Need help fast - duck attacked

[rootandbloom]

Hello, I cannot find a vet in my area that is (a) open and will (b) see a duck. Something tiny like a weasel peeled open the door of my coop and killed 5 of my birds. 1 adult Cayuga duck is badly injured. I brought him inside and he's in a clean box with hay and I cleaned the wounds off with hydrogen peroxide.

He has a puncture on the top of his head and some wounds down his neck and one eye has been punctured/damaged. He is blinking and looking with his other eye. He can stand and lay. He hasn't moved his wings. The primary problem is his neck- when I brought him in this morning I thought his neck was broken and that he would just die in the box today. However, he is not dead and I just was able to get him to drink some water.

When his head is tucked onto his body he can turn it a bit and drink. But when he is picked up (like to clean him), his head flops all the way down and he can't use his neck or move it properly. Is there anything I can do?

 

[Stravager]

For a puncture wound made by a predator I would say get antibiotics if you can. If you can't, then flush well with sterile saline at least once a day, especially the eye. Hydrogen peroxide will also kill good healthy cells and can cause more damage in some instances. Keep the duck warm and in a quiet, dark place to help with shock. If you can give them electrolytes that might also help. You might also want to consider trimming the feathers around the wounds to properly see what's going on - dark feathers and dried blood makes for poor monitoring. In terms of the neck.... if the puncture hit a tendon or something vitally important for movement then there's not much you can do. Hopefully the duck improves.
And hopefully someone else has better advice.

 

[rootandbloom]

I did 1/4 of a 200mg Ibuprofen pill ground up with electrolytes and some homeopathic arnica and that did the trick. She (now I know it's the hen because she finally quacked and that's the only way I can tell them apart) had a warm bath and loved that. She drank a lot and walked around the bath tub and tried to clean herself a bit- her neck control seems to be improving so I'm hopeful she can survive this.

 

[rootandbloom]

I don't have a photo from when it was floppy

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

Glad he's isolated and in a calm space. Keep the lights low in case he's in shock. I hope others will have some advice. Best of luck sweet duck

 

[Miss Lydia]

Give him time to recover from shock he won’t eat until he’s through it. Keep him in a quiet place in semi darkness only clean wounds once with hydrogen peroxide. You should clip all the feathers away from the wounds so you can treat them better and they won’t get caught inside as the wounds heal. Once he’s over shock clip the feathers then post better pictures so we can see how bad they are. is he the only one who made it? If not get your ducks out of where you had them because that weasel or mink will be back your coop needs more security. So very sorry for your losses.

 

[Jenbirdee]

for electrolytes if you don’t have any you can add 1 tsp sugar to one cup water and a pinch of salt and a pinch of baking soda.

 

[rootandbloom]

Thank you. I have chick electrolytes. What kind of antbx are used for ducks? Maybe I can grab at Tractor Supply? My 4 Cemanis made it presumably because they roost up very high. My husband nailed extra wood around the door where there were claw marks but the geese are traumatized and won't return to the coop so I locked them in a horse stall in the barn. We just have 2 and they follow me like puppies fortunately. Thx.

 

[rootandbloom]

People get upset about a mink coat.
Reading stories like this make me want to skin these little bastards and stitch the coat myself.

My husband went out and walked the property with the rifle but of course that didn't result in anything. We can't put traps under the coop because a family of groundhogs lives under it and they're harmless. Minks/fishers/etc. are so disgusting, they just killed them all for sport. 2 Crevecoeurs, 2 Favorelles, my second Cayuga. Only took one head.

 

[rootandbloom]

He is still alive this AM. I took the ace bandage off and he drank well and had better neck control as far as raising it and tipping his head back to drink. Wouldn't eat mushy carrots. Will try some ibuprofen then a bath and more foods once that kicks in. Ty everyone.