# advice on duck with a bad leg please



## joterrie79 (May 12, 2012)

hi,i let my duck out in the garden for the first time,i think it as caught it's leg on something and now is limping.How will i know if it's a break or a sprain?


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## bluegirl (May 7, 2012)

If you take it to the vets they will have a better idea but I will tell you my experiences.

I had a female mallard years ago and she started to limp. It seemed like it may have been something to do with her foot rather than leg after I watched her move. I took her to the vets and she was diagnosed with Bumble foot, some sort of infection, she had her foot bandaged up so she couldn't use it and she had to walk like she had a wooden leg if you like. She was also given a course of antibiotics and was seen again a week later. All was fine.

Years later I have a Khaki campbell and she went lame, I left her for a couple of days, keeping a close eye on her to see if it improved or not, she actually went worse and went off her leg completely and was paddling herself around on land (if you can imagine the picture). 

I took her to vets who thought that there was a hot area at top of one of her legs. She wasn't sure what it was so gave me painkillers for her to take for a week and see how things went.

She didn't improve much and I'd then taken to giving her cage rest with some periods of freedom. A week later I took her to another vet, but by this time she was moving better, was back on both legs but with a limp. 

When I saw this vet he examined her and could feel a lump at the top of her leg. He said he thought she had probably broken her leg and this was the bones knitting back together. He offered an xray but said he was pretty certain this would only confirm what he said and as birds healed really quickly from a broken bone he felt it wouldn't aid in her treatment plan and she was near normal again. I didn't go ahead with xray at the time as there was no point.

Good luck with your duck.


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## joterrie79 (May 12, 2012)

:thumbup:Thank you for that, it has been a great help.my duck seems to be fine now already but i will still be keeping a very close eye on it just incase it starts limping again.


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