Lame duck

[MammaAtTheAvenue]

Hi,
Late yesterday afternoon one of my runners , Xoxo , was sat outside the back door looking a little disheveled. We brought her in,check her over, bathed and cuddled her. She can barely stand. She has been inside since then. We had to go out today and when we arrived home she has barely eaten her food. She did however eat the peas at her usual record pace. Now she is trying to stand but is unable to. If she wasn't contained she could 'force' herself along but can't actually just walk. My husband googled yesterday and read that one of the drakes may have been too rough with her. I'm thinking that could be the best option. I don't really know when is the time to really panic. I'm planning on cleaning her up for bed. Then see how she is in the morning and try her in the bath. I don't know what else I can do without external help greater than this group.


Any words of wisdom please? Xxx

 

[nuthatched]

What is her diet and what is your gender ratio?

 

[MammaAtTheAvenue]

What is her diet and what is your gender ratio?

They are fed Allen and West Smallholder goose and duck feed. I'm following Kimberly Links guide and they are 50/50 layer and grower. She gets peas every evening. Occasional mealworms and on some occasions they've had some fruit. They spend most days in my uncle's garden (he lives next door) so can big hunt during the day. We have 3 boys and 9 girls xxx

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Is she pooping normally?

 

[BelovedBirds]

Hi,
Late yesterday afternoon one of my runners , Xoxo , was sat outside the back door looking a little disheveled. We brought her in,check her over, bathed and cuddled her. She can barely stand. She has been inside since then. We had to go out today and when we arrived home she has barely eaten her food. She did however eat the peas at her usual record pace. Now she is trying to stand but is unable to. If she wasn't contained she could 'force' herself along but can't actually just walk. My husband googled yesterday and read that one of the drakes may have been too rough with her. I'm thinking that could be the best option. I don't really know when is the time to really panic. I'm planning on cleaning her up for bed. Then see how she is in the morning and try her in the bath. I don't know what else I can do without external help greater than this group.


Any words of wisdom please? Xxx

How old is she? When did she last lay?

I expect it could be a drake mating her too roughly, or she could simply perhaps have sprained her leg. My girl is recovering from a sprain right now, two days ago she couldnt walk at all. If you feel both legs, is there any heat or swelling, any inflammation around the joints? If she tries to stand, does she favour a leg to put weight on? Is she using her wings to balance?

It could also be an egg issue, if an egg is stuck, they can press on nerves in their legs, and cause temporary lameness. Do you have any calcium gluconate? If there isn't an obvious injury and you don't know when she last laid, it would definitely be a good idea to give her some calcium, just to be safe.
If you have liquid calcium gluconate, put 1ml over a treat and offer to her. If not, you can get powdered calcium gluconate from health stores, as long as theres nothing added into the ingredients (just pure calcium), you can sprinkle a tsp over a treat. If theres no egg stuck, this wont hurt her at all, best to be safe than sorry.

And lastly, the less likely scenario, is that she got into something toxic. Does she free range? Anything bad she couldve eaten? Mouldy feed? I don't believe this is what the issue is, I do think it is an injury, but its worth ruling out. How does her poop look?

 

[BelovedBirds]

They are fed Allen and West Smallholder goose and duck feed. I'm following Kimberly Links guide and they are 50/50 layer and grower. She gets peas every evening. Occasional mealworms and on some occasions they've had some fruit. They spend most days in my uncle's garden (he lives next door) so can big hunt during the day. We have 3 boys and 9 girls xxx

You are a bit out of ratio, so it could be that she is being over mated. The proper ratio is 1 drake to 3-6 hens (depending on the temperament of the boys), to avoid this issue-- do you have a plan to separate the drakes, or to rehome, or get more hens? Just something to consider. If this is an injury via mating, its very likely to happen again while out of ratio.

 

[MammaAtTheAvenue]

You are a bit out of ratio, so it could be that she is being over mated. The proper ratio is 1 drake to 3-6 hens (depending on the temperament of the boys), to avoid this issue-- do you have a plan to separate the drakes, or to rehome, or get more hens? Just something to consider. If this is an injury via mating, its very likely to happen again while out of ratio.

No we don't. We got our first 6 from a school that got them to watch them hatch. They turned out to be 3 girls and 3 boys. So we got 6 more girls. We don't think it would be practical at all to get anymore (or we would!) Separation is something that we've had in our minds as a 'what if' because it would change the entire set but as responsible Mamma and Dadda ducks we would do that. We haven't witnessed any sign of over mating although the focus has been on the 2 khaki Campbell girls as they seem to like them best. We will obviously endeavour to ensure that they are all happy, healthy and safe as a priority.

Are you confident that it could be over mating and nothing else? Xxx

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

A few things to try
Water therapy is great for a hurt leg issue
Fill up the bath and see if she is able to use her legs now that the weight is off them. Don’t leave her alone as she won’t be able to get out on her own but give her 20 mins or so
Rest is another
I have had a duck be hurt when the boys were first figuring out how to mate and a little time in a smaller pen with water therapy helped
But I also had a duck unable to walk that died seconds after we got into the vet clinic
We had an autopsy done and she had swallowed a penny ( poison to ducks ) and had some small dark spots by her heart
The combo of the two killed her
It’s really hard to know for sure without a vet
Have you checked her feet for bumble foot ?

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

How old is she? When did she last lay?

I expect it could be a drake mating her too roughly, or she could simply perhaps have sprained her leg. My girl is recovering from a sprain right now, two days ago she couldnt walk at all. If you feel both legs, is there any heat or swelling, any inflammation around the joints? If she tries to stand, does she favour a leg to put weight on? Is she using her wings to balance?

It could also be an egg issue, if an egg is stuck, they can press on nerves in their legs, and cause temporary lameness. Do you have any calcium gluconate? If there isn't an obvious injury and you don't know when she last laid, it would definitely be a good idea to give her some calcium, just to be safe.
If you have liquid calcium gluconate, put 1ml over a treat and offer to her. If not, you can get powdered calcium gluconate from health stores, as long as theres nothing added into the ingredients (just pure calcium), you can sprinkle a tsp over a treat. If theres no egg stuck, this wont hurt her at all, best to be safe than sorry.

And lastly, the less likely scenario, is that she got into something toxic. Does she free range? Anything bad she couldve eaten? Mouldy feed? I don't believe this is what the issue is, I do think it is an injury, but its worth ruling out. How does her poop look?

 

[MammaAtTheAvenue]

Is she pooping normally?

I would say so xxx