quality of life issue

[hennyjenn]

We got the last three ducks from the feed store this Spring. The Pekin was lame, but I couldn't leave her behind. She is about 7 weeks old now, I've had her for about 2.5 weeks. I think she has a niacin deficiency and have been sprinkling brewers yeast on her food and giving her vit B shots. She has not made any improvement. Both legs splay out to the side at the "hip", do not bend at the "wrist", and feet roll inward. She walks short distances with difficulty while dragging her behind, and also swims with some difficulty, but does do better on water than on land. Her two rouen mates are starting to venture further from their house and it distresses her that she cannot keep up with them. The bigger she gets, I'm assuming the harder it will be for her to get around. DH says I should put her down now, my kids think I should wait until she is eating size (they named her Marshmallow so she will taste sweet

), and I don't know what to do. Thoughts?

 

[Wifezilla]

Does she appear to be in pain? How much time and effort are you willing to spend on the duck?

If it were me, I would get her to eating size. Waste not want not.

 

[hennyjenn]

I do have some time and effort to put into the duck, if I think she could get better. Right now, the kids take her down to the creek most afternoons so she can swim around with the rouens. DD does "physiotherapy" with her daily, but that doesn't seem to do much except make DD more attached to the duck.

 

[miniwhipkey]

If she is not in pain I would keep working with her. It sounds like you really like her. It might be to heart breaking to eat. Some times with age these things work them self out. But that is just my opinion.

 

[OmaBird]

This is a tuff one that I go through alot. I have many one legged chickens that do fine. One we named hoppy. I live where we have diffencency*(both Selenium and Copper) in or soil for goats. I have managed to over come the problem most of the time. But now and then a get a baby goat born that can't walk sortly after birth. Last year I bottle feed one and kept it alive for 4 months. I carried the goat around to wherwe he wanted to go. He was pretty big when we found him dead one day. I wondered if we waited to long. This year we had 22 babies. I thought all was good until last week when one came down with the same problem. Memories of our last goat was just to painful to do again. This time we did not wait. We put the goat down.

 

[hennyjenn]

I'm not sure I would recognize pain in a duck. These are my first. Her eyes are clear (now that she's home from the feed store and has regular "baths". She has the cutest little top knot. The only times she quacks sadly are when she is deserted by her duck friends, when she is being carried, or when my kids pick her up, though she settles down and nestles in quickly.

 

[hennyjenn]

Update: A vet friend came over today and is worried my duck will develop sores on her legs from walking on her "heels" instead of her feet.

I hate having to make these kinds of decisions.

 

[Wifezilla]