my dog attacked my duck please help!

[ducklover87]

So my morning update, although a Lil late but all well. It seems like cheese has ripped scabs off from her preening. You know how you get a scab and if you rip it off before its ready to come off its kinda fluidy? Well that's what it looks like in spots. Other than that her puncture holes have almost all healed. She's doing a lot better and its warmer today so I set up her pen and out we went. The first thing she did when I put her food bowl down was run to it and start eating. She ate a bit more than usual but not much. I'm glad she ate though because she barely ate yesterday if at all. I also noticed that she has a Lil crust next to her eyes. She's able to clean her face in her morning swims but thats it. Should I try to treat that too or should I just find a deeper dish to keep in her carrier and see if that helps it go away without adding another thing on top of all the other medical stuff I do with her. I have a feeling she will never like me again after all I've been doing to her lol

 

[Miss Lydia]

So my morning update, although a Lil late but all well. It seems like cheese has ripped scabs off from her preening. You know how you get a scab and if you rip it off before its ready to come off its kinda fluidy? Well that's what it looks like in spots. Other than that her puncture holes have almost all healed. She's doing a lot better and its warmer today so I set up her pen and out we went. The first thing she did when I put her food bowl down was run to it and start eating. She ate a bit more than usual but not much. I'm glad she ate though because she barely ate yesterday if at all. I also noticed that she has a Lil crust next to her eyes. She's able to clean her face in her morning swims but thats it. Should I try to treat that too or should I just find a deeper dish to keep in her carrier and see if that helps it go away without adding another thing on top of all the other medical stuff I do with her. I have a feeling she will never like me again after all I've been doing to her lol

Try making some saline wash out of warm water with salt added and just wash her eyes out with soft wash cloth. She does need to be able to wash her face often. Glad to hear she is doing so well and eating a bit more. She is probably feeling better so appetite is picking up. About scabs make such no flies around if she still has any open places that's draining. Thanks for updating. Doesn't matter if later than usual just getting a good report makes it worthwhile.

 

[ducklover87]

Try making some saline wash out of warm water with salt added and just wash her eyes out with soft wash cloth. She does need to be able to wash her face often. Glad to hear she is doing so well and eating a bit more. She is probably feeling better so appetite is picking up. About scabs make such no flies around if she still has any open places that's draining. Thanks for updating. Doesn't matter if later than usual just getting a good report makes it worthwhile.

Oh my this is going to be a struggle I can see it already lol. Just the saline wash once a day until better or a few times a day? I will get her a deeper dish for in her carrier. The flies have pretty much vanished here with all the cold weather we are having. I told cheese she was a lucky girl being in the warm house last night. Got down to 27°F last night, talk about cold. Oh she's deff feeling better she hopped out of the bathtub this morning and looked at me as if to say "what? I told you I was done" and started to preen lol

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh my this is going to be a struggle I can see it already lol. Just the saline wash once a day until better or a few times a day? I will get her a deeper dish for in her carrier. The flies have pretty much vanished here with all the cold weather we are having. I told cheese she was a lucky girl being in the warm house last night. Got down to 27°F last night, talk about cold. Oh she's deff feeling better she hopped out of the bathtub this morning and looked at me as if to say "what? I told you I was done" and started to preen lol

LOL funny, sounds like she is pretty feisty which is great..... if you can give her a deeper bowl to wash her face in she may not need you to do anything try it first. If she is washing her face and the crust remains or comes back then either the saline wash or some terramycin eye salve from feed store. Maybe try once a day to start.

 

[Amiga]

I think a deeper head washer is good to start with. You could even put a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in that. It kills germs.

 

[ducklover87]

Alright I'll try a deeper dish with acv in it to start and see what happens. Lol miss Lydia you have no clue. It takes two people to do everything with her now. At first I was able to apply the triple antibiotic by myself but now that she's feeling better I'd probably lose a finger or something with all her biting. But good news she's been outside for about 5 or 6 hours in her pen and I filled her little bowl about half way so I could be able to tell if she ate anything or not. Well I just went out to feed and water everyone else and her food was gone so I added more to it and because she's where she can see them eating she started eating I'm glad being outside cheers her up so much. Don't worry I make constant visits outside to check and see if there's any flies near her or on her. She don't like it but ive checked her over every other time I went out. I'm just not sure when to let her back with her flock. My bf complains that she doesn't have enough room in the large cat carrier but I keep trying to explain to him that right now its a good thing so I'm feeling kinda pressured but yet I don't want to send her outside and she not be ready. Should I wait until her wounds are completely healed just to be sure? I mean shes ripped her scabs off from preening herself and I don't that to happen with her outside and then attract what little flies there are but her one wound is still pretty bad. It had a deep puncture wound and a tear between the flesh and tissue? Or muscle? I'm not sure which it was but I know it was a tear. That wound has a black color to it like it looks like I stitched it up but I didn't. My mom looked at it and she said its just dried blood which makes sense because some days its more red than black and other days its black. But her skin is healing over her back in some places so its not a huge flesh wound and she's molting like crazy.

 

[Amiga]

I am not in the least worried about her staying in for a while yet. With other ducks, there could be some horseplay (duck play?) that might open a wound. Close quarters indoors for a short time is much better than reinjury or fly strike.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Agreed with Amiga. I know Cheese will make it diff for you, But I would advise you to do carry her out so that the others can see and hear her, even if just for 5 mins or so. But don't leave her with them at all. What I'm thinking about was my KC mom's injury. The reason she started being the object of all that aggression in the 1st place, well that happened because she'd been off *seperate from the flock* brooding her eggs. So of course, when she tried to re-enter the flock, it was as if she was a brand new duck. At least the mean-spirited green headed drake thought so anyway. And I don't want that to happen to your Cheese! I'm trying to remember if she had pulled off any scabs, might've. But if you think about humans, sometimes our scabs pop off, right? So my bet on that is as long as you aren't seeing signs of infections or pests, I think it's probly ok. Lastly, if this whole experience has broken her brood, she might be molting already. My Rouen gal was molting when her ducklings were I think 3 days old. When those incubated eggs hatch, yes, I'm pretty sure you're going to need to brood them yourself. I'm glad you gave updates, I always wonder about the ducks we never hear about. Sounds like things are going well. Great news.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am not in the least worried about her staying in for a while yet. With other ducks, there could be some horseplay (duck play?) that might open a wound. Close quarters indoors for a short time is much better than reinjury or fly strike.

X2 and since she is spending more time outside it's not like she is in the carrier constantly. How are they eggs coming? Hatch date??

 

[ducklover87]

Agreed with Amiga. I know Cheese will make it diff for you,

But I would advise you to do carry her out so that the others can see and hear her, even if just for 5 mins or so. But don't leave her with them at all. What I'm thinking about was my KC mom's injury. The reason she started being the object of all that aggression in the 1st place, well that happened because she'd been off *seperate from the flock* brooding her eggs. So of course, when she tried to re-enter the flock, it was as if she was a brand new duck. At least the mean-spirited green headed drake thought so anyway. And I don't want that to happen to your Cheese! I'm trying to remember if she had pulled off any scabs, might've. But if you think about humans, sometimes our scabs pop off, right? So my bet on that is as long as you aren't seeing signs of infections or pests, I think it's probly ok. Lastly, if this whole experience has broken her brood, she might be molting already. My Rouen gal was molting when her ducklings were I think 3 days old. When those incubated eggs hatch, yes, I'm pretty sure you're going to need to brood them yourself. I'm glad you gave updates, I always wonder about the ducks we never hear about. Sounds like things are going well. Great news.

She goes out to see them when it's not freezing out. Today she was probably outside with them for about 6 hours. I keep her in a puppy pen that I got for my ducklings back in February, so that way they can't touch her. Lol my drakes are very much so gentlemen to say the least. They used to lay in the grass next to cheese in the mornings and if she got off her nest and started quacking up a storm they would come running to check on her no matter where they were. I still plan to treat her as if she was a new addition to them though since they don't see her all the time. But until she's 100% she will be separated. For now in the puppy pen and when she gets a bit better and can be out 24/7 i'll keep her in the grow out pen. True but I know she preens herself a lot where they have come off so maybe they got itchy or something? I agree I see people make posts like mine all the time and everyone chimes in to try to help but then no updates at all? Or they update a month or two later saying that everythings fine and thanks for your help.