Raccoon Attack, leg injury to Duck

[Ana]

Hello,
A raccoon attacked one of my ducks by digging under the pen and grabbing her leg yesterday.
Her flipper was all but ripped off and her leg is mauled up to her thigh. The upper part of her leg is semi-okay, but broken off from the thigh bone and the thigh bone is protruding.
I cut the flipper off and wrapped her leg. I changed the dressing today and she isn't bleeding anymore. She can take a few steps and is drinking water with some food.
My question is: will she survive this? And can she function with just one leg? Or do we need to kill her so she doesn't just suffer a drawn-out death?
Thanks.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Sounds like she needs to be put down.

 

[Jenski]

If you have bone protruding, you will have infection within a couple of days. You must decide how to proceed, and others here might have more suggestions to offer, but if you don't intent to invest in veterinary care to have the leg professionally amputated ($$$$), the most humane path might be to cull ~ quickly and compassionately.

So sorry that happened. Please keep us posted.

 

[zatsdeb]

we had a muskovey that had a foot injured by an animal, we don't know what, we found him in the winter, put him in with the chickens, he had already started healing, and he had only 1 foot, and one peg leg, and got around slow but got around. he also could fly to get from place to place.
I have a crippled duck, from very young on, and she limps around, but gets around fine, she is ok otherwise, we just make sure she is safe, and nothing can get to her because she can't go as fast as the other ducks.
you have to be careful also because if the coon came once, you can bet he will come again, a live trap may be in order. we caught lots of coons with cat food, or can of cat food.
good luck with your duck. I know if it were me and it was a pet I would try to save it, and make sure about infection, and that it is not in pain, and It would depend on how bad the injury is.

 

[Ana]

Thanks for your replies. We put her down last night. Very sad, indeed.
We do have a big problem with the raccoons and we'll try to start trapping them.

 

[Jenski]

Ana, I am so sorry about your duck! There are plenty of folks on the forum (myself included) who have also had to make those tough decisions about their animals. It never seems to get any easier, but it is still so worth it to continue enjoying them in our lives.

As you have unfortunately found, raccoons are clever and persistent predators, and you will most likely have to shore up the defenses around your coop perimeter as well.

Please keep us posted on how things go. Sending blessings your way!

 

[zatsdeb]

sorry for your loss..
i hope you get those coons!!!