Pekin gone lame - dragging foot

Jenny421

Songster
May 21, 2021
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This is the first time owning ducks. We have a female Pekin that stopped walking today. She was 100% fine this morning and by the afternoon she wasn’t walking at all. When we tried to get her she was able to run away but she’s dragging her foot and not trying to put any weight on it. I tried to get a picture without scaring her and making her run again so it’s not a great picture. I was able to examine her once my husband was holding her and her leg felt warmer than the other, but I didn’t notice any cuts or sores or anything obvious. She’s in her coop tonight with the two other girls. Should I separate her? Is there anything I can look for or do to help her?
 

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Poor thing! It’s a tough call on separating ducks because of their bond. Sometimes it’s the best thing, but sometimes it’s more stressful. It comes down to whether she’ll heal or be further injured while with the others.
Do you have a drake? You definitely don’t want a boy trying to mate while she’s hurting.
 
Poor thing! It’s a tough call on separating ducks because of their bond. Sometimes it’s the best thing, but sometimes it’s more stressful. It comes down to whether she’ll heal or be further injured while with the others.
Do you have a drake? You definitely don’t want a boy trying to mate while she’s hurting.
Yes, they are all so attached to each other. We don’t have any drakes, so that’s not an issue. I wasn’t sure if ducks will attack an injured duck. We have chickens too and our one rooster jumped on the duck and tried to attack her. Thankfully I was right there and got him off quickly.
 
Yes, they are all so attached to each other. We don’t have any drakes, so that’s not an issue. I wasn’t sure if ducks will attack an injured duck. We have chickens too and our one rooster jumped on the duck and tried to attack her. Thankfully I was right there and got him off quickly.
In my limited experience, I have found that ducks tend to stick close to an injured duck, even offering protection when needed. A big difference from chickens, who will target and bully a weaker bird.
Now if your chickens and ducks are together, I’d be leery of leaving her with the flock.
 
In my limited experience, I have found that ducks tend to stick close to an injured duck, even offering protection when needed. A big difference from chickens, who will target and bully a weaker bird.
Now if your chickens and ducks are together, I’d be leery of leaving her with the flock.
They are all free range during the day, but have separate coop/run areas at night. I will not be letting the injured one out after seeing how the rooster attacked her today.
 
I was able to get a little better picture of her foot this morning. Does this look like anything obvious? She’s still limping, but no longer dragging her foot. She’s still confined.
 

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I was able to get a little better picture of her foot this morning. Does this look like anything obvious? She’s still limping, but no longer dragging her foot. She’s still confined.
Did you ever figure out what was wrong with her? My girl is having the same issue right now and I’m not sure what to do 😞
 
Did you ever figure out what was wrong with her? My girl is having the same issue right now and I’m not sure what to do 😞
Yes! We took her to the vet and she didn’t have any fractures. The vet thought it was nerve issue because she was reacting to her poking her foot. At the time, she said that she might get better. Time would tell. After many weeks being confined and having therapy in our bathtub she started walking again. She wasn’t as fast as the others but she was able to get around fine. Unfortunately she disappeared. I’m thinking a coyote must have grabbed her. We still miss our Louise. I hope your duck improves.
 
Yes! We took her to the vet and she didn’t have any fractures. The vet thought it was nerve issue because she was reacting to her poking her foot. At the time, she said that she might get better. Time would tell. After many weeks being confined and having therapy in our bathtub she started walking again. She wasn’t as fast as the others but she was able to get around fine. Unfortunately she disappeared. I’m thinking a coyote must have grabbed her. We still miss our Louise. I hope your duck improves.
So sorry:hugs
 

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