My duck was attacked by bobcat! She survived but now won’t eat. I need help!

[Brookejohnson1226]

Hi, I’m new on here but I need some advice as I’m also a new duck owner. I have 3 ducks (2 female rouens and one black Swedish male) about 3 days ago I walked outside to seeing a bobcat with one of my females (Daisy) by the neck through the run fencing. I scared it off and immediately ran to check on my flock. She only had a few punctures to her neck from its canines so I took her inside and cleaned her up. I used Vetricyn and silver honey on her wounds after using warm water to clean the area first. She made it through the night inside with food and water. She couldn’t quack the first day and a half but finally can quack like normal so I don’t think there’s any serious damage thankfully, but she won’t eat hardly anything. She is drinking water but she’s not interested in food really at all. This morning I put her back in the run with her flock to see if it will encourage her to eat if she’s with them but still isn’t very interested and her poop was light green and watery. I don’t know what that means but besides that she’s just a little slow and seems lethargic but I am assuming that’s because she won’t eat? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Wow amazing rescue. More than likely she is very sore and feel her neck for swelling it might be hard for her to swallow solid feed. You could try making a warm soup out of her feed and see if shell drink it. You could also add some liquid Poultry Cell to this soup for added nutrients. Only other thing would be tube feeding but if her neck has swelling that might not work for now. So check for swelling and post back and we'll get you info on tube feeding. The green poop is from not eating.

 

[ruthhope]

I would follow @Miss Lydia's advice, but also make up Rooster Booster Poultry Cell in oral rehydration solution. You can use Pedialyte from the pharmacy shelves or Liquid IV from the Sports Med shelves in your pharmacy or supermarket. Add 1 Oz Rooster Booster to a 4 liters/4 quarts of oral rehydration solution. Give it in place of drinking water. It will not harm your other ducks to drink this solution instead of plain drinking water

 

[Brookejohnson1226]

Wow amazing rescue. More than likely she is very sore and feel her neck for swelling it might be hard for her to swallow solid feed. You could try making a warm soup out of her feed and see if shell drink it. You could also add some liquid Poultry Cell to this soup for added nutrients. Only other thing would be tube feeding but if her neck has swelling that might not work for now. So check for swelling and post back and we'll get you info on tube feeding. The green poop is from not eating.

So I have managed to get her to eat a little with her food done like you recommended so hopefully this helps her. I also noticed she’s losing a lot of feathers and was curious if this is from the stress?

 

[ruthhope]

Yes stress can certainly lead to feather loss. Hopefully you can keep her calm and quiet for her to make a good recovery

 

[Miss Lydia]

Keep trying to get her to eat they can lose ground pretty quick if not eating.
How is she doing today?

 

[Brookejohnson1226]

Keep trying to get her to eat they can lose ground pretty quick if not eating.
How is she doing today?

She’s still eating. I called my vet and she also recommended trying to syringe feed her if she won’t eat on her own but so far she’s eating a little on her own. Her neck is healing well but it is swollen and warm. I don’t think there’s any infection since I’ve been cleaning it with Vetricyn but is there anything else I should do? Oh I also have added electrolytes to her water

 

[Miss Lydia]

The wounds aren’t puss filled? As long as she is eating and drinking. They are good signs. But she may need an antibiotic if you see signs of infection. You need to make sure swelling and warm doesn’t mean infection. Only thing other than an antibiotic would be poultry cell for immune support while she is healing. Did you mention antibiotic to your vet?

 

[Brookejohnson1226]

The wounds aren’t puss filled? As long as she is eating and drinking. They are good signs. But she may need an antibiotic if you see signs of infection. You need to make sure swelling and warm doesn’t mean infection. Only thing other than an antibiotic would be poultry cell for immune support while she is healing. Did you mention antibiotic to your vet?

The wounds aren’t puss filled? As long as she is eating and drinking. They are good signs. But she may need an antibiotic if you see signs of infection. You need to make sure swelling and warm doesn’t mean infection. Only thing other than an antibiotic would be poultry cell for immune support while she is healing. Did you mention antibiotic to your vet?

I don’t think so, the punctures have scabbed over so I don’t think they are puss filled and the swelling doesn’t feel r like it’s puss filled. Just feels like swollen tissue and warm. My vet gave me advice but she can’t see her as she isn’t an exotic animal vet and the closest is 3 hours from me. So I don’t really know what to do about antibiotics. She also said that if she stops drinking or isn’t eating then to be more concerned…but seeing as she isn’t an expert on ducks I need some more advice regarding it.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This is a good one to have on hand
https://allbirdproducts.com/products/baytril-10