Help- I'm getting ducks from someone but they have swollen ankles

[Bleenie]

Poor babies, I am glad you got ahold of them and i hope they heal up quickly and have little or no ill effects from those terribly swollen ankles. that's just really sad to see.

It's different when an animal is accidentally hurt but this is like seeing an animal that was intentionally injured.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Thats strange that it seems to be all three of them's right ankle thats mainly swollen, are the left ankles even swollen on any of them? I can't tell....

Edit : Opps I see middle duck actually has the swollen left and little to none on the right it appears but its hard to tell. That doesnt look like a deficiency more like ligament/tendon damage in the ankles if its only affecting or mainly affecting one foot over another so clearly on all 3 birds. Probably their "main" feet, as I've noticed ducks have their foot they do more 'pushing' /weight baring on when running like a lot fo people do. *shrugs*

I say keep them in a small run, try a small kiddie pool with icish water (dump a piece of bag of ice in the water or a couple frozen gallon jugs of water in there 1-2 times a day) for a few days. this can help with initial swelling...so the water is cold but not freezy and actually icy, for a while. I've done this for a fractured leg before I splinted the leg, helped a bunch with swelling, then did it the next day after checking on the leg.

Also minimizing stress and them running at all for a few days, give them electrolytes for a hydration boost to the system, should also help with circulation I would think if your making sure they are good and hydrated...Niacin would be a good thing to attempt in a small dose Just in case. or first trying a vitamin suppliment to help promote healing?

If its tendon or ligament related isn't much hands on you can really do for them unless you can get splints on them that will stay on to help bare some of the strain, but I dont really think that would be necissary at all if you keep them in a small area and just restrict their activity and any excitement for a week or so.

I have no idea, I've never had sprained ankles in ducks

 

[Bleenie]

The middle ducks left ankle is swollen also.

 

[Funky Feathers]

Ouch! Poor things. Looks like pretty severe injuries. Pulled tendons or snapped tendons or chronic (long-term) tendonitis? There may be inflammation, do the swellings feel warm? If so cold compresses will help. They may need antibiotics. I would try to draw out fluid with a needle & syringe & see what (if anything) comes out. Disinfect the swelling with alcohol first so as not to cause any infection. Keep us posted. Take their temperature, if they have a fever that is one indication of infection. Normal duck temp. is very high- 105-106 degrees F, very different than a dog or cat. Put a digital thermometer up the cloaca and see.

 

[Pampered Chicken]

Slightly different story than what I thought she first said. Now she says they cam from McMurray and that they were this way since they were 2 weeks old. Does McMurray band there ducks if they are sexed? Second if they do would they put it on either foot or should be the same on all 3? It looks like they had/have something around the ankle. There is a distinct line where the swelling starts. The feet on the affected leg is also larger. If I were to cut it open where do I cut? I don't want to cut any tendons. I'll try to get close up pictures tonight.

 

[duckyfromoz]

If this is caused by leg bands not being removed when they were bought from a hatchery - it would be very difficult to remove them now without doing alot of damage to the leg. The skin may totally encase them leaving the ring virtually around the bone. I hope someone with some experience in seeing this problem before sees this and can help out.

 

[Southernbelle]

I bought adult Bobwhite quail once and several of them had swollen joints that looked just like that. The swelling never went down and they each limped a bit. When my last male died, I had him autopsied and they told me that his ankle there had been broken and healed on it's own, causing that huge knot at the joint. The vet that did the autopsy was absolutely facinated by it, I guess he hadn't seen anything like it before.

Eventually I started over with Coturnix quail hatched from eggs and their feet looked beautiful until....a black rat snake got in the rabbit cage, ate 2 quail and killed 10 more (because they were so scared they died from stress or injuring themselves). After that, I had a few develop that swollen ankle from breaking their own bones in fear.

 

[Baybrio]

Poor duckies.

I'm not in anyway a vet or a duck expert but in the horse world we treat any joint/leg injury with special care. I would not try and draw any fluid out - you run the real risk of introducing a contaminant into that area no matter how well you clean everything first. Infections where blood flow is low (legs and especially joints) is incredibly hard to treat. The antibiotics and/or natural immune response just can't get to low blood flow areas.

I wonder if ducks respond to typical joint supplements like glucosomine, chondroitin, etc? Probably not much research on that - I'm sure our poor duck friends are low on the list of profitable joint supplement candidates.

I'd hate to think every duck she's selling came with a broken bone

.

 

[Pampered Chicken]

She says they came from the hatchery this way.

 

[katharinad]

I think she is lying now. She probably worries that she will be turned in for animal cruelty. At least you have the heart to take care of the poor little ducks. They may heal completely or they may have a little limp down the road. Reality is the ducks will love you either way, and they can deal with handicaps much better then we humans can. So enjoy them, and take comfort that they are happy and healthy otherwise.