adult pekin female with splayed legs and difficulty walking -- ideas, advice?

[Miss Lydia]

Is the upper part of her leg swollen or just the way she is holding it? it looks like it is bulging out some. I would not do is let her run. I know at times it is hard to stop but with her legs being weak I would try to keep it from happening . Get her back on the b complex and meloxicam and keep her where she can rest her leg. But use the pool for therapy to help build up her muscles. When you get her back where she was with walking good again leave her on the liquod b for a week after then you can switch to Nutritional yeast daily, but I would def make sure she gets either of these everyday for the rest of her life. Many make sure their Pekins get this daily.
Bless her heart. @micaelasducks you could also use hobbles for the time being to keep her leg in proper postion @CoriM is a good one to tell you how she did it for her Pekins.

 

[micaelasducks]

Is the upper part of her leg swollen or just the way she is holding it? it looks like it is bulging out some. I would not do is let her run. I know at times it is hard to stop but with her legs being weak I would try to keep it from happening . Get her back on the b complex and meloxicam and keep her where she can rest her leg. But use the pool for therapy to help build up her muscles. When you get her back where she was with walking good again leave her on the liquod b for a week after then you can switch to Nutritional yeast daily, but I would def make sure she gets either of these everyday for the rest of her life. Many make sure their Pekins get this daily.
Bless her heart. @micaelasducks you could also use hobbles for the time being to keep her leg in proper postion @CoriM is a good one to tell you how she did it for her Pekins.

Thank you for your response @Miss Lydia. The upper part of her leg is definitely enlarged, but I don't think it is significantly more than baseline. She is still really not able to get up to her feet on her own, that left leg is rotated way back. But with support to get her in the right position, she can bare some weight. But, the limpness of the foot is making me question if it is a worse injury like a break. I haven't been sure about whether to do any bracing/splinting or if that could aggravate the issue. We had a duck break a leg in the past (confirmed with x-ray) and ultimately we were told casting wasn't a great option and to let it heal naturally OR do surgery (and for Rosie, as much as we love her, for a meat bird it doesn't seem practical to go that route). But I was wondering if just a little vet wrap around the leg could give her some stability and let her get around a bit better.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I was thinking since her leg is splaying that hobbling would keep it in the proper position the foot being limp is a worry.She may have a break. Since you say Rosie is a meat bird does that mean you will be processing her.
You could try some vet wrap I am just not sure it will help. Are you planning on keep her confined to a small area to give the leg a chance to heal? warm bathes where she can float and swim around will take the weight off her leg too and can help keep the muscles from getting weak.

 

[micaelasducks]

I was thinking since her leg is splaying that hobbling would keep it in the proper position the foot being limp is a worry.She may have a break. Since you say Rosie is a meat bird does that mean you will be processing her.
You could try some vet wrap I am just not sure it will help. Are you planning on keep her confined to a small area to give the leg a chance to heal? warm bathes where she can float and swim around will take the weight off her leg too and can help keep the muscles from getting weak.

No processing -- she is very much a pet -- but we just don't feel like surgery is a reasonable option since pekins are so prone to these issues. We sure love her though! She is in a pretty small area and is luckily resting most of the day. She does get a little anxious and wound up when she is trying to get herself up to stand, but otherwise is in ok spirits and is taking her vitamins and medicine happily.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I was hoping she was a pet. I know many do raise ducks for meat on BYC And I actually have dual purpose but mine are all pets also.
Keep on with the meds and let her rest and give her water therapy maybe even do some warm epsom salt soaks to help with inflammation too. And lets see how she is doing by the end of the week. Hopefully doing this will help I sure understand the cost of surgery etc. We just had our puppy neutered wasn't cheap.
Another reason I was thinking of hobbles for a few days to get her bad leg under her in the normal position so she can get around better even in small areas. Hopefully @CoriM will see this and reply.

 

[CoriM]

I'm so sorry for your situation with Rosie. It's so hard with the pekins because they have so many leg issues. I had three pekins and ended up using hobbles due to splay leg when they were little, but once they're grown it's hard for me to imagine them helping. Her hocks look swollen so maybe it's best to get it diagnosed at a vet. I will attach my photos of the hobbles I made when my girls were little - one of them had bad splay leg, and the other one just a tiny bit and I was worried so I hobbled her for a few days. They did recover - with vitamin B complex - but none of them lived beyond 4 years, sadly. One of my girls just became lame out of the blue and wasn't able to get herself on her feet and walk without using her wings. I carried her back and forth between the run and outside to the grass in a tractor, but after a few months of doing that I could see she wasn't going to recover and I put her down because she didn't have much of a life. My other two girls just died naturally, but Puddles, my number one duck and the one who had splay leg, did have a harder time walking at the end of her life and I carried her a bit as well. It's sad, they're bred to be meat ducks and put on so much weight and their bodies just can't handle it. I'm so sorry you're going through this with your sweet girl. I hope you can figure out a way to help her and if not, make peace with not letting her suffer. I know some people are fine with ducks that can't walk and feel they are still living a happy life - it's an individual choice, and the painful part about owning animals. You have my empathy.

 

[CoriM]

Here are the photos - I used vet wrap around each leg, then a loop of vet wrap holding the legs in proper position. A video I made:

 

[Lelilamom]

I've splinted chicken, duck and turkey legs using the same method as @CoriM with great success.
Depending on the size of the bird, you can use popsicle sticks in between the legs - that gives stability and helps displace weight. The only issue splinting with ducks is that you have to change the splint after they get wet - which is well, often.

 

[micaelasducks]

@CoriM @Miss Lydia @Lelilamom

After looking at pictures and ideas for possible splints, I decided to give it a try to see if splinting would help her get more functional use out of the leg. What worked was cutting up a duck-foot-shaped split out of a first-aid emergency splint (the brand name is a "Sam Splint", but I got an off brand one). Then covered the splint/foot with vet wrap to make sure there were no pokey edges. We then TRIED to cover her foot in gauze to try to ensure her foot would be well protected and comfy, but it just wasn't going to happen, we could not get her foot flat, the gauze around it, and the splint onto it all at the same time. So, we abandoned the gauze and then vet wrapped the whole thing around her foot and leg. With the split, I am happy to report she is able to stand and walk!

https://imgur.com/a/qxvU7HJ

I don't want any pokey bits coming through and getting to her skin or her getting herself even more injured twisting the leg, etc, with the splint on, so debating whether to keep her in it long term or not. We decided to try the split for about 24 hours while keeping her in a relatively contained space with no swimming water, and re-evaluate the effectiveness. Continuing with pain meds and vitamin b. Considering an antibiotic as a precaution, but not sure if needed.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That is awesome. So happy to see her up walking. Let us know what happens once you take the splint off I have a feeling it is going to take time for this to heal but you are keeping it stable while it is.
Keep us updated.