake, very big but only 5 months old. A few weeks ago he suffered a foot injury, looks like his middle toe is broken. He was unable to really put weight on the foot but he still managed to get around. I isolated him and put him in a pool to swim and get exercise everyday to try and help him best I could. Now it looks like his leg is infected and his foot almost entirely useless, and he has foamy eyes which may or may not be related. The closest vet that accepts ducks charges almost $100 just for a checkup. Another thing: I recently lost 3 golden comet hens and a chocolate English Orpington rooster to some nocturnal predators. Is it worth taking my duck to the vet for that price? I have them locked up at night, but another predator attack is a possibility, especially as it starts to get warmer around here. Any opinions? Also any diy treatment options I could try? I’d hate to have to put him down, but as bad as it may sound I’m not sure it’s worth the price of a vet checkup, let alone actual treatment fees. Thanks