One of my babies is hurt!

[Ashizzle]

* This is a REALLY LONG post, but please bear with me!!!
* I’m brand new to this forum and to raising poultry.
* Dexter and Darwin are unsexed Rouen ducklings (a little over a month old).

The Story:

My 8-year-old son decided to “help” by feeding the ducks and chickens one morning while my husband and I were sleeping. He apparently stepped on the one we call Dexter. He says that he stepped on his butt, which I can only assume means his lower back.

The Details:

My son didn’t immediately tell us about the incident, but I noticed today that Dexter was making some noises I hadn’t heard before.

I discovered that...

* Dexter’s legs are giving out intermittently, causing him difficulty with walking and standing on land.

* Both legs are structurally intact and he can move them to swim and wipe his head in the water.

* The issues appear to be weakness (apparent only on land), and pain.

* A spinal cord injury fits the bill.

The Good News:

He’s still very interested in cuddling with his brother, swimming and eating. He’s also still passing stool, which is a relief.

What I’ve Tried:

* I moved both ducks into a chick pen to try to limit Dexter’s movement. —They have to be together or they get scared.

* I stuck the ducks in the tub to take weight off his limbs and Dexter was able to happily swim around.

Questions for those More Experienced than I:

* Is there anything over the counter I can give him for pain/inflammation?
* Can anyone recommend any dietary adjustments that may help facilitate healing?
*What else can I do to help him recover?

As for Brenden...

* When I discovered that my son had gone into the coop without permission, seriously injured the duck and then failed to notify me, I guilt-tripped him to tears and sent him to his room to think about what he’d done.
* He sulked off to his room and proceeded to slip/fall 5’, head-first off his bunk bed.
* I just got home after spending 5 hours in the Emergency Room.
* CT scans and X-rays were all negative.
* You can’t make this stuff up.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My that’s awful about your sons fall thank goodness he didn’t get seriously injured. As for Dexter sounds like this injury will heal in time with rest and water therapy just like your doing. If mine I’d go and get some Liquid B Complex at TSC and start Dexter on it ASAP. 1ml daily over a yummy treat just enough he eats down his dose. Wouldn’t hurt your other Rouen to have it also because heavy breeds tend to need the niacin more since their legs grow so fast and carry more weight. Hopefully with what your doing now and the Liquid B Complex you’ll see noticeable improvement. Can’t say how long but I am betting it won’t take too long. If you were to start seeing a decline though a vet would be the best option in other words if he has significant internal injuries. But with what you have explained I am thinking not. Please keep us updated.

 

[Ashizzle]

Lydia,

Thanks for your response! I will see what I can find as far as B-complex supplements. I’m thinking a little extra calcium and vitamin D won’t hurt either since he may have a fracture somewhere...

Nothing’s new today. Dexter still has wimpy legs, but he wants to go places. The left leg seems to work better than the right. When he’s resting he occasionally makes this noise that makes me want to cry. I think it's a pain sound.

Brenden’s still sore but he’s okay. I still can’t beleive that happened. I kept him home from school since he stayed up til 3am and we planted trees today.

 

[Ashizzle]

...got supplements from Tractor Supply Co! Also, this happened:

 

[Miss Lydia]

Lydia,

Thanks for your response! I will see what I can find as far as B-complex supplements. I’m thinking a little extra calcium and vitamin D won’t hurt either since he may have a fracture somewhere...

Nothing’s new today. Dexter still has wimpy legs, but he wants to go places. The left leg seems to work better than the right. When he’s resting he occasionally makes this noise that makes me want to cry. I think it's a pain sound.

Brenden’s still sore but he’s okay. I still can’t beleive that happened. I kept him home from school since he stayed up til 3am and we planted trees today.

Hopefully once Dexter gets some of the liquid b complex into him he'll start to feel stronger, along with healing from any injury.

Glad to hear Brendon didn't have any serious injury too and is feeling better.

Keep us updated. Looks like safari came to TSC too lol

 

[Ashizzle]

Thanks for your help. I do feel like there’s definitely an injury. I did my research before bringing the babies home and I make their food myself daily. They get their Niacin and are definitely not deficient. No commercial chick started for these guys.

I tried to post a video of what he’s doing, but the file is apparently too long... Last night he’d actually improved. It was much more dramatic/ pronounced the day before the video was shot.

I posted it on our FB page if anyone wants to watch. The right leg seems to be the worse.

https://m.facebook.com/pg/PhelpsZoo/posts/?ref=bookmarks&mt_nav=0

 

[Miss Lydia]

If you ever want to put a video here you have to upload to you tube or Vimeo then copy and paste here. That can be a sign of niacin def or an injury it’d good your supplementing hopefully it won’t take long with all your doing he’ll be 100% very soon. They sure are precious

 

[Ashizzle]

I did read about niacin deficiency and I totally agree it can present itself as leg weakness. I just feel like if that was the issue both ducklings would be effected and the leg weakness would be equal bilaterally. Also, the fact that it started after Brenden stepped on the poor guy... I’ve used nutritional yeast as a supplement since we brought them home and we feed them fish, bugs and peas.

I think we’ll continue the vitamins from now on, just to be safe. I think I’ll even give some to our Chickies! The one we got is made specifically for poultry. Can’t hurt! Thanks again for your support and well wishes. It is much appreciated. You’re the only person that took the time to reply!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Please keep us updated and your very welcome!

 

[Duckworth]

I like Miss Lydia’s advice about your duck. I hope your son is okay and that he knows that nothing he could do wrong would make his own safety not worth protecting. This just hit home for me because while in a previous placement, one of my children was guilt-tripped over the death from unknown causes of a young farm animal he was given responsibility for when he was too young to handle it. My son felt overwhelming shame about it and tried repeatedly to harm himself as a way of coping with that. I know your situation is different. I just have experience with how a child can misunderstand the important lesson his parents are trying to impart and can draw really distorted conclusions. I hope that’s not what happened here, but if you think there could be any connection between events, clear up any confusion and save your son the years of agony my son went through before he joined our family and we finally figured it out.

If I’m completely off base here, chalk it up to me being triggered by the memory of seeing my son suffer.