Problem with my duck's leg healing

[Louise Hill]

Over two weeks ago I put my ducks into their coop and in the morning my runner duck with one blind eye came out crawling and not able to walk. One leg was dragging. I put her into a dog crate and was nursing her with food for a little over 2 weeks and I see huge improvements in the movement of her leg. She is standing on both legs but lifts the hurt one every so often and limps when walking. She is in great health otherwise and no bumbles, she eats well. The leg is the side of her blind eye so I figured she stepped on something or hurt her leg going into the coop somehow because can only use the other eye. I am puzzled but regardless she is recovering slowly. I have soaked her leg in Epson Salts a few times and she swims in the pond daily for a while and gets out on her own. I'm a little worried about the other ducks because of isolating her, when she gets out of the pond, she stands alone. When she is in her crate the other ducks will sit around her. Do you think she could have broken her leg? I did not think a sprain would take this long to heal. Anyone have this problem with a runner before. I have never had ducks limp this long and yes I have treated bumbles before she doesn't have any and looks like no infections and gets plenty of nutritional yeast in her food.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I've had 2 of my Runner females come down with a leg injury and limping. First one I kept in a dog xpen so she could be with her flock but not be running around with them took a month for her to heal. Thinking a bad sprain. I didn't soak but gave her swim time daily and also put nutritional yeast over her food.

The next one I kept same way and she recovered in 2 weeks. Mine have access to half an acre fenced in but they have to go up and down a hill to get to the largest part. and since they never walk anywhere and I have seen them come down doing 90 and old my breath. I also have a Muscovy who is blind in one eye and have to keep close watch on her too since she hangs out with the Runners.

Hopefully with all your doing and seeing recovery just keeping on with what your doing will get her finished on healing.
Just like when we get an injury time, rest and therapy[water] is really the best way to get over it.

 

[Louise Hill]

Okay, thank you so much. I was really worried that it was taking too long to recover. Right now she is out with the others but since it's been raining they are hanging around the puddles and I'm keeping an eye on her. She tends to stand and preen most of the time. I don't want her to overdo it. I was hoping a little exercise might help her but not too much to set her back. I was moving the crate around with the flock so she could be around them and that worked out somewhat. She's a fawn runner and you know what I mean about having the one blind eye, makes her a little more special. I have 15 ducks and three are runners because I lost 2 over the years. Really love the runners.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I sure do love them too. They are such characters.

Other than taking her to the vet for an x-ray, I'd say if your seeing improvement just keep up with what your doing. with my first one I did let her out too soon and ended up having to put her back another week which made her recovery a month. They just rarely walk anywhere.
keep us updated on how she is doing. The added Nutritional yeast may help too since it is excellent for leg muscle strength. Mine get it sprinkled over their feed a couple times a week. unless I am treating someone, then it's 1 Tab per cup of feed.

 

[Louise Hill]

Yes, I add yeast to the group food bowl daily and she is getting extra with her peas and grains. I have noticed that the nutritional yeast has been in shortage for some reason, ordering it has been somewhat of an issue since I want to buy it US only and not Chinese. I make sure they get it daily tho. That's for sure, Runners are characters and not slow walkers like some of my other heavier breeds that have hobbled around when going limp. She took off and looked like a pogo stick bouncing so I put her back into the crate. I don't want to undo what will be three weeks this Friday recovery. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Love to see some pictures when you get time!

 

[Louise Hill]

Of course!!

 

[Isaac 0]

In addition to what Miss Lydia suggested, you can try giving her an NSAID to reduce some of the pain and inflammation, if the limping persists. Preferably, you would use something like Meloxicam, ketoprofen, or carprofen, but if you don't have any of those on hand there are several products you can acquire without a prescription such as baby aspirin, Ibuprofen, or DMSO gel.

For baby Asprin simply dissolve one 325mg tablet into 250ml of water. The dose for Ibuprofen is 5-10mg/kg two-three times a day. Or if using the liquid ( 100mg per five ML/ 20mg per ml) you can administer 0.11ml per pound of bodyweight. Lastly, for the DMSO gel, dilute it down halfway with water, and apply it to the problem area wearing gloves, repeat a couple of times a day.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/valhoma-dmso-99-pure-gel-formula-1-lb
https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-aspirin-325-mg-tablets/ID=prod6029279-product
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-I.../10324480?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0

These products are labeled for human use (except the DMSO), but can be used with birds, but research suggests long-term usage of these drugs can cause GI tract irritation. Also note that these drugs directly interfere with the bird's pain receptors and will cause the bird to walk on the leg too soon, which may subsequently lead to more damage of the leg, so it's vital the bird be kept in an area to reduce the chance of injuring the leg once again.

 

[Louise Hill]

Thank you for all of the information. I have DMSO on hand but I am not sure I'd like to use that yet. As for Baby Aspirin, do I just add the dissolved aspirin solution in her drinking water? Then it would be very diluted. I like to treat naturally as much as possible but I do use drugs if necessary.

 

[Isaac 0]

As for Baby Aspirin, do I just add the dissolved aspirin solution in her drinking water? Then it would be very diluted. I like to treat naturally as much as possible but I do use drugs if necessary.

For Asprin simply dissolve one 325mg tablet into 250ml of water. The dose for Ibuprofen is 5-10mg/kg two-three times a day. Or if using the liquid ( 100mg per five ML/ 20mg per ml) you can administer 0.11ml per pound of bodyweight. Lastly, for the DMSO gel, dilute it down halfway with water, and apply it to the problem area wearing gloves, repeat a couple of times a day.

This is what I've seen vets recommend when a prescription type NSAID is unavailable.