Leg injury

[ceedublu]

I’ve got a one year old Cayuga female that appears to have a badly injured right leg. I found her outside the enclosure a few days ago, so I suspect she may have tried to fly over the fence and gotten tangled up. She may have also been injured while mating with our Pekin drake.

There are no visible wounds, but her foot is a bit swollen and warm, and she seems to be completely unable (or unwilling) to put any weight on it. When I pick her up, she does flap that foot, but otherwise it's remains limp at her side. When I manipulate the leg, I don't notice anything unusual.

I’ve isolated her from the rest of the flock, and I make sure she has food and water within reach so she doesn’t have to move — and she largely doesn’t. She stands up occasionally (on her good leg) and might scoot a foot or two using her wing as a crutch, but she spends most of the day lying in one spot. She gets a swim in clean water a couple of times a day, and I move her into a small house with lots of fresh straw at night. She is still eating and laying.

We have another Cayuga female who had a less severe leg injury last year that healed up in about a week with rest, so that's our current plan. We don't have an avian vet in our area, and as much as much as I love our ducks, I frankly have a hard time justifying running up vet bills for them.

My questions, then, are if there's anything else I should be doing for her, and if anyone has any idea of how long a leg injury might take to heal. If it doesn't heal, I think euthanasia will eventually be the most likely course of action. That's certainly premature at this point, but I don't want to let her suffer more than I should. We've kept ducks for a couple of years, and figuring when and how to euthanize is something I'll have to face at some point, so this is probably a good time to prepare myself for that unfortunate eventuality.

Having said that, she might heal right up, and I hope she does. Any thoughts are welcome.

 

[FeatherTay]

@DucksAreBest

 

[KaleIAm]

I highly recommend crate rest. Even when I had a duck with a broken leg, diagnosed by a veterinarian with an x-ray, she recommended crate rest. It took 6 weeks but my ducks leg healed up perfectly without a limp. We took her in for checkups and we could see bone filling in. In some cases broken bones will need surgery or other procedures, but in my duck's case it wasn't needed.

Our crate was big enough for the duck to turn around, open her wings, and have a water and food bowl.

Without knowing what your duck's issue is from doing diagnostics at the vet we would only be guessing at how long it will take to heal. I think strict crate rest, in the coop so she can see her friends is a great start. I would monitor her progress and not let her out until she seems better for several days at least.

 

[ceedublu]

I highly recommend crate rest. Even when I had a duck with a broken leg, diagnosed by a veterinarian with an x-ray, she recommended crate rest. It took 6 weeks but my ducks leg healed up perfectly without a limp. We took her in for checkups and we could see bone filling in. In some cases broken bones will need surgery or other procedures, but in my duck's case it wasn't needed.

Our crate was big enough for the duck to turn around, open her wings, and have a water and food bowl.

Without knowing what your duck's issue is from doing diagnostics at the vet we would only be guessing at how long it will take to heal. I think strict crate rest, in the coop so she can see her friends is a great start. I would monitor her progress and not let her out until she seems better for several days at least.

Thank you! Knowing it can take as long as six weeks is really helpful.

I don't have her in a crate currently, but she's so sedentary that I don't think it matters right now -- but if she starts to heal and move around, I'll do that for her.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Hello, i recommend giving your duck a electrolytes recipe if you havent already, theres some great ones on google. and of course, as you said make sure she doesnt get bullied. Keep a close eye on her and if needed take medical action in place, if something comes serious post it on my illness,disease and hurt poultry thread, theres some good advice there from others and including myself.

 

[Isaac 0]

If you have any NSAIDS available, that would help combat some of the inflammation occurring, and get her on the road to normality sooner. Aspirin can be given 5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.
Other than that, ensure she is on soft padded grounds, and try to increase her time in cool water. In my experience soft tissue injuries generally take around two to four weeks to heal completely.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I’ve got a one year old Cayuga female that appears to have a badly injured right leg. I found her outside the enclosure a few days ago, so I suspect she may have tried to fly over the fence and gotten tangled up. She may have also been injured while mating with our Pekin drake.

There are no visible wounds, but her foot is a bit swollen and warm, and she seems to be completely unable (or unwilling) to put any weight on it. When I pick her up, she does flap that foot, but otherwise it's remains limp at her side. When I manipulate the leg, I don't notice anything unusual.

I’ve isolated her from the rest of the flock, and I make sure she has food and water within reach so she doesn’t have to move — and she largely doesn’t. She stands up occasionally (on her good leg) and might scoot a foot or two using her wing as a crutch, but she spends most of the day lying in one spot. She gets a swim in clean water a couple of times a day, and I move her into a small house with lots of fresh straw at night. She is still eating and laying.

We have another Cayuga female who had a less severe leg injury last year that healed up in about a week with rest, so that's our current plan. We don't have an avian vet in our area, and as much as much as I love our ducks, I frankly have a hard time justifying running up vet bills for them.

My questions, then, are if there's anything else I should be doing for her, and if anyone has any idea of how long a leg injury might take to heal. If it doesn't heal, I think euthanasia will eventually be the most likely course of action. That's certainly premature at this point, but I don't want to let her suffer more than I should. We've kept ducks for a couple of years, and figuring when and how to euthanize is something I'll have to face at some point, so this is probably a good time to prepare myself for that unfortunate eventuality.

Having said that, she might heal right up, and I hope she does. Any thoughts are welcome.

Do they have a way in and out of the stock tank safely? I use the same and I fenced around it and only give them one way in and out. After having one jump down from the side and injuring his leg.

 

[Stipenvlerk]

I’ve got a one year old Cayuga female that appears to have a badly injured right leg. I found her outside the enclosure a few days ago, so I suspect she may have tried to fly over the fence and gotten tangled up. She may have also been injured while mating with our Pekin drake.

There are no visible wounds, but her foot is a bit swollen and warm, and she seems to be completely unable (or unwilling) to put any weight on it. When I pick her up, she does flap that foot, but otherwise it's remains limp at her side. When I manipulate the leg, I don't notice anything unusual.

I’ve isolated her from the rest of the flock, and I make sure she has food and water within reach so she doesn’t have to move — and she largely doesn’t. She stands up occasionally (on her good leg) and might scoot a foot or two using her wing as a crutch, but she spends most of the day lying in one spot. She gets a swim in clean water a couple of times a day, and I move her into a small house with lots of fresh straw at night. She is still eating and laying.

We have another Cayuga female who had a less severe leg injury last year that healed up in about a week with rest, so that's our current plan. We don't have an avian vet in our area, and as much as much as I love our ducks, I frankly have a hard time justifying running up vet bills for them.

My questions, then, are if there's anything else I should be doing for her, and if anyone has any idea of how long a leg injury might take to heal. If it doesn't heal, I think euthanasia will eventually be the most likely course of action. That's certainly premature at this point, but I don't want to let her suffer more than I should. We've kept ducks for a couple of years, and figuring when and how to euthanize is something I'll have to face at some point, so this is probably a good time to prepare myself for that unfortunate eventuality.

Having said that, she might heal right up, and I hope she does. Any thoughts are welcome.

Is there something wrong with her wing too? or is it just posture?

 

[416bigbore]

Is there something wrong with her wing too? or is it just posture?

Looks like posture from the one pic, other pic looks normal.

 

[ceedublu]

Do they have a way in and out of the stock tank safely?

They do, yes -- thank you. That tank is usually recessed in the floor of their house, and I'd just set in on the ground temporarily.