One duck taken by a hawk, the other scratched, lost it's quack

[ChickMommaSD]

Hi - Super sad. We have four ducks and one was presumably taken by a hawk today. We saw a huge hawk yesterday and he tried to swoop on our ducks, so we think he came back.

The duck near the one that we think was taken, has some scrapes on the face and I know that hawks grab the neck/head, so I think this is what happened to the survivor. She is very shaken and has completely lost her voice, so i think that she may have had a puncture but there is no blood and I can't see a puncture, I'm just assuming neck or throat damage from her losing her voice/quack.

She is not drinking or eating, and I'm hoping she'll start to heal by the morning and may be able to eat and drink after she gets some rest tonight, but is there anything else we can do? Any thoughts? T

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

I think I would bring her inside and stick her in my clean kitchen sink with some Epsom Salts & warm water. Let her float, kick the legs, but do not allow her to drink the water with Epsom Salts (laxative). She may be traumatized but I think the bath should help, plus it will give you an opportunity to give her a good looking over for punctures. Then after that I'd probly put her into a comfy, quiet spot with some food and water to rest. Then I'd do another bath in the am. Good luck.

 

[newduckmama]

Sorry to hear this! I have no suggestions for you as I am a newbie duck owner but I did want to offer my condolences as we have hawks circling all the time overhead and this is one of my biggest worries - that one of our six free-ranging ducks will not make it back to their duck house before they are grabbed. Our duck house is surrounded by a yard which is completely fenced in, even up above, with a chain link fence so once they are in no hawks can attack them from the air. Although they are quite vigilant to everything flying overhead I worry most about my two Cayugas whose bodies are heavy in the caboose and low to the ground which, unfortunately, makes them the slowest runners of the bunch.

My fingers are crossed for your injured duck to find its voice again and its way back to health.

 

[ChickMommaSD]

Thank you very much. The duck got a warm bath and we've taken her onto our patio so she can get some rest away from the other ducks who seem to be picking on her a bit either to roust her (they didn't see the attack) or b/c she's weak right now. But they can see her through the little wire fence and keep coming over to check on her.

She seems a bit stronger today and did drink by herself, which she wouldn't do yesterday, so we're hoping she'll be ok, but she's still not quacking and keeps opening her mouth to suck in air so we think her windpipe is damaged.

We did find a puncture between her breastplate and throat though. I'm worried she could have a punctured lung, but the breathing is it, she walks around and has been swimming so i'm really just hoping it's her windpipe or that she has swelling around her throat where she was picked up. Any thoughts on that? Thanks again.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Can you tell how deep the wound is? Better yet, got a pic? Hopefully it's not too deep! I have not dealt with very deep wounds here, but I think the Epsom Salt baths should help with that too. Good sign that she's drinking now.

 

[ChickMommaSD]

She won't stay still long enough for us to take a pic but it doesn't seem as though it's very deep or big. Also, she's not trying so hard to breath anymore, so I'm hoping the swelling came down or she's calming down. Keeping her calm and clean and separate and the other ducks drop by to check on her. They were napping while this happened so they don't know what's going on. Thanks again!!

 

[newduckmama]

I love that the other ducks are coming by to check on her -- they are the sweetest to watch when they are concerned about one of their own missing from the group. It sounds as if your injured duck is showing some improvement -- fingers crossed she continues her recovery!

 

[ChickMommaSD]

Yes, thank you. Now if she'll just eat. I've tried many things but at least she's drinking for now. Ty again!!

 

[ChickMommaSD]

Uggg. You won't believe it. Our duck lived through this attack and then died last night. I do not understand what happened b/c she had recovered and was totally chipper and doing very well and every day was very active and a month later, she's gone. She just didn't wake up after she went to bed and we found her this morning. I am assuming that this had something to do with the attack, like she may have had internal issues or infection or something else that we didn't see externally and she didn't indicate in her behavior. Any thoughts on this??

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Not certain. Sorry for your loss.