Fluffaloo
Chirping
- Feb 20, 2023
- 72
- 85
- 91
Hi.
Earlier this week I had woken up to find that the 5-week old ducklings undid the latch to the 1-week-old duckling pen. I was horrified to see 2 of my new magpie ducklings on the ground necks snapped but the third miraculously survived. When I examined her I noticed that her leg was severely fractured with part of the bone sticking out. Somehow she was still full of energy, eating, drinking, standing on one foot, but I was not, I was still freaking out. I made her an apt with whatever vet would take her that day and got some x-rays and pain meds. She ended up with an open spiral fracture of the tibiotarsal bone which is a very tricky area to fix. I was able to get an apt with the exotic clinic two days later but they weren't able to perfectly align the bones so there's a slight gap/overlap between them. Surgery would cost thousands so I decided to go with the splint option. We are hoping for a mild malunion at best but that means she will most likely have one leg shorter than the other. She is currently on anti-inflammatories, pain meds, and antibiotics so fingers crossed we can minimize infection.
Do any of you have experience with a duck with one leg shorter than the other? How do they hold up long term?
Earlier this week I had woken up to find that the 5-week old ducklings undid the latch to the 1-week-old duckling pen. I was horrified to see 2 of my new magpie ducklings on the ground necks snapped but the third miraculously survived. When I examined her I noticed that her leg was severely fractured with part of the bone sticking out. Somehow she was still full of energy, eating, drinking, standing on one foot, but I was not, I was still freaking out. I made her an apt with whatever vet would take her that day and got some x-rays and pain meds. She ended up with an open spiral fracture of the tibiotarsal bone which is a very tricky area to fix. I was able to get an apt with the exotic clinic two days later but they weren't able to perfectly align the bones so there's a slight gap/overlap between them. Surgery would cost thousands so I decided to go with the splint option. We are hoping for a mild malunion at best but that means she will most likely have one leg shorter than the other. She is currently on anti-inflammatories, pain meds, and antibiotics so fingers crossed we can minimize infection.
Do any of you have experience with a duck with one leg shorter than the other? How do they hold up long term?
