Duck was attacked

[Reneanana]

My duck was attacked and neck has a big hole with what looks like to be her esophagus but it is swollen and looks like a bubble. I don't know what to do but clean her up. She is drinking water. But not sure if I should wrap it up to keep it clean or wait to see if swelling goes down. Any help would be great. I have a picture.

 

[GodLovesU]

@Eggcessive

 

[Eggcessive]

I am not that familiar with ducks, but I wonder if that is the crop coming out of the wound? @Miss Lydia can you respond? I would cover it with a saline wet cloth, and try to see a vet. Mix some warm water 8 ounces with a 1/2 tsp of salt and soak the wash cloth.

 

[Reneanana]

I made a saline solution and she is doing as well as expected. The bubble has gone down. She is drinking water with vitamins. Doesn't seem interested in eating yet. Keeping the area clean.
I am still open for suggestions. We don't have many vets that work on ducks unfortunately in my area.

 

[alinas2010]

I scoured a duck forum earlier today when I tried to find someone to help someone else with a duck and saw that miss Lydia might not quite be recovered from the hurricane damages yet, so I’m not sure when she’ll be on. But I called on @Jenbirdee (sorry to bother you if you don’t want me to just let me know - I try to find people who have helped others before) earlier for someone and she was really kind and helpful. She knew some other duck people who might be able to help.

Also, welcome to the site, so sorry it’s under these circumstances. I hope your duck recovers.

 

[Jenbirdee]

poor baby i’m so sorry this happened. yes miss lydia still didn’t have her Internet service back on since the hurricane made mudslides in her neighborhood.
i’m not sure exactly how to care for that kind of injury but i’ll tag @ruthhope @HollowOfWisps @SilverBirds
and perhaps @Goosebaby may be available

 

[ruthhope]

Hi @Reneanana
So sorry this has happened to your duck. I have managed ducks with some terrible wounds from predator attacks but not a neck wound like this. But let's start at the beginning

The wound is full thickness skin and subcutaneous tissue exposing what is likely to be the esophagus. The bubble may be the dilatation of the esophagus for the crop ( the crop isn't a separate structure in ducks.)

You have cleaned the wound with saline and offered water and electrolytes to drink.

I often wash out wounds with plain water, and then once any obvious debris is washed away, use saline.

I would spray the wound and bubble with Kote Blue now, and as you have already been advised soak a cloth in saline and put it over the wound to keep the bubble moist. You might use Vet Wrap to hold the wet cloth in place. Just wrap it gently not tight.

An alternative to Kote Blue is Vetericyn spray.

While you duck is not eating, it is important to get some calories into her as well as electrolytes. I use pedialyte and add Rooster Booster Poultry Cell to the pedialyte. An alternative to pedialyte is Liquid IV sports hydration solution BUT be sure to get the sort with glucose/dextrose and NOT the formulation that is sugar free and contains sugar substitutes. The sugar substitutes are harmful to ducks and the whole purpose of using the solution is to get some sugar/dextrose calories into your duck.
You have to encourage her to drink frequently--every 15 minutes dipping her bill into a water container with your rehydration solution and Poultry Cell vitamins.

Keep her warm and quiet in a reduced light environment. I have pet carriers for my duck emergency room (my bathroom) but while she is so sick, an open cardboard box will suffice as she isn't going to try and get out. Lie her on a puppy pad.

I keep Baytril 10% in my ducky first aid kit for emergencies like this. It's generally only available with a prescription from a vet. But as you don't have a vet available, buy it on line from Allbirdproducts.com If you can afford to, pay for the expedited mail service as it could be week by regular mail. It comes with a small oral syringe for treating your duck.

I'll look up the dose and get back to you on that.

The treatment plan is to keep the wound clean and let it heal on its own. I have been amazed how quickly ducks' wounds close up when kept free of infection, and the duck is kept calm with movement confined until they are well on the way to healing.

You will need to open the cloth every day, and if there is any sign of infection -- discharge, obvious pus, offensive smell, again wash out with saline. If you need to wash with saline, you should respray with Kote Blue or Vetericyn, then re-cover with a clean cloth soaked in saline.

The duck also needs to eat as soon as possible. Once she is taking your oral rehydration solution, make her some ducky soup. Dissolve some pellets or crumbles in warm water and make a very runny gruel-like mixture. Offer the ducky soup luke-warm, every hour once she takes a little.

Good luck with this . Keep us up dated

 

[ruthhope]

@Reneanana How is she doing today?

Baytril/Enrofloxacin dose: I use 5mg per pound weight once a day as that works out easiest for measuring the 10% solution in the syringe. Its towards the lower end of the recommended dosage

Please note, you must not eat her eggs for 6 months after she has been treated with enrofloxacin as that could lead to drug resistance in you to a vital class of antibiotics used in severe infection in humans.

This is a good source of information on Baytril for poultry

https://poultrydvm.com/drugs/enrofloxacin

 

[Reneanana]

@Reneanana How is she doing today?

Baytril/Enrofloxacin dose: I use 5mg per pound weight once a day as that works out easiest for measuring the 10% solution in the syringe. Its towards the lower end of the recommended dosage

Please note, you must not eat her eggs for 6 months after she has been treated with enrofloxacin as that could lead to drug resistance in you to a vital class of antibiotics used in severe infection in humans.

This is a good source of information on Baytril for poultry

https://poultrydvm.com/drugs/enrofloxacin

She seems to be doing better today. She has been cleaned and still drinking. I clean her wounded neck and she is inside warm and in a quite place resting. Her neck looks like it's already healing but I keep changing her bandage everyday. I have the vetericyn spray and betaine solution to keep her wound clean. I have antibiotics in the fridge if I think she is getting an infection. Your advice has been really helpful.