Something awful happened this morning (warning: graphic description)

[heatherindeskies]

sorry for your loss. You did the right thing. by the time you consider infection setting in, setting the bone and healing time along with pain, and your possible financial pain of a major vet bill, or rigging up some type of artificial something for balance should the leg be lost... and how well would the duck do in it's compromised situation if it had to be in the herd, defending itself?
it's hard, but you did the right thing in this case.

good luck with the kittens!!!!

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

I know how the wife and I felt when Squeaks was attacked so I sympathize with you. Good luck with kitties.

 

[dieselgrl48]

So sorry about your duck.Usualy mid leg breaks are hard to heal depending on the severity so you did the right thing for the duck.I did have one once that had a turtle attack on foot.Even with keeping the duck penned and keeping the foot clean and medicated the foot eventualy fell off.

. But that duck was not giving up she still was using that leg and quickly learned to walk on her peg leg.We made up a cover for it with soft foam and stuff and We named her Nubby and that lil thing go really go with one foot and kept up with the other's.She would get in the water too she swam slower than other's but still loved the pond. If it had been the whole leg she would have been had to be put down also.I have had to put a few down here too and it's alway's heartbreaking.Hope the kittie's work out for you I'm sure they will once you feed them and they get used to you.Let Us know how it goes with them.Hugggzzz for you and your duck.

 

[drdoolittle]

So sorry you had to make a decision like that. I don't know if a duck could survive after an injury like that, but I did have something similiar happen to a pullet of mine years ago. I was keeping them in a big wire rabbit cage on the ground at night with a tarp over one end, with perches for them. This was my first time having chickens, so I didn't think of a predator reaching through the wire. My pullet was on a perch, apparently up against the cage wire, sleeping. Something---raccoon, possum, whatever----reached through and pulled her leg almost completely off---it was just hanging by a thread of tissue. I took the hen up on the deck, and cut the leg off the rest of the way with a pair of shears I had poured alcohol and then peroxide over. I put a big gauze bandage with triple-antibiotic ointment over the wound, and then wrapped strips of clean sheet around the body of the hen. I kept her in the bootom half of a very large fibre-glass vari-kennel with food and water and was giving her 1/8 tsp. of children's antibiotic twice a day----she actually drank it right out of the spoon! It was some of that pink stuff doctor's prescribe small children for ear infections and such. Anyway, the chicken made a complete recovery, and joined the flock and lived a quite happy, long life just hopping around on one leg. The other chickens fully accepted her back without so much as one peck. However, I had asked the woman I got my chickens from about whether or not I should attempt to rehabilitate the chicken to begin with, and she told me that chickens can survive some pretty horrible injuries to go on and live long lives-----I don't know if ducks are as resilient, or what their life would be like with just one leg. I think you did the right thing for your little duck.

 

[jrobertson]

you did the right thing. three legged dog can recover. but a one legged duck.....not so much. it's tough when i have to put something down. and my wife usually sheads some tears, but it's part of life and the fact that you're upset shows me that you truly care about your birds.

 

[sewchick]

So sorry for your loss.

You did the right thing.

 

[katharinad]

Two kittens. You better put up some traps and get them fixed. I did that. Told the vet she was a stray, but she was so sweet in the trap that they thought is was ok to take her out. Well she took of like a rocket and it took them 24 hours to catch her with another trap. LOL After fixing her we had her in the house in a crate for 5 days to heal. All she did was sit there and watch all of us, including the dogs. She even liked to get touched. So we decided to let her out of the crate in the house. Worked out really well, she checked out the entire house not being scared about the dogs. Next day she made it out through the dog door and could not figure how to get back in. So she used the trap, again, and was quite happy to get back into the house. After that she figured out the door and went in and out as she pleased. Well she still does, and she does cuddle with the dogs. Never thought that a stray can be so sweet. Vet told us she was about 6 months old and getting close to breeding age at the time we've bought her in. Good that we caught her, because I don't want breeding cats on my property. Oh and she does stay away from the ducks. Well the ducks are bigger and they found out the cat runs to they run after her.