Help Needed: Duck
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Cindy
Help Needed: Duck
Hopefully someone else has been in my shoes. My daughter has a 3 year old duck that we found to be limping around pretty bad. I dont see any areas with broken skin or where she may have been attacked or anything. She cannot use the leg and I put her up in a cage with straw so she would stay off of it. I dont know if something got after her or she hurt it herself. Does anyone have any suggestions about what to do for her? Thank You so much!
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Christy Mullady
- Posts: 107
- Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 1:47 pm
- Location: Saint Helena South Carolina
- Contact:
Re: Help Needed: Duck *LINK*
Cindy, the link posted is one from handicapped pets and is a great story, although it doesn't necessarily have much to do with your duck. It's a great tale of a 'lame duck' though.
Something I found in one site says that sometimes a duck will injure themselves as they exit a pond or whatever body of water they live near. It said that it was common for them to injure their legs while doing their little 'jump' to get on the bank. Never thought of that happening I guess. Good luck with your duck!
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index ... red%2cduck "The Merk Veterinary Manual - Trauma"
http://www.liveducks.com/care.html "Leg injuries occur most often when ducks are entering or exiting the water. Provide a ramp with good traction or wide, sturdy steps to get both in and out of water safely. Wire cages are also a common source of injury. Cover all exposed wire flooring (see shelter for details). Bumble foot has symptoms of swelling, redness and possible infection. Get a vet's advise when symptoms first appear. Also, some illnesses such as Botulism, Pasteurella and poisoning can cause weakness and appear to be a leg problem. Ducks often raise one leg and sleep while standing. This is normal behavior. Injuries to toes and feet, limping or sores can be signs of a serious problem and should be treated by a qualified veterinarian." This article also suggests: "Hay or straw is safest, be sure to replace bedding daily. In just a few days mold forms, causing a deadly environment for ducks. Mold is hazardous to other animals and humans."
Sebastian, a duck with wheels!
Something I found in one site says that sometimes a duck will injure themselves as they exit a pond or whatever body of water they live near. It said that it was common for them to injure their legs while doing their little 'jump' to get on the bank. Never thought of that happening I guess. Good luck with your duck!
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index ... red%2cduck "The Merk Veterinary Manual - Trauma"
http://www.liveducks.com/care.html "Leg injuries occur most often when ducks are entering or exiting the water. Provide a ramp with good traction or wide, sturdy steps to get both in and out of water safely. Wire cages are also a common source of injury. Cover all exposed wire flooring (see shelter for details). Bumble foot has symptoms of swelling, redness and possible infection. Get a vet's advise when symptoms first appear. Also, some illnesses such as Botulism, Pasteurella and poisoning can cause weakness and appear to be a leg problem. Ducks often raise one leg and sleep while standing. This is normal behavior. Injuries to toes and feet, limping or sores can be signs of a serious problem and should be treated by a qualified veterinarian." This article also suggests: "Hay or straw is safest, be sure to replace bedding daily. In just a few days mold forms, causing a deadly environment for ducks. Mold is hazardous to other animals and humans."
Sebastian, a duck with wheels!
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Cody's Mom
- Posts: 268
- Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 3:00 pm
Re: Help Needed: Duck
Hi Cindy,
I'm sorry to hear about the problem with you and your daughter's duck. When I was growing up, we had four pet ducks. My favorite was "Howard". I would hold him and he would put his beak in my hair and fall asleep !!! He was quite spoiled and loved to be held and petted.
Anyway, we lived in town and did not have a pool so there was no place for the ducks to have access to water to swim all the time. I would take them out once or twice a day and put them in a kiddie pool to swim. They loved it, but they would only swim for a little while and then get out. Anyway, what we noticed was that the ducks' legs were getting deformed. They did not start out that way. After a little thinking on it, we realized that ducks are made to be in water more than they walk around on dry land and that having weight on their legs so much was causing them to grow deformed. So, much to my heartbreak, we knew we could no longer keep them as they couldn't have enough free access to water. So we shed some tears and then gave them to a friend in the country who had a pond.
Since it sounds like only one of your duck's legs is having trouble, this may not be the problem. I don't know what else it could be. Just thought I would share that problem that we encountered. So now I know it is really important for ducks to spend most of their time in the water.
I am guessing a vet that treats exotics could help you out.
Take care and good luck,
Cody's FOREVER proud Mom
I'm sorry to hear about the problem with you and your daughter's duck. When I was growing up, we had four pet ducks. My favorite was "Howard". I would hold him and he would put his beak in my hair and fall asleep !!! He was quite spoiled and loved to be held and petted.
Anyway, we lived in town and did not have a pool so there was no place for the ducks to have access to water to swim all the time. I would take them out once or twice a day and put them in a kiddie pool to swim. They loved it, but they would only swim for a little while and then get out. Anyway, what we noticed was that the ducks' legs were getting deformed. They did not start out that way. After a little thinking on it, we realized that ducks are made to be in water more than they walk around on dry land and that having weight on their legs so much was causing them to grow deformed. So, much to my heartbreak, we knew we could no longer keep them as they couldn't have enough free access to water. So we shed some tears and then gave them to a friend in the country who had a pond.
Since it sounds like only one of your duck's legs is having trouble, this may not be the problem. I don't know what else it could be. Just thought I would share that problem that we encountered. So now I know it is really important for ducks to spend most of their time in the water.
I am guessing a vet that treats exotics could help you out.
Take care and good luck,
Cody's FOREVER proud Mom
Re: Help Needed: Duck
You said your duck cannot use the leg. Do you mean the leg doesn't move at all, or just that the duck cannot use it to stand? Does the duck have any feeling in the foot (pinch the toes and see if he either pulls back, or if he can't move it, that he shows some sign of feeling....such as struggling with his whole body, etc.
If he doesn't feel anything it is probably a nerve issue. If he can't move it, but has feeling it could be a partial paralysis, a dislocation, a possible bacterial infection IN a joint (this could come from an old break in the skin that is now healed over but the infection has gone into the joint).
As yo can see, there are all kind of possibilities.
It is tough to find a "duck" vet...(fortunatley there are more vets who deal in exotics such as ducks now than even just 5 years ago)...someitmes you can get very good information from people who breed ducks if you cannot find a good vet in your area. There is a group called the Natioanl Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP)...stores that sell chicks and ducklings in the spring most often belong to this organization. Each year the the NPIP puts out books with the names and addresses of all registered hatcheries, etc. by state. If you can contact one of the feed stores near you that sells chicks they could let you llok through it to find someone in your area. There are also veious waterfowl organizations..perhaps you could check on the web with a Google search for any of those in your area.
I have helped several peole get ducks with minor leg problems rehabilitate them using "swim" therapy. First rule out bacterial infection or dislocations though
Good luck with your duck friend.
If he doesn't feel anything it is probably a nerve issue. If he can't move it, but has feeling it could be a partial paralysis, a dislocation, a possible bacterial infection IN a joint (this could come from an old break in the skin that is now healed over but the infection has gone into the joint).
As yo can see, there are all kind of possibilities.
It is tough to find a "duck" vet...(fortunatley there are more vets who deal in exotics such as ducks now than even just 5 years ago)...someitmes you can get very good information from people who breed ducks if you cannot find a good vet in your area. There is a group called the Natioanl Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP)...stores that sell chicks and ducklings in the spring most often belong to this organization. Each year the the NPIP puts out books with the names and addresses of all registered hatcheries, etc. by state. If you can contact one of the feed stores near you that sells chicks they could let you llok through it to find someone in your area. There are also veious waterfowl organizations..perhaps you could check on the web with a Google search for any of those in your area.
I have helped several peole get ducks with minor leg problems rehabilitate them using "swim" therapy. First rule out bacterial infection or dislocations though
Good luck with your duck friend.