Help! Severe bill injury

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NatalieSess

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Oct 24, 2024
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Need advice, a raccoon got into our fence last night and killed one of our silver applyard ducks and crushed the bill on another. I initially cleaned the wound with saline and hydrogen peroxide. Just wondering based on the photo if this seems like a redeemable injury, and any advice on treatment. I have red-kote but am hesitant to use it based on the label warnings for use near mucous membranes and use on meat animals. There are two lower portions of the bill chipped out on either side and the the bill is cracked on either side going all the way up past her nostrils.
 

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Last fall I had a similar issue after a raccoon attack. It killed one duck and severely injured another. She is missing more than half of her upper beak. After getting advice here, I chose to give her a chance. She quickly figured out how to eat and drink, although has difficulty picking up treats from the ground. I worried that her tongue would be damaged during my very cold winters. One year later, Miracle the Muscovy is doing great. I so glad I took the risk. If she co-operates, I try and get a picture to post of what her beak looks like.
I hope your duck does alright.
 
I had a rescued pekin that as a little fluffie was attacked by a raccoon that took off a chunk of his bill, and killed his clutch mate. He came to me as he was abandoned at a vet's.
Your initial treatment is good. You might spray with blue kote as gentian violet is safe inside the mouth and has antiseptic properties.

Ensure that your duck always has a deep tub of water to drink from and serve the ducks' pellet in a deep bowl. If giving treats like frozen peas, put them in the deep drinking water tub. As @DukesDucks wrote, yours will likely have difficulty picking up from thr ground, but mine had no trouble shredding long leaves on lilies, ginger, and the like in my back yard. My boy had a happy life despite his deformed bill and died of an unrelated health issue a year ago. Yours, like @DukesDucks should do ok with special parents until the bill heals
 
GodLovesU said:
I would put Neosporin on it.Has she tried to drink?
Click to expand...
She can drink well, she’s got a neck injury, some puncture wounds and her eye is goopy. It’s been 4 days and she’s eaten a little bit but she seems to be struggling to get up and move around and isn’t very interested in eating. She’s mostly sleeping a lot right now.
 
DukesDucks said:
Last fall I had a similar issue after a raccoon attack. It killed one duck and severely injured another. She is missing more than half of her upper beak. After getting advice here, I chose to give her a chance. She quickly figured out how to eat and drink, although has difficulty picking up treats from the ground. I worried that her tongue would be damaged during my very cold winters. One year later, Miracle the Muscovy is doing great. I so glad I took the risk. If she co-operates, I try and get a picture to post of what her beak looks like.
I hope your duck does alright.
Click to expand...
How ling did her initial healing and recovery take? I’m worried at 4 days in, mine is struggling to move around and still sleeping quite a bit
 
She needs to eat if she’s drinking make her feed soupy so she can drink it like water. Some nice warm water added to it to make a soup might entice her to eat. Have you treated her neck wound how deep is it? A saline eye wash may help with her eye and Terramycin eye ointment is also good if you suspect infection.
 
Miracle's injury was last year so I don't remember all the details. I recall all the ducks in that coop and run were pretty quiet for a couple of days. I did make some chow soup for the group for several days, gradually making it thinner each day until they were all eating chow again. I changed their deep water bowl several time a day as well.
Her bill was her only injury so I didn't have to deal with other issues.

I assumed a raccoon was trying to pull the ducks through the run fencing (since fortified). I can't understand how it could have injured more than one duck. Why wouldn't they have stayed away from the fence when attack started. Only duck not injured was the drake.
 
I cared for three severely injured pekin ducks from a dog attack this summer. I kept them in individual pet carriers in my bathroom (the emergency room) it was 2 weeks before the least injured was ready to come out and walk around; she had one big appetite when she started to recover. The other two were in their pet carriers for 3 weeks. They just came out twice a day to lie in water in the bath for a short time.

I give my sick or injured ducks Rooster Booster Poultry Cell in oral rehydration salts while they are not eating, and slowly introduce thin ducky soup made from dissolving pellets in warm water

Don't give up afterward only 4 days!
 

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