Oh No ! Not My Julia ( She's OK today...)

[xke4]

Quote:
Good Morning,
It has been my experience with many injured ducks that they enter into a quiet state much like you are describing. I don't know if it is to preserve energy in order to heal, I don't know if it is a delayed shock, I don't know if it is something like Capture Myopathy........but the ducks in whom I have witnessed this, all come around with time. The little Mallard that you see in my photo didn't move an inch for over 24 hours. Nothing had happened to her legs....she just appeared frozen. But they shake it off eventually. I wouldn't try and make them swim, I would make sure their dish was in close proximity to their mouth and would keep them as quiet as possible. I have found that they sometimes go off their food and making a soup out of their kibble entices them to eat. You have to keep a close eye on this however as the kibble absorbs all the water eventually and if the ratio is too heavy on the kibble side, can make cement instead of soup. This food spoils quicker also. Mealworms bought from the pet store are a good appetite stimulant as well.
Their wounds heal surprisingly quick. The little fellow you see here was rescued from the clutches of a Red Tailed Hawk and had a huge gash that was sutured closed. When it came time to decide whether to remove the sutures or leave them, (we used Vicryl) there was no sign of the injury...or the sutures! You can still see the divet (sp?) in his shoulder but this was at least 3 years ago and he is fine.

You can see a bit of an area right under the darker brown on his chest. That's where it is.

 

[sandracollins]

xke4 how long was it before you could say your duck was back to normal its been over a week now and he is still very quite

 

[Suzie]

Hi Sianara,

My ducks are houses with two geese ( Embden ) - which came to us as a gift - the problem was my 9 other geese (Toulouse and Embden) who live in a separate compound - the 9 originals will not let any other geese nor ducks near them - thet are very territorial - they also harras my chickens! It is not the fault of my geese - it is entirely my fault for not clipping Julia's wings - I would however not reccomend that geese are integrated with chickens until you are 100% sure that an attack will not occur when they are housed together.

I am pleased to say that Julia is feeling better today - she has been out of her nest and has been taking an interest in her limited surroundings - thanks to all of you here - she appears to be on the mend - your thoughts and well wishes have given me the feeling that despite her injuries - she WILL make it!

I don't know what I would have done without your tremendous support - it is YOU who keep the momentum up....... thank you again ALL of you who have posted on this thread - Julia is a VERY special Muscovy to me - may she keep thriving!

Suzie

 

[jojo@rolling acres farm]

So glad to have a positive update on Julia! I've been pulling for both of you - I think she'll be just fine.

Best regards,

Joni

 

[Suzie]

SandraCollins - I do hope your duck improves and gets back to normal again - please don't apologise for mentioning your sick duck - that is what BYC is all about - it is to help one another in times of need and to share our joys and tears... I sincerely hope your duck is OK - please let us know how it is progressing - I am glad that this thread may help you and your duck!

Sincerely

Suzie

 

[sandracollins]

Hi Suzie,i am sure Julia will be fine my little one is improving slowly I left him out with the others for about 3 hours today and when i checked on him he was on his own but covered in muck so he must have been doing duckie things ,I brought him in and gave him a bath in the sink he still dosent seem to want to swim but I am putting this down to his muscles being sore he also seems to have a slight limp but the vet said the dog bit through all the muscles and there was a bit missing from his belly!!!! I cant believe how strong these little ducks are so I hope Julia keeps fighting like my little one ,I am thinking of you and willing her well

 

[sandracollins]

hi any update on Julia ,my litle one is quite lame today I rang the vet he said give it a day or so and if he dosent improve bring him to see him

 

[Suzie]

Hi Sandra,

Hope your little one keeps improving - Julia has been investigating the stable block today, she decided that Maman Silkie's home look interesting so she went inside and left a deposit - ugh!

Julia is also limping, her foot was bleeding after her attack from the geese and if they crushed her too she will be somewhat in pain from that - I do hope she keeps progressing as well as she has done so far - you are lucky in so much as a Vet will attend to your duck - here in France they would fall over laughing if you tried to get a Vet to see an injured duck - they would cull it immediately - So Julia is staying here and she will have all the love and attention she can get - I do have Veterinary products here as I have a lot of other animals so unless ther are further complications she should keep thriving.

I am still amazed that the other Muscovy Ducks lay by the side of her box at night - the Indian Runners however are just grateful that there is more food in the feeders for them - 26 ducks in all!

Keep me posted about your little one!

Suzie

 

[sandracollins]

Julia sounds like she is doing well,my one has no injury to his foot that we can see and the limping only really started last night its been a week and 3 days since his attack and he is nowhere as active as the others ,the vet said he should not still be sore from the bite but I find that hard to believe because the skin on his chest under his feathers is hard and dark brown like a big scab about 2 inches round .My vet dosent do chickens but does see ducks!!! he also does acupuncture on all animals.If he dosent improve by Friday I am going to bring him back down to see him,do you know what a male call duck should weigh he only weighs 1 and a half pounds the other drake weighs just over 2 lbs

 

[Suzie]

Hi Sandra,

Sorry I don't know how much they should weigh - it may be an idea to post a new topic to see if anyone knows how much they should weigh, I just go by how mine are and they all eat their corn like crazy when they come indoors at night albeit that they have been eating outside all day.

I had a duck that I isolated as she was limping ( without any apparent injury ) and she was kept inside for just over a week and she stopped limping - that is until she discovered that hse wasn't getting special treatment and she did limp when she knew I was watching her so I started to observe her from behind a wall - she didn't limp at all then!

Hopefully your little boy will soon be walking properly - it is early days and he obviously suffered a lot from his injuries after being bitten - that would have been terribly traumatic for him - he's done well to survive the attack - Julia has some awful looking scabs about her head ( very close to her eyes ) and on her back - I think it will take some time before both of them overcome their ordeals!

Good luck with him!

Glad you have a good Vet!

Suzie