Need Advisement on Joint Infection

[DuckDuckJuice]

Update on Ducky- He had his first shot of penicillin last night. I also had to tube feed him because he hadn’t eaten in two days, so I mixed some B-12 and ibuprofen in with the food solution. He was pretty mad about it and ended up breaking off one of his little teeth from biting me so hard, but was pretty content after it was over. When I checked on him this morning, the swelling in his joint had gone down at least 50% and the crusty patch on his face looked a bit better. There was hardly any warmth in the joint and his bill was much cooler. I tube fed him again and then filled the bathtub with warm water so he could take the weight off his leg for a bit. He just had his afternoon tube feeding and a 30-minute Epsom salt soak, followed by splinting of the leg. He put up quite a fight, so it seems the feedings and B-12 are giving him some energy back. I wanted to get opinions on the splint I fashioned for him. I used four pediatric q-tips (pictured) as stabilizers- They seemed perfect for the size of the area and should allow room for changes in swelling. I loosely taped those with the paper-like medical tape that doesn’t stick much, then loosely wrapped the entire joint, as well as about an inch above and below, with vet wrap. If anyone has an idea for a better splint or ways to improve mine, I would really appreciate it. Thank you guys again for all of your help with this! Ducky is everyone’s favorite and the personal pet of our 4yo daughter, so we are desperate to get him feeling better.

 

[Miss Lydia]

How's he doing with the splint? looks good to me but I haven't ever had to do this
@Quatie have you ever had to make a splint?

I love the update. Sure sounds like he is responding to the pen and tube feeding that is so great to hear.

 

[DuckDuckJuice]

How's he doing with the splint? looks good to me but I haven't ever had to do this
@Quatie have you ever had to make a splint?

I love the update. Sure sounds like he is responding to the pen and tube feeding that is so great to hear.

He’s doing alright with the splint so far. He doesn’t seem bothered by it, but is still making no attempt to walk. I’m trying to figure out if it’s something I need to leave on all the time, other than when he’s in the bath; or if it should be part-time. I was pretty encouraged during his feeding this evening, though. He had enough fight in him that he actually managed to make me bleed. Not something I would usually get excited about, but he’s been so lethargic and depressed and it’s the most he’s moved in days, so I’ll take it. We’ve been trying to bring his mate, Boots, in when we can to help; but every time we do, her sister loses it and endlessly yells her head off outside. We tried bringing the sister in too, but Ducky seemed to be more stressed with her around. Why he couldn’t have gone for one of the low-maintenance girls, I’ll never understand.

 

[Miss Lydia]

He likes them high strung? lol

Do you think he really needs the splint? I don't really know. Is it to help him walk? keep his leg from getting worse?

I love to hear he is doing so well though Hopefully soon he'll be up and walking.
Ouch but a good ouch if it means he got some spunk back!!

 

[Quatie]

How's he doing with the splint? looks good to me but I haven't ever had to do this
@Quatie have you ever had to make a splint?

I love the update. Sure sounds like he is responding to the pen and tube feeding that is so great to hear.

I have had to do a splint. The only potential problem I could see with a splint is if it is worn too much it could cause the muscles to weaken. Since the duck would be relying on the splint to help hold him up instead of his muscles.

That is great to hear the antibiotics are helping and the swelling is going down. Leg injuries, especially on pekin can take time to heal. Especially since you are having to tube feed him. You should slowly see his strength coming back and hopeful he will start to eat on his own. Some injuries can take weeks to heal.

You can also bring him out to the flock in a dog crate where he can see everyone, but can still be protected and rest.

 

[DuckDuckJuice]

He likes them high strung? lol

Do you think he really needs the splint? I don't really know. Is it to help him walk? keep his leg from getting worse?

I love to hear he is doing so well though Hopefully soon he'll be up and walking.
Ouch but a good ouch if it means he got some spunk back!!

I’m not sure if he needs the splint. I thought it might help, since @Quatie suggested it was possibly a slipped tendon. More of a precaution than anything, since I’m still not entirely sure what the exact issue is. I don’t want him to try to walk and further aggravate whatever it is.

 

[DuckDuckJuice]

I have had to do a splint. The only potential problem I could see with a splint is if it is worn too much it could cause the muscles to weaken. Since the duck would be relying on the splint to help hold him up instead of his muscles.

That is great to hear the antibiotics are helping and the swelling is going down. Leg injuries, especially on pekin can take time to heal. Especially since you are having to tube feed him. You should slowly see his strength coming back and hopeful he will start to eat on his own. Some injuries can take weeks to heal.

You can also bring him out to the flock in a dog crate where he can see everyone, but can still be protected and rest.

I decided to leave the splint off for a bit today to see if he could walk without it, but he doesn’t seem interested in moving at all. Good news is, I put a big bowl of food in with him overnight, just in case he decided to pick at it a bit. He ended up eating the entire bowl! When I checked on him this morning, I was met by a truly horrific amount of poop and a very annoyed duck. He’s not a fan of messes, unlike literally every other duck I’ve met. I was pretty excited, though. Is that weird? I think ducks are turning me into a very strange person.

 

[DuckDuckJuice]

Another thing I forgot to mention- that weird crusty patch between his bill and right eye. I need to remember to take a picture of it later, but it hasn’t changed as much as I had hoped. I still don’t see any injury there, other than it being *possibly* very slightly sunken in, but I did notice his eye watering last night when I was giving him his shot of penicillin and he has a bit of a whistle when he breathes. No labored breathing or anything, just a slight nasal whistle. Could the crustiness be from his eye watering? If so, what might be causing it and the whistling?

 

[Quatie]

Another thing I forgot to mention- that weird crusty patch between his bill and right eye. I need to remember to take a picture of it later, but it hasn’t changed as much as I had hoped. I still don’t see any injury there, other than it being *possibly* very slightly sunken in, but I did notice his eye watering last night when I was giving him his shot of penicillin and he has a bit of a whistle when he breathes. No labored breathing or anything, just a slight nasal whistle. Could the crustiness be from his eye watering? If so, what might be causing it and the whistling?

That is great to hear he is eating on his own! The crustiness can be from the eye watering. Since he can't move as much, he can't keep his eyes and nares as clean. So he may have gotten something in the eye. The liquid coming out of his eyes is meant to help keep the eyes clean. You can rinse it with luke warm saline. Terramycin can also be used to help with a bacterial infection in the eye.

For the whistling, I would look into his nares and see if he has anything stuck in them. You can gently remove it. But it likely again is he is not cleaning his nares as well as he should. The antibiotic should be helping if he has any lung infection. A warm bath can really help clean up both the eye and nares. If none of that helps, you can put saline gently through the nares, but you have to be careful so it doesn't end up going into its lungs. You tilt their beak to the side and so it go through one side and out the other. Usually a warm bath works and that is unnecessary.

I’m not sure if he needs the splint. I thought it might help, since @Quatie suggested it was possibly a slipped tendon. More of a precaution than anything, since I’m still not entirely sure what the exact issue is. I don’t want him to try to walk and further aggravate whatever it is.

Now the swelling is going down, do you feel any tendon popping? My guess is it is not a slipped tendon, but septic arthritis, especially since it is responding so well to antibiotics.

 

[DuckDuckJuice]

That is great to hear he is eating on his own! The crustiness can be from the eye watering. Since he can't move as much, he can't keep his eyes and nares as clean. So he may have gotten something in the eye. The liquid coming out of his eyes is meant to help keep the eyes clean. You can rinse it with luke warm saline. Terramycin can also be used to help with a bacterial infection in the eye.

For the whistling, I would look into his nares and see if he has anything stuck in them. You can gently remove it. But it likely again is he is not cleaning his nares as well as he should. The antibiotic should be helping if he has any lung infection. A warm bath can really help clean up both the eye and nares. If none of that helps, you can put saline gently through the nares, but you have to be careful so it doesn't end up going into its lungs. You tilt their beak to the side and so it go through one side and out the other. Usually a warm bath works and that is unnecessary.



Now the swelling is going down, do you feel any tendon popping? My guess is it is not a slipped tendon, but septic arthritis, especially since it is responding so well to antibiotics.

Checked the nares and couldn’t find anything. No popping or strange movement in the joint, either. He made an attempt at walking, trying to get away from me, and ended up just wobbling in a circle before giving up. His infected leg just slides out to the side every time he tries to walk and he ends up trying to catch himself with his bill and wing. I’m also pretty sure he has wet feather. He had a bath several hours ago and is still damp from it. I think he’s stopped preening entirely. I included some pictures of the joint today, the spot on his face, his attempt at walking, and one of him laying to show the wet feather.