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

[CoriM]

Nice work duck mama!

 

[micaelasducks]

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.

I have read several posts saying that splinting can have unintended consequences like exacerbating swelling, decreasing circulation etc, but seeing how quickly it provided her support definitely seemed to improve her quality of life immediately (able to give herself a good preen of those belly feathers!) so I hope there are no negative effects. I am half convinced she'll have chewed it off by morning too... but it put a pep back in her step so it seems like the right move. If she needs some orthotics forever to be happy, we are ok with that!

https://imgur.com/a/R5HqcYf

It is just her and her one buddy -- who is a ten year old indian runner who is old as dirt and has survived against all odds!! -- so she can take it pretty easy.

 

[micaelasducks]

This morning she was not easily bearing weight on the splinted foot like she was last night, so I decided to unwrap it for the day. Not sure if she was just tired/sore, if the splint exacerbated the problem, or (this is what I think/hope) her foot slipped out of the stable position we had it in last night. I am wondering if we need to somehow tape the foot out flat. Going to let her relax for the day without it, do some water therapy this afternoon and give the splinting another try!

 

[micaelasducks]

attempted to re-splint this afternoon but I was alone and just could not wrangle a 10 pound duck and stabilize the foot without an extra set of hands, so settled for some deep pool water therapy and a little "pt" on the ground. she is showing some modest improvement -- able to stand up off the ground independently and take some hesitant steps. She struggles if she gets her foot stuck behind her body, but seems to be able to rotate that hip(?) joint slightly better today. she is looking a little rough/dirty, I think just because it is hard for her to balance and preen, so I washed her little face for her and she is looking a bit brighter! still cautiously optimistic... I don't necessarily think her legs are entirely fixable but hopefully can keep her quality of life adequate.

https://imgur.com/a/bG4hFw3

 

[CoriM]

Aww, poor girl. She is blessed to have you as her duck keeper though. It's clear you love her and really care and are willing to put in the effort to help her and make her happy. It's so hard to see them suffering and not know how to help.