I feel so awful. I always always always always lock my birds up in a predator-proof pen at night. If we're going to go out, then I put them up early so that they are put away before dark.
Last night, my group of young ducks (about six to eight weeks) were being a real pain about going to bed, and I went inside in a temper with the plan to go back out after a bit when I wasn't so irritated any more. But I forgot.
Amazingly, there were no predator visits. Something almost worse happened instead.
One of the ducklings, apparently spooked by something, ran over rough ground and got a leg stuck between two small stumps. And whatever spooked it REALLY spooked it. It was moving so fast, it literally snapped its leg in half--bone sticking out, leg held together only by some skin and ligaments. It was awful. When I went outside this morning, it was still stuck, blood on the ground (not completely dry, so it must have happened toward morning), grisly bone sticking out, just horrible.
I freed the duck and carried it around to where my husband was in the driveway. I know this isn't the decision some people would have made, but after heart-wrenching discussion, we decided to put the duck down. My husband was kind enough to do the deed, and I went inside and cried. The worst thing about it, other than the fact that it was my fault, was that the duckling was otherwise acting completely normal--it just wanted to join its friends and catch bugs and go for a swim. And we put an end to that.
I don't know whether it was the right decision, but we did it quickly and cleanly, and I believe that duck is now in a happier place. But I still feel sad and bad about it, and of course I'm second guessing myself about the decision. I still *think* it was the right decision but I don't know--maybe the duck could have recovered and lived a happy life... the break was pretty awful though, and recovery would have been a long-drawn-out thing, if it could have happened at all. There was no muscle or anything useful connecting the leg to the foot--I doubt the foot could ever have been used again.
I don't really want post-mortem advice--if you think I made the wrong decision, hearing about it would just depress me.
But I am curious (for future reference, to torment myself, whatever...) whether it's possible for a duck to recover from an injury that severe, and what exactly would be involved. Also, how is it possible for a bird to cause that kind of injury to itself? It seems incredible that it could snap its own leg completely in half just getting caught by a stump, and yet--that appears to be exactly what happened--if a predator or something had been involved, then at least part of the duckling would have been missing, and it wasn't.
I'm also open to comforting words!
Thank you.
Last night, my group of young ducks (about six to eight weeks) were being a real pain about going to bed, and I went inside in a temper with the plan to go back out after a bit when I wasn't so irritated any more. But I forgot.
Amazingly, there were no predator visits. Something almost worse happened instead.
One of the ducklings, apparently spooked by something, ran over rough ground and got a leg stuck between two small stumps. And whatever spooked it REALLY spooked it. It was moving so fast, it literally snapped its leg in half--bone sticking out, leg held together only by some skin and ligaments. It was awful. When I went outside this morning, it was still stuck, blood on the ground (not completely dry, so it must have happened toward morning), grisly bone sticking out, just horrible.
I freed the duck and carried it around to where my husband was in the driveway. I know this isn't the decision some people would have made, but after heart-wrenching discussion, we decided to put the duck down. My husband was kind enough to do the deed, and I went inside and cried. The worst thing about it, other than the fact that it was my fault, was that the duckling was otherwise acting completely normal--it just wanted to join its friends and catch bugs and go for a swim. And we put an end to that.
I don't know whether it was the right decision, but we did it quickly and cleanly, and I believe that duck is now in a happier place. But I still feel sad and bad about it, and of course I'm second guessing myself about the decision. I still *think* it was the right decision but I don't know--maybe the duck could have recovered and lived a happy life... the break was pretty awful though, and recovery would have been a long-drawn-out thing, if it could have happened at all. There was no muscle or anything useful connecting the leg to the foot--I doubt the foot could ever have been used again.
I don't really want post-mortem advice--if you think I made the wrong decision, hearing about it would just depress me.
I'm also open to comforting words!
Thank you.
