My ducks escaped this morning and were playing in the road. 3 were hit, one is dead and two injured. One has an injured foot, it doesn't seem too serious, the other seems to have been "scraped" along her backside,,,, any body have any advice on how to treat my babies? My vet is not into fowl, so forget that.
Injured Ducks!
I can not answer you I have no clue what to do, but maybe clean up the area where they are hurt and maybe some blue coat ???? spay to protect the "raw" area.
I have a question for you tho, I have about 50 ducks, some have adopted me where they came from i have no clue, I want to pen them up in the spring so I can collect their eggs and for breeding purposes, HOW do I catch these boogers. I am thinking I may need to do like the cowboys of old did with rustling cattle and horses.
Ducks don't move too fast and are fairly easy to catch with a net . Just be sure you give them a big water source if you are going to pen them up, Ducks NEED their water to play and splash and clean their feathers. A duck without water and mud is a very unhappy critter (and won't lay many eggs either.)
oh yes they will have them a homemade mud hole to play in. They have my catfish pond right now and I want to be able to fish without ducks this summer.
it sounds likehe injured ducks need only cleaning up. If you want to put something on them I use neosporing ointment as it stays best with the water. Ducks frequently injure feet and legs so that they limp, but you can never find anything wrong. It usually heals on it's own.
luvstogarden
If you are trying to catch wild mallards, good luck,. They will take to the water and fly, they only time you can catch them easily is during moult or as ducklings. Domestic ducks don't fly and rouens look much like mallards, so if you have rouens they will be easier to catch. It would be illegal and in my opinion, rather unethical to capture and confine wild mallards. If you were to confine them, they would need a pen with a cover or you'd have to clip their wings. It would be much better to start with a pair of domestics in the spring. I promise they will reproduce quickly. We ended up with over 28 ducklings from one rouen hen last year. She stays loose in the fenced in yard while the mallards I rehabilitate come and go at will. The domestic duck meat is far superior to the wild. Most duck hunters will simply skin out the breast on the mallard as there is little meat on the rest of the bird and it tends to tast quite strong. You would need a permit for nusisance ducks or a hunting liscence and proper season to eliminate wild ducks without worrying about hefty fines.
My hubby has a hunting license so no problem there, I did read about penning up wild ducks and seen it could be wrong to do so, but MY pond is being violated. I do not plan to do anything until spring and that should give me time to get in touch with the proper authorities. I have alot of predators here so no ducky's will be safe around here. We even have a Panther.............so the stories go.
How are the ducks bluebunn? I do not know much about them.
All I can give is moral support! I am thiking of you.
jeanmarie
Very sad, one DOA, the other had to be put down,,,,, her injuries were terribly bad, worse than I thought,. And my third little girl has a broken leg. She is going to be limping for the rest of her life. They got on the wrong side of the creek and managed to go out on the road. It is not easy "fencing" a creek. But I am going to have to figure something out. I still have 9 ducks.
Oh I am so sorry. Fencing may not help if they fly! I dont know. I dont have any ducks.
DH says no. I do love them and hate to see you loose ducks you love. Please know I am thinking of you.
Oh bluebunn, I'm so sorry about your loss. I haven't dealt with a broken leg before. Is the break located where you could put a splint on?
My pekin can't fly. I had calling ducks a couple years back and they would fly over to my uncle's pond for the day. My khaki campbell's would make short flights around the pen but never really went anywhere.
This message was edited Dec 29, 2008 8:43 PM
So Sorry Bluebunn♥
A friend who raises fowl advises against a splint, she thinks it will confuse the duck more than anything else and she will only try to remove it. But, she is in the water today, swimming along just fine.... its the walking on the shore that is her problem now. Well, I already have a one-eyed goose.... now I have a one-legged duck! None of my ducks fly.... they just attempt "dry runs".
I had to splint my girl runner duck leg after she broke it..poor thing cant walk so I made one and put her in a cage for 2 weeks..She healed real good but has a limp..she is good to go now...She broke her on theBBQ pit leg when one of my roosters( banned from my place now) chase her out of the feeder..so I had to think what my grandma did way back then and can remember her splintin up her birds legs..heavy U shape wire and cloth!
{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} to both you and your special duck, bluebunn.
I sure hope she is up and running soon!
So sorry to hear about your ducks bluebunn. I just lost a lot of chickens so I know how you feel. I don't know much about ducks but I think I'm going to be learning because Kelly just brought home 11 baby ducks (or geese?) from the shelter. I put up a thread about them. If you have any advice, I'd love to hear it!
Claire
I'm sorry to hear about your ducks. I loove and enjoy mine soooo much that I now cannot imagine life without them. Perhaps for the creek you should attach a section of fence across the creek to prevent them from getting out. I've seen it done for cattle, and for ducks on a lake.
Update on the duck with the "broken Leg" It has been about 10 days since the "accident" and it is amazing to see this little gal getting around on one foot. She's been sort of hopping and dragging herself about. Now she can stand on her leg for short periods of time and almost keep up with the other ducks as they travel about the place. Of course she has no problem while in the water! I just love her.
Oh that is wonderful!!! I am truely happy for you.
It was a tense time but you made it through.
{{HUGS}}
Happy to hear how well she is doing. :-)
Go duck! Go duck!!!
That's great news!