Is this duck okay?

[SolarDuck]

I came to visit my local park and found one of the ducks that I hadn't seen for months and thought got picked off by a predator up by the bushes. Something just looks odd to me. It looks like something is wrong with her tail feathers but I'm not sure what it is. She also just seems to be moving pretty slowly and I don't want to chase her to find out, but it seems like she can't fly. Anyone know what might be wrong with her, if anything?

 

[HappyDuckie]

She does seem to be walking oddly. @Isaac 0 may be able to help. Good luck.

 

[sourland]

The duck appears to be slightly lame. A predator may have grabbed her causing loss of tail feathers and a minor injury.

 

[SolarDuck]

Hopefully Isaac will know a lil more. I'm worried about her now. She is one that I've been watching at that park since she was a baby. She's usually much more friendly and not scared of me so something definitely spooked her.

 

[SolarDuck]

I put a little mug of water in the bushes she ran into along with a little bowl of food so hopefully she can rest for awhile up there in the meantime. I just want to know if she needs my help more than just giving some food. She is terrified of me though and every time I go near her she starts freaking out ive been just keeping my distance to not stress her too much.

 

[Isaac 0]

Unfortunately, there are too many possible conditions that could cause her to act off, and to make an accurate diagnosis/suggestion by just viewing a video of her walking around will likely prove ineffective. To further worsen the problem, birds often hide their symptoms to circumvent potential detection of predators; this is known as the "masking phenomenon".

Trauma from predators, reproductive problems, toxicosis, among other things would be a good guess. Maybe just monitor her for a few day/s, and see if she continues to act poorly.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If there is any way to bring her home an isolate her that way you can get a feeling for what maybe wrong. There are so many things that could be happening. From the video she looks to be in good weight but that's where hands on is needed. Only problem with putting food close to her is attracting other animals. They may prefer to eat her than the feed.

 

[SolarDuck]

Okay so I didn't see her yesterday, but today I found her hanging out with a group of 5 Muscovy drakes. Well... not so sure if they were hanging out or if the drakes were just terrorizing her. I saw her next to her sister who was the only other survivor out of their clutch, and she is WAY skinnier than her sister I am thinking that she got attacked by a predator, and has just been living off of scraps while hiding in the bushes trying to heal. Her walk is a bit odd still and I am pretty certain she cannot fly as I assume she would've flown away from me when I started walking towards her. I tried feeding her but she was too scared of me to eat out of my hand, and whenever I threw a pile on the ground near her one of the drakes just pushed her out of the way and started eating it. Near her bum where the tail feathers used to be I can definitely see her bare skin through it, and it looks to be slightly tinted yellow maybe infected?? I am thinking I am probably gonna go try and get her today so I can assess her injuries.

 

[SolarDuck]

This appears to be the extent of her injury. Any advice on what I should do? @Isaac 0 @Miss Lydia

It actually appears she is able to fly, I don't know why she didn't fly away from me when I caught her but when I brought her inside my house she tried to fly out through a closed window. I am going to do my best to make her comfortable but I am not sure what the move is. She was not raised by humans so she is a feral duck, I am not sure what to do because I can't just put her out with my other 2 as she will likely fly away. Should I just keep her inside? I would clip her wings but then she'd be forced to stay here until she molted and grew them back. I am making sure she has plenty of water and food. The second I picked her up I could tell she was underweight she just seemed wayyy lighter than my girls are. For now im gonna try to bring one if my other girls inside to make her feel a little more comfortable.

 

[SolarDuck]

Okay bringing in the other ducks wasn't a good idea they seemed to have stressed her out more. Now she is feeling safe laying under my table with a low hanging tablecloth. I put a small bucket of water and a bowl of food in there for her.