Hi everyone!
This is more of a helpful list of things I did rather than me looking for help. When I was panicking Saturday night I couldn't find hardly anything on how to care for my Sweet Pea and nothing that matched a description of how she was behaving, so I'm posting in hopes it helps someone in the future.
On Saturday evening (6/13) one of my two Rouen ducklings Sweet Pea (approx. 2 months old) got attacked by a great horned owl. Her wounds were very superficial (one gash about a cm above her ear and one puncture wound under her chin) where it looks like the owl sunk in their talons to take off with her. We found her in the coop, upsidedown on her back unable to right herself. We brought her in, cleaned her wounds and used Vetericyn spray on her wounds. That night she would (what I think is) seize every few minutes. She would go rigid, then she would flop around. She was having profound left side weakness, despite the injury being on her right. She couldn't even sit properly without falling over. That night I slept sitting up with her on my lap, wrapped in a sheet so that she would stay upright.
On Sunday (6/14) Sweet Pea didn't seem to be doing much better. She wouldn't drink or eat. She was still seizing frequently. We kept her wrapped in a towel in a box for the most part, where she could be warm and quiet and in the dark. She still couldn't walk, when she tried she would fall over or flip onto her back. Her neck was also extremely droopy. It was like her neck became unable to support the weight of her head.
Monday (6/15) I started doing physical therapy with Sweet Pea. I mixed some duck vitamins into a little bowl of water and would tap her beak while it was underwater so she would open her mouth. I would then tip her head up so she could drink the water. I also took her out to our little swimming pool and let her play in the water. At first even in the water she was very unsteady. She didn't totally flip over, but she would tilt to one side and really could only paddle in little circles. I would then take her to the grass where I would let her try to walk and orient herself. She was still very bad at it at this point. She spent more time toppled over than upright I think. I would place my hands on either side of her body and sort of steady/support her so she could take a few steps. We did 15 minutes of pool and 15 minutes of grass therapy 3x a day. She still went in the box at night.
On Tuesday (6/16) Sweet Pea was doing better. She was sitting up on her own without tipping over. At this point I felt safe letting her spend time outside of the box during the day in a padded area (my stair landing) with a baby gate so she couldn't fall down the stairs. I think this helped tremendously in her recovery. We continued the 15 minute 3x day therapy. Sweet Pea began drinking on her own, but was still wholly uninterested in eating. I was starting to get worried at this point about her not eating. We looked up methods to tube feed ducks, and decided if she still wasn't eating by the next day we would tube feed her. She spent the night in the box.
On Wednesday (6/17) Sweet Pea was even better! When she went in the pool she tried to bathe herself (but she was still uncoordinated so it didn't work well...) She was also able to take a few steps unassisted! At this point she was still falling over, but she would use her wings like arms to catch herself and she rarely fell over so badly that she got stuck on her back. We continued the 15 min 3x daily therapy. She was still drinking but not eating, so we decided to tube feed her. I recommend looking up a tutorial online, but we used a 60cc syringe and 1/8" tubing from the store because we could not find 60cc catheter tubing or catheter tubes. We ground duck feed up with water and vitamins until it was a slurry, and fed her through the syringe and tubing down the right side of her throat so as to not end up in her airway. We gave her 30cc's twice yesterday.
Today, Thursday (6/18) I needed to do some work in my garden so I brought Sweet Pea out with me. Before going out she drank and even ate on her own (yay!) and when we got to the garden she tottered about before settling under some pea plants. I needed to run inside quickly and didn't want to leave her alone, so I brought her halfway back with me and set her down outside of the coop. When I came back she was gone! She had run off with her sister and her 3 sister chicks that she was raised with and was integrating back into the flock. I didn't want to separate them because I know this is where she belongs, so I made sure she was getting around with no problems, and after an hour without her getting stuck on her back I felt safe to come inside.
She's still extremely unsteady and her gait is awful. I think she had some brain swelling and shock from the attack, which caused her to be so poorly off. But the good news is she's hanging in there and seems poised to make a full recovery, even if it takes some time.
This is more of a helpful list of things I did rather than me looking for help. When I was panicking Saturday night I couldn't find hardly anything on how to care for my Sweet Pea and nothing that matched a description of how she was behaving, so I'm posting in hopes it helps someone in the future.
On Saturday evening (6/13) one of my two Rouen ducklings Sweet Pea (approx. 2 months old) got attacked by a great horned owl. Her wounds were very superficial (one gash about a cm above her ear and one puncture wound under her chin) where it looks like the owl sunk in their talons to take off with her. We found her in the coop, upsidedown on her back unable to right herself. We brought her in, cleaned her wounds and used Vetericyn spray on her wounds. That night she would (what I think is) seize every few minutes. She would go rigid, then she would flop around. She was having profound left side weakness, despite the injury being on her right. She couldn't even sit properly without falling over. That night I slept sitting up with her on my lap, wrapped in a sheet so that she would stay upright.
On Sunday (6/14) Sweet Pea didn't seem to be doing much better. She wouldn't drink or eat. She was still seizing frequently. We kept her wrapped in a towel in a box for the most part, where she could be warm and quiet and in the dark. She still couldn't walk, when she tried she would fall over or flip onto her back. Her neck was also extremely droopy. It was like her neck became unable to support the weight of her head.
Monday (6/15) I started doing physical therapy with Sweet Pea. I mixed some duck vitamins into a little bowl of water and would tap her beak while it was underwater so she would open her mouth. I would then tip her head up so she could drink the water. I also took her out to our little swimming pool and let her play in the water. At first even in the water she was very unsteady. She didn't totally flip over, but she would tilt to one side and really could only paddle in little circles. I would then take her to the grass where I would let her try to walk and orient herself. She was still very bad at it at this point. She spent more time toppled over than upright I think. I would place my hands on either side of her body and sort of steady/support her so she could take a few steps. We did 15 minutes of pool and 15 minutes of grass therapy 3x a day. She still went in the box at night.
On Tuesday (6/16) Sweet Pea was doing better. She was sitting up on her own without tipping over. At this point I felt safe letting her spend time outside of the box during the day in a padded area (my stair landing) with a baby gate so she couldn't fall down the stairs. I think this helped tremendously in her recovery. We continued the 15 minute 3x day therapy. Sweet Pea began drinking on her own, but was still wholly uninterested in eating. I was starting to get worried at this point about her not eating. We looked up methods to tube feed ducks, and decided if she still wasn't eating by the next day we would tube feed her. She spent the night in the box.
On Wednesday (6/17) Sweet Pea was even better! When she went in the pool she tried to bathe herself (but she was still uncoordinated so it didn't work well...) She was also able to take a few steps unassisted! At this point she was still falling over, but she would use her wings like arms to catch herself and she rarely fell over so badly that she got stuck on her back. We continued the 15 min 3x daily therapy. She was still drinking but not eating, so we decided to tube feed her. I recommend looking up a tutorial online, but we used a 60cc syringe and 1/8" tubing from the store because we could not find 60cc catheter tubing or catheter tubes. We ground duck feed up with water and vitamins until it was a slurry, and fed her through the syringe and tubing down the right side of her throat so as to not end up in her airway. We gave her 30cc's twice yesterday.
Today, Thursday (6/18) I needed to do some work in my garden so I brought Sweet Pea out with me. Before going out she drank and even ate on her own (yay!) and when we got to the garden she tottered about before settling under some pea plants. I needed to run inside quickly and didn't want to leave her alone, so I brought her halfway back with me and set her down outside of the coop. When I came back she was gone! She had run off with her sister and her 3 sister chicks that she was raised with and was integrating back into the flock. I didn't want to separate them because I know this is where she belongs, so I made sure she was getting around with no problems, and after an hour without her getting stuck on her back I felt safe to come inside.
She's still extremely unsteady and her gait is awful. I think she had some brain swelling and shock from the attack, which caused her to be so poorly off. But the good news is she's hanging in there and seems poised to make a full recovery, even if it takes some time.
