Attacked Duck with an injured neck! *HELP TIME SENSITIVE*

[shannonbaker87]

Thursday night I had a pretty bad animal attack involving 4 of my birds. 3 of the ducks looked as if they were chomped on the back of the neck and one is just gone. They seemed to be walking around just fine but a little bloody and missing feathers so I took my ducky first aid kit and cleaned up the wounds to the best of my ability. I did not see any deep puncture wounds and since they were acting fine and my separate "emergency" coop is being used by a mother chicken and her babies I decided to keep them in the pen with the other ducks. Big mistake. I came out early the next morning to find one of the attacked females sitting in the pool with her head under water so I scooped her up and made a comfy bed for her in my bathtub. It seems like she can't hold her head up and she's using her bill as kind of a kickstand. She refuses to lay down and just stands like this. I've been very gently dipping her beak in electrolyte water which she quickly drinks (not sure if she's actually swallowing properly since she's not tilting her head back) but then curls her head underneath herself and then goes back to the kickstand pose. I've tried supporting her head with a towel because it doesn't seem like she should be able to breath very well like that but she won't relax that way and again just goes back to kickstand. I've also been offering her duck pellets soaked in water but she won't touch it. Looking at her this morning it looks like the base of her neck is really swollen. I've been cleaning her neck in the morning and night and I still don't see any deep puncture wounds but I could me missing it, I've also been feeling her neck and I don't feel any breaks. I plan on culling her today if no improvement, but I really wan't to save her. The other ducks are looking fine just a little sore. PLEASE HELP!

 

[BantyChooks]

I am so sorry! I don't know what to do, but I really hope you can save her.
-Banti

 

[shannonbaker87]

I just saw that she has green poop now which leads me to believe she have have gotten botulism through the wound. That would explain the neck issue. I'm going to try a few more things but with what I know about botulism I know that if they survive the first 2 days they have an ok chance for living.

 

[BantyChooks]

 

[Amiga]

I just saw this - hope you have not done her in.

She has a serious injury but I suspect she may be able to be helped.


This is advice from another BYC Duck Forum member a while back -

Post raccoon attack advice from Captain Cluck BYC DF 20120617

When my duck, Lucy, was attacked by a raccoon, I had head wounds to deal with, too. No jaw damage but she had a bite taken from the edge of her bill.

I put her on homeopathic for bites and vitamins at first, but homeopathics take a long time to work, so after a week on that (and an infection starting in the leg wound that I had missed) I switched her to Duramycin (got at Tractor Supply). Add 1/4 teaspoon to 20 oz of water (2 1/2 CUPS). Only mix up what you will use immediately and store the rest of the powder in a clean, dry jar. You will want to keep a measuring spoon in the jar just for the Duramycin. If you won't be using the entire 20 oz right away, put the extra in the refrigerator until you need it, but do not keep it for longer than 1 day. I have seen funk grow in it if kept longer than that. Lucy got her water in a 20 oz travel mug 2x a day.

After her first day of not eating, she only wanted cooked, mashed peas for 2 weeks. She refused anything else, so keep tempting your duck with things she loves to eat. You may have to use a syringe and squirt some liquified food into her bill to get her to eat. which means you will have to take some food and puree it in the blender and add enough water to make it liquidy. Lucy's bill was very sore and I had to mash her peas so she could eat them.

Examine your duck carefully to locate all the wounds you can find. Trim away feathers from the wounds so you can treat them effectively. Don't be afraid to trim away all her feathers if you think you need to to examine her. You can dress her in newborn t-shirts until her feathers grow back. If you keep her in a dim, quiet room, she will heal faster, and eventually start to molt. At least, that's what Lucy did.

Use saline to rinse out the wounds every day. Use a q-tip to pack the open wounds with antibiotic ointment.

If there is a puncture wound (which includes bites), you will need to debride it daily with a gauze pad. That means put peroxide on a gauze pad and scrub the scab off the puncture wound and scrub it enough to keep it open so it can drain. Punctures must heal from the inside out, or they get infected. Pack the punctures with antibiotic ointment, too.

Since you can't wrap a head wound on a duck, just let her wash her head at will. The only wound I wrapped on Lucy was her leg wound while it had Ichthammol on it to pull out the infection.


Let her rest and check on her every few hours. Change her towels at least 2x a day, or get those incontinence pads you put in a patient's bed and put one of those on top of the towel. Easy cleanup and less laundry. I got mine at Wal Mart.

I did not have the money for a vet visit, but if you do, I highly suggest taking her in.

 

[shannonbaker87]

*Update*
So I have not culled her, I can't bring myself to do it if there is a way to save her. She still is doing the kickstand pose and still refuses to lay down and she looks exhausted. She still is dabbling in electrolyte water but not sure if she is actually swallowing it or now. She has started to do that with her watered down food also but not as much and only if I place her bill in the food. I've tried doing the syringe method but she just spits it out. She is still pooping green. I can't really find any of medications for botulism i've read about here unless I go to a vet but I might try to use that stuff from tractor supply just in case she has some kind of internal infection.

 

[Amiga]

@casportpony

@Orca5094

So, @shannonbaker87 - you haven't found food grade activated charcoal? Have you seen any of the videos on how to tube feed?

 

[shannonbaker87]

So I live in a very rural area and have come to the conclusion that the stores that are around me are just useless when it comes to carrying ANYTHING to help sick birds other than electrolyes. This has been extremely frustrating, I can't even find the right sized tubing at the hardware store. I'm still trying to find a syringe that has a big enough end to allow grinded and soaked food to pass through, right now i'm using a child medication syringe but even that clogs up. the two hardware stores 40 minutes away are either out or don't have tubing that size for some fricken reason. Neither Agway or Tractor Supply have either the charcoal or Duramycin right now. I swear the world's against me sometimes.

 

[Miss Lydia]

So I live in a very rural area and have come to the conclusion that the stores that are around me are just useless when it comes to carrying ANYTHING to help sick birds other than electrolyes. This has been extremely frustrating, I can't even find the right sized tubing at the hardware store. I'm still trying to find a syringe that has a big enough end to allow grinded and soaked food to pass through, right now i'm using a child medication syringe but even that clogs up. the two hardware stores 40 minutes away are either out or don't have tubing that size for some fricken reason. Neither Agway or Tractor Supply have either the charcoal or Duramycin right now. I swear the world's against me sometimes.

Pharmacies probably carry Activate Charcoal in the antacids isle.

 

[shannonbaker87]

So I ended up taking her to the vet after realizing that it definitely wasn't botulism and so **** frustrated that I couldn't find any of the supplies I needed anyways. The final diagnosis was neck muscle trauma with infection. I have her on antibiotics and metacam. Also feeding her through a tube now. She's already perking up and I think she'll pull through