I need a duck wheelchair!

[SpencerDuck]

My baby Spencer has a problem with her legs. They bend at the hock and she can't walk upright. And not only that, but her right leg seems to have turned in almost backwards now. She can't walk at all now, although she tries. I really want her to be able to get around and I can't think of anything that I could do to help her. I read the story about Sebastian and saw that she had a wheelchair made. How would I go about making one myself? Her left leg still works well enough. Please help.

[critters]

Hopefully Sebastian's mom will come by soon. You might also try replying to some of her posts.

[LisainCAN]

Hi there!

What kind of duck do you have? She sounds very special. Is she an inside duck? How old is she approximately?

If one leg works well, then how about a splint for the right leg? I had great success splinting the leg of an adult chicken after a dog got her. I set her leg as straight as I could and used medical tape and put on enough layers so that it was strong, like a cast. I understand that the leg is already bent so it may never straighten but you could reinforce the leg. Maybe you can get creative and make a splint out of foam and metal by adapting one that a person might use on a broken finger.

I really applaud you for taking care of your duck. Please keep us posted.

PS What do you feed the duck? I am wondering if maybe she has developed a form of rickets? I myself feed my duck chicken layer mash even though I know I shouldn't but it is an adult duck. I know that ducklings have different protein requirements and when I was new to ducklings I fed them a layer mash which was way to high in protein and they developed angel wing.

[SpencerDuck]

Hello. ^.^

She's a Pekin, almost 2 months old. And yeah, she's mainly inside until I get a bigger place with my own yard. And she's really special to me, I don't usually like animals, but ever since I got her she's warmed my heart.

And thank you, that sounds like a good idea, I could get my aunt to help me out with it. It's especially hard for me to take care of her now because I'm laid off from work and my income is very low right now. But my Aunt has been helping me with Spencer and sharing her duck food with me and everything since she has one of Spencers siblings. I'm not exactly sure about the food tho, but I'm almost positive that it was duckling apprpriate when we bought it since I had done a lot of research on ducks before we went and got them. I don't think she has angel wing, but all of her feathers aren't fully in so it may be too early to tell.

When I got her she was the smallest duck of the bunch, so I picked her up and she seemed so perfect for me. I wonder if that may have anything to do with her developement. I don't know if ducks lay runt eggs or not.

[LisainCAN]

HI there,

I do not think that there is such a thing as runt eggs but I cannot swear to that!

So she was born with her legs bent? If so, I have read that this happens in the egg sometimes. I guess then that there is no reason to suspect the food and I am happy to hear you are feeding her a duckling appropriate one. I would not worry at all about angel wing.

The good news is that since she still is a duckling, you may be able to try the brace idea and perhaps as the leg grows it will straighten a bit. The idea would be similar to what Bendy's Mom did with Bendy cat. Check out their website at www.alittletlc.com.

I think that you might have to be creative. In my experience, vets usually never have to treat ducks or chickens because people usually put them down when there is the least bit of trouble.

So, as the staying goes, as birds of a feather ... we have to stick together. I know I am glad I saved Gloria and that I am trying to treat her (hen that was attacked by a coon).

[Bendy Kitty]

*reading all the posts*

hmmmmmmmm

it would be very helpful if you coudl post a picture of the duckling showing his crooked leg.

i think that spinting is a very good idea, i don't know how easy it is to keep a splint on a duck, you may have to get creative to keep it on.

physical therapy can also help, try to hold your duck's leg in as close to a normal position as possible and make him stand like that for a minute or two three to four times a day.

while you are holding his leg in the closest to correct position, try wrapping it in guaze, then vetwrap (self adhesive bandage that also provides some compression for support). don't be discouraged if your duck flicks it off, or if the splint doesn't hold the leg's position all the way. it often takes many tries and experiments to get it right.

bendy kitty

[Zorro]

Hi! Sounds like your duck has splay leg, a condition caused by a number of things such as improper flooring surface, lack of proper swimming area, poor diet or injury. There is a good website about duck care at: www.liveducks.com

I have heard of splay leg in ducks being corrected by supervised swimming sessions. The water helps to support the body weight of the bird and the bird exercises the legs which is a type of physical therapy. I don't know if your duck's lameness is too advanced to be corrected by this method, but you could give it a try.

[Virgil]

My designs for homemade wheelchairs for dogs and cats are a breeze. Hamsters and ferrets can be problematic. Ducks???
Now that is a challenge for me if I ever saw one!
Please post or send me by pm pics and some basic measurements of the vitals.

[and I thought I would be resting laziliy at home this weekend!]

[Inmemoryofsebastian]

My baby Spencer has a problem with her legs. They bend at the hock and she can't walk upright. And not only that, but her right leg seems to have turned in almost backwards now. She can't walk at all now, although she tries. I really want her to be able to get around and I can't think of anything that I could do to help her. I read the story about Sebastian and saw that she had a wheelchair made. How would I go about making one myself? Her left leg still works well enough. Please help.

Hello this is Sebastian mom so sorry to hear about your duck, certainly a duck wheelchair can be made for your duck I do hope that you keep your duck inside the house and only let outdoors under supervision, please contact me I have information and pictures that can help you.....Sharon

[Alias47]

I'm looking for the same thing. I also have a splayed leg duckling named Dudley. The hocks are now bending toward the middle part of the back. I'm also having a different problem. My duckling is falling over backwards and can't roll over. I've found him 3 times so far completely lying on his back. Any suggestions?

[Inmemoryofsebastian]

I'm looking for the same thing. I also have a splayed leg duckling named Dudley. The hocks are now bending toward the middle part of the back. I'm also having a different problem. My duckling is falling over backwards and can't roll over. I've found him 3 times so far completely lying on his back. Any suggestions?

So sorry to hear about Dudley could his leg problems be due to poor diet, what kind of duck food are you feeding him, most ducks that have problems with there legs or falling over could be due to diet......also I can send you sample photos of wheelchairs, most likely Dudley or any duck with special needs should be kept indoors for there own protection....if you would like to join let me know I will send you the link to my yahoo group where there are other people who have ducks with disabilities you can talk to them and see what they are using for there ducks and pictures of different wheelchairs......Sharon

[Alias47]

I'm feeding Dudley Start -n- Grow crumble (for chicks). I have no access to food specifically for ducks. I started off with the medicated, but I've switched over to the plain crumble, based on things I had read on the internet. Any other suggestions? He could care less about cracked corn. This deformity happened within about 2 weeks of hatching. I know it's probably my fault. His hocks and legs are not necessarily bending up toward his back though. This was the way he was sitting yesterday. I thought that was the case, but checked him this morning and that is not the case now. Your picture of Sebastian, when she was small, looks exactly like Dudley. He is from a buff heredity I think. However, I had been given a black duck that mated with my mallard who was from a buff heredity and resulted in my chocolate colored hen, who was Dudley's mom. She was attacked on the nest and killed, leaving Dudley and his other two siblings that survived. I let him play on the grass with his brother and sister who are without any handicap. He loves it. Don't worry, I don't leave him alone. I had only been letting him watch in a portable cage, while I changed all the waters. I want to start hydrotherapy, but lack the proper time. He did get to swim a bit in a small pool last week. The falling over is due to the preening process. He turns his head backwards to preen his back and his weight pushes him backwards. I'm almost positive that this is what is happening. I don't think he has any other medical problems, other than the splaying. I definately want him to have as much quality of life as possible. So the wheelchair would be great for when he's a bit bigger. I want him to get to be around the other ducks when they come up to feed. I keep him in a cage right now, with fresh towels everyday so he doesn't have to sit on the wire. He is in a barn, so he is out of the weather and is placed on a bar, so he is not near the ground. Any advice, and help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Inmemoryofsebastian]

I'm so glad you stop giving Dudley medicated chick food since it's can be deadly to ducks, feeding him the crumbles seems to be good for him right now, you can also chop up Romaine lettuce and put it in a bowl of water so Dudley can dabble for it....I think you are doing everything right for Dudley, when he takes baths he may need to be supervised since he is going to have problems reaching his oil glad to waterproof his feathers and will get water logged if not watched carefully while in the water....

Why don't you join my group and talk to others who have handicapped ducks this is the group you can join and see the wheelchairs that others have made, I hope to see you and Dudley there......Sharon

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Duck ... dir&slk=33

[Slystav]

HELP!

We have one 10 week old chocolate runner duck who, being the only egg hatched and with no parents has not had enough exercise and grown so quickly (eating organic chick crumbs, unmedicated) that it cannot lift it's own weight. Until it was about 3 or 4 weeks it was very active and played with 2 chicks of the same age but because we had to split them up they went their separate ways and it had no one to play with. So we used to make it run around before every meal to keep it active. Eventually though it went down onto its hocks and now it can't even do that.

2 weeks ago I discovered that chick crumbs are not suitable because of the high protein content so mixed it 65% whole grain - 35% crumbs. Then I found out Niacin is good for the legs- so I gave it a tiny piece of a human Niacin tablet to start it off and now mix in brewer's yeast which contains amongst other things Niacin and protein. It now seems to want to stand up, it flaps it's wings and uses them like arms, it does the forward crawl on the floor to get around as if it's swimming but they get badly battered and sometimes we have to tie them up to protect them. It enjoys swimming and does it well but as soon as it gets out onto land it's feet curl up like talons instead of splaying out like you would expect of a webbed foot. We are at a bit of a loss and need some experience which is in very short supply. I wondered if you could help or knew of anyone who could? We have had no luck in finding anyone who has experience of this and the local vets are completely useless.

My routine for exercising the duck is to give it regular supervised baths, it can only very rarely go outside as we're in a cold part of Scotland and it's quite inhospitable at times. We often try to manipulate it's legs. There is a little stiffness but there is no tangible muscle mass either. Last night we splinted it's legs, thinking that by doing this and making it stand up all of the weight will go into it's thigh muscles and it will HAVE to learn to use them otherwise it will fall over. It did stand up pretty much straight but made no effort to move. I'm also trying to design a wheelchair which will allow it's feet to just touch the floor and with low friction wheels it may help build the muscles if it starts running.

The big issue we have is that Aero is a runner duck and as such has to stand upright like a human to walk. It's incredibly difficult to design a wheelchair for! Unlike a human however we can't ask it to help us and once it's all strapped up it often just sits looking sorry for itself.

Many thanks for your time, I really appreciate it.

[Inmemoryofsebastian]

I'm sorry to hear about your duck but yet happy to know you are trying so hard to help your duck, yes sometimes too much protein can cause the duck to grow too fast, when you duck gets wet maybe she gets waterlogged that is why she has problems standing up once she comes out of the water, please join my duck group it's only for people who are caring for ducks with disabilities you can ask questions and see how others have built wheelchairs for there ducks, please dont try to splint the leg since you can make it stiff and she won't be able to move it, can you buy regular adult duck food....please join this group so you can speak with other people and myself much better.....see you there...

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Duck ... dir&slk=33