Twisting leg on Blue Swedish duckling - Any way to fix this?

[NiftyChick]

Thank you all so much for your help! Thank you dlhunicorn for the wealth of knowledge on leg problems! I had no idea there could be so many causes.

I've bought some vitamin/electrolyte powder containing riboflavin and have mixed it into their food. I couldn't find anything at the feed store with manganese, but did find a woman who sells bird vitamins out of her home. She has "Thrive" and "Hearty Bird" which both contain manganese, but no riboflavin....I may get some in the morning and try using it alternately between use of the other vitamin supplement.

I gave the ducks a small swim today in warm bathwater and she seemed happy in the water. She even used the "bad" leg to groom herself, so it at least still works somewhat. The video Rob posted is immediately after the swim (& being towel dried).

Based on some advice from eggchel, I'm going to try massaging the leg tonight and feel for a misplaced tendon to see if I can get it back into place if it is out.

Wish me luck!

Emily

 

[DuckLady]

That looks like Miss Matilda's leg, only hers is way worse, since she is an adult. I agree....slipped tendon. If you can't pop it back, a vet should be able to. Good luck!

 

[dlhunicorn]

if tendon...(can be caused by a couple things) I have read many references to a bandaging technique that is often successful (in addition to the vitamin therapy which many times is given in combination)...I forget the exact term fo it though I imagine your vet will know.

 

[NiftyChick]

So far no luck w/tendon moving. When I straighten the bad leg it seems to be at a bit of an angle at the knee joint (rather than stretching straight back like the good leg). Would this happen with a slipped tendon? The good news is that the "straightening" doesn't seem to hurt the bird. Nor does my poking around the knee joint. I'm worried about the bend at the knee though.....and of course the twisting.

We don't have a vet currently, but I'll look into finding someone who can take a look at it since I obviously don't know what I'm doing.

Terrielacy, is your duck able to get around alright with its leg twisting like that? How has the condition affected her ability to live a normal, happy duck life?

Thank you again, everyone for your helpful words. It's so nice to have hope that we might be able to fix this!

 

[cootershoot]

if you bend the leg at the hock (knee) and it's flat..it's a slipped tendon..it will be wide as the tendon will be to the side of the hock joint. Take your thumb while you have the leg bent at the hock joint and push the tendon back into place..it will make a little popping or thunking. Hold it there and straighten the leg. Might take 2 people..so you have extra hands. Use something like popscicle sticks on both sides and bandage the leg..using the sticks as braces to hold the tendon in place. Keep up with the supplements and i recommend the Polyvisol at best the duck might be lame a bit but will get around ok as long as you keep that tendon in place. Takes about a week or two..if that's what it is..just my experience with this.