Major leg problem, please help

[ChandlerDoe]

Recently, I was given two Pekin ducks by my "friend" who had raised them since hatchlings. This "friend" has a tendency to compulsively buy animals and then neglect them/take very poor care of them. She kept them in her garage on slick, cement flooring. One of them developed slight straddle leg (her legs were just generally spread apart like she was trying to do the splits) and the other has MAJOR straddle leg in one leg. I was unaware of the condition of her ducks until I visited her house and saw them lying there, having trouble moving (the one with the major straddle leg could not stand at all, it attempted to drag itself with it's wings). Unfortunately, they were about 3 months at this point and essentially full grown. The "friend" had tried nothing to treat the ducks and didn't even know of the condition and was already talking about culling them. I convinced her to release them to me with hopes of treating them myself. The duck with the major bad leg also had a broken wing from being trampled by it's friend without being able to stand up (the two pekins are imprinted on each other).
Well, I shackled the not-so-bad duck using a band-aid around each calf with a shoelace tying them together. She can now walk like a regular duck and is no longer "doing the splits" and is perfectly fine, so I am now trying to treat the bad duck that is having the major issues. I bandaged her wing for a little over a week to protect her and let it heal, and shackled her legs as well. (I am keeping them on grass or cedar shavings so they have traction and are no longer sliding). She can stand, which is a lot more than she can do before, and her wing is completely healed but her leg is still bad. It jets off to the side and to stand on it, her foot has to bend completely sideways... I've been shackling her, but the bandage was leaving irritated skin and dark marks (I assume from lack of oxygen to the skin). She struggles to move, but she can get around enough to get food and water.
I just don't know what else to do now, I need other options to fix her leg. Whether it be supplements, some sort of physical therapy exercise, or a different idea on bandaging, I'll try anything. I got her with the hope of giving her a new chance at life and seeing her thrive, I refuse to give up and do not want to hear any suggestions of culling her. Any crazy suggestions you have I'd love to hear, I will commit however much time or effort I need, so really don't hold back. Thanks guys, I hope to hear back. Hear are some pictures I tried to take so you can get an idea of her condition:
http://imgur.com/xjVGi0P
http://imgur.com/4xPxzOt
http://imgur.com/cssJVRf

 

[chooks4life]

In the second image, there appears to be a bulge in the thigh of the bad leg. Can you check it and see if the bone of the thigh has been broken and healed on an angle?

If so, it would alter what you could do for her, but whether it's a broken thigh or wonky leg, my personal guesstimate would be that she may need restricting to a custom made 'stroller' that stops her leg going out to the side, so over time she can strengthen the muscles that hold it correctly under her.

Best wishes.

 

[ChandlerDoe]

That's her knee, it's just kind of an odd angle in the picture. Although, that does not eliminate the possibility of it of previously being broken and healing wrong. She does have complete movement of the knee though, and all feet, I don't know if she would if it had been broken or not But, for this stroller, what would I do to build it? And thanks so much for the reply

 

[chooks4life]

You're welcome, I hope you can find a solution for this duck.

For the stroller, you can find many suggestions in Google Images or websites for animal wheelchairs, or by searching for 'disabled animal' or similar keywords.

Here are some sites which may have something to help:
Quote: Quote: Quote: I can't really help you very much here, as all the strollers I've made were for other animals like sheep, and it takes a bit of experimentation. Even if the idea is good, the animal will decide whether it likes it that way or not.

But, generally speaking, it should be easy enough to make from any structure you can apply wheels to and a sling frame that supports her keel while letting her poop outside of the sling area. If it's shaped like two rectangular frames with vertical struts that hold one above the other, and the top one holds her sling, and the lower one has castor wheels or similar, then the lower rectangle can have padded edges to help restrain her leg under her.

About the lump, this is what I meant:


Above the knee, there seems to be an inwards-pointing lump; the thighbone does not seem to go straight down from knee to hock. If this is on the same side as her broken wing, I would estimate her broken wing and leg issue stem from the same incident, perhaps a human standing on her accidentally. I would not think it was due to the other duck, as that would take a lot of force and ducks' feet distribute weight etc quite well.

Best wishes.