Leg Sprain?

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

Hello All,
I’ve looked at past posts regarding this but still have questions.
About a week and a half ago we brought home an approx 5 & 8 week old ducklings, not siblings but from the same rescue I volunteer at. Up until yesterday the younger girl(?) was the more curious and spunky of the two but I thought I’d noticed yesterday that she seemed a bit subdued and a very slight, occasional limp so to be on the safe side I made her vet appt for today but with the hoped she’d have a good night’s rest and be back to herself today but no such luck. She’s actually worse. She CAN stand and walk but it’s obviously hard for her and she’s not really eating or drinking. I contacted the woman who owns the rescue to let her know I wouldn’t be coming in to help out today and why. She’s got me a little freaked out about this vet visit, saying she doesn’t know much about Muscovies and she’ll charge me a fortune. This is an avian vet I’m scheduled with and ones that see Muscovies in our area are hard to come by.
The rescue owner feels it’s more than likely a sprain and that it should heal up on its own in a few days and suggested that I take the duckling to her tomorrow so that she can take her to HER vet the following day and it will cost me nothing. She also said that rather than doing a full body wrap like the vet will probably do that she needs instead therapy that consists of gently moving her leg several times a day.
I’m so confused but as my main concern is her lack of eating and drinking do not want to wait two more days for her to be seen yet am concerned now too about the vet. I suppose my main question at this point is what should I be looking out for in terms of proper treatment from the vet if it is a sprain? She’ll also be doing bloodwork and fecal samples to rule out anything else. We did notice from day one that she liked to eat lying down but then she’d run around like a busy little thing and then lie. I was curious to know if that was normal or if we should be worried but at the time was reassured by what I’d read here and elsewhere that this is often quite normal. But she also seems to sound a bit stuffy too although I see no eye or nasal discharge and can see straight through her nares.

 

[Isaac 0]

To provide further explanation on whether she is drinking or not, you may want to start weighing her on a gram scale every morning and see if there is any weight loss. If you're seeing a decent amount of loss in weight, it'd probably be best to see the vet.

Do you have a video of her limping? Does the leg seem to bend well? No warm spots, edema, or discoloration going on either, correct?

Due to the nature of their skeletal system, ducks are often predisposed to develop leg injures, such as strains, or soft tissue damage. If it's minor, you may just limit her activity, and see if it subsides after a while. Letting her swim in cool water may help reduce inflammation. A sense of pain is good as it prevents the bird from reinjuring the leg, but if you feel she needs it, you can dissolve one 325mg aspirin tablet into 250ml of water, and offer her that as a sole source.. B vitamins play an important role in the development, and overall health of their legs so you may consider adding a source, such as Nutritional yeast over her feed. Dosing at two tablespoons a day.

 

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

To provide further explanation on whether she is drinking or not, you may want to start weighing her on a gram scale every morning and see if there is any weight loss. If you're seeing a decent amount of loss in weight, it'd probably be best to see the vet.

Do you have a video of her limping? Does the leg seem to bend well? No warm spots, edema, or discoloration going on either, correct?

Due to the nature of their skeletal system, ducks are often predisposed to develop leg injures, such as strains, or soft tissue damage. If it's minor, you may just limit her activity, and see if it subsides after a while. Letting her swim in cool water may help reduce inflammation. A sense of pain is good as it prevents the bird from reinjuring the leg, but if you feel she needs it, you can dissolve one 325mg aspirin tablet into 250ml of water, and offer her that as a sole source.. B vitamins play an important role in the development, and overall health of their legs so you may consider adding a source, such as Nutritional yeast over her feed. Dosing at two tablespoons a day.

Because things with birds can go downhill so fast I think it’s so important to have as much information and know-how to at least cover the basics like hydration and nourishment until they can get to a vet and because of our recent loss I am on a mission lol but I also wanted to establish a relationship with a vet (now having found the less than a handful ‘round here that sees Scovies) and did take her in today. I’ve been adding Brewers Yeast (may try nutritional yeast when replenishing) to their food all along but I don’t think their nutrition was that great prior to the 1.5 weeks we’ve had them. The vet did bloodwork, some of which we won’t hear results on for a few days, a fecal (floating too) no coccidia or worms were found, her white blood count was slightly elevated so he gave her an injection of Doxycycline with another to follow in a week. Nothing conclusive found re her leg(s) but cracks on her soles were found so he thought maybe that was at least in part some of the issue. We were there a long time and since coming home she’s been sharing plenty of stories about her adventure with her BFF who was so glad to see her. It was so sweet. Anyone who thinks ducks don’t have personalities and emotions don’t know ducks. Anyway, she’s been eating and drinking (I’m coaxing her with mealy worms in her pedialyte). The vet also instructed us to make sure she gets some float time. She’d been bathing but not into it today so maybe later we’ll give some tub time. Right now just letting her rest and digest. She was walking much better when we came home so fingers crossed.