- May 22, 2008
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We have 25 ducks that were hatched around Easter. Hubby rescued them from our Tractor Supply store where they were all looking pretty pitiful without brooder lamps and not nearly enough water.
They've gone from a small brooder area to a decent size safe house for at night and have a good size run for daytime.
One of them has a limping problem. I had hoped it was just a little sprain and isolating him/her from the flock for a time would resolve the problem but the limp isn't getting any better. That and isolation makes her miserable - at least that's how she looks to me when she's in ducky jail.
It appears that he/she just cannot keep his/her toes spread out to walk and as a result the foot curls back under him/her and he/she hops and uses that foot for balance. Also, she's really not using that foot much to paddle around the pool.
I attempted to splint the foot and in short order the duck managed to get the splint off and tried to eat it.
I stood him/her (lets just go with one gender and call the duck a girl since I have no clue how to tell one way or the other) on the good foot - traced it as best I could and using that as a template cut out two pieces of cardboard - covered both with gorilla tape so they would be water and dirt repellent and attempted to tape both around the foot without getting tape on her foot. I did leave toenails exposed.
She did a little better standing but still tended to drag the foot behind and it flipped to upside down with the splint on.
I did feel around her legs to see if there were any differences or if any touching caused distress and it seems that the bum leg has a warm (not hot) spot right above her foot. So.. assuming this is a problem - I constructed another splint like form, this time with the corner of a box tall enough to cover this joint on her leg - again covered it with gorilla tape and thought I securely got this splint on her foot and leg. (without getting any feathers stuck on the tape) Getting her toes spread out was a challenge while both holding her and getting the top part of the splint around her leg.
I think she's a reincarnation of Houdini because within half an hour she got out of that one too. She gets around the pen hopping - slowly - and isn't getting picked on. She enjoys pool time and gets a lot of "free rides" from one side of the pen to the other so she's near the crowd. She's eating, drinking and pooping like everybody else.
Anyone have any suggestions on how to get a splint constructed and on her so it will stay on?
They've gone from a small brooder area to a decent size safe house for at night and have a good size run for daytime.
One of them has a limping problem. I had hoped it was just a little sprain and isolating him/her from the flock for a time would resolve the problem but the limp isn't getting any better. That and isolation makes her miserable - at least that's how she looks to me when she's in ducky jail.
It appears that he/she just cannot keep his/her toes spread out to walk and as a result the foot curls back under him/her and he/she hops and uses that foot for balance. Also, she's really not using that foot much to paddle around the pool.
I attempted to splint the foot and in short order the duck managed to get the splint off and tried to eat it.
I stood him/her (lets just go with one gender and call the duck a girl since I have no clue how to tell one way or the other) on the good foot - traced it as best I could and using that as a template cut out two pieces of cardboard - covered both with gorilla tape so they would be water and dirt repellent and attempted to tape both around the foot without getting tape on her foot. I did leave toenails exposed.
She did a little better standing but still tended to drag the foot behind and it flipped to upside down with the splint on.
I did feel around her legs to see if there were any differences or if any touching caused distress and it seems that the bum leg has a warm (not hot) spot right above her foot. So.. assuming this is a problem - I constructed another splint like form, this time with the corner of a box tall enough to cover this joint on her leg - again covered it with gorilla tape and thought I securely got this splint on her foot and leg. (without getting any feathers stuck on the tape) Getting her toes spread out was a challenge while both holding her and getting the top part of the splint around her leg.
I think she's a reincarnation of Houdini because within half an hour she got out of that one too. She gets around the pen hopping - slowly - and isn't getting picked on. She enjoys pool time and gets a lot of "free rides" from one side of the pen to the other so she's near the crowd. She's eating, drinking and pooping like everybody else.
Anyone have any suggestions on how to get a splint constructed and on her so it will stay on?
