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JumpGP · Guest

Okay, now it appears that these poor kids do indeed have slipped tendons.
Please, can someone tell me how to put the tendon back in it>s proper place and
describe how to wrap the leg thereafter? Please de detailed and specific, as I
have never done this before and frankly have no idea where the tendon should
be.
Sorry to be such a bother. I really want to do all I can for these poor
ducklings.

Jill · Guest

"JumpGP" <jumpgp@aol.comnospam> wrote in message
news:20030713141429.26622.00000277@mb-m18.aol.com...
[quote]Okay, now it appears that these poor kids do indeed have slipped tendons.
Please, can someone tell me how to put the tendon back in it>s proper
place and
describe how to wrap the leg thereafter? Please de detailed and specific,
as I
have never done this before and frankly have no idea where the tendon
should
be.
Sorry to be such a bother. I really want to do all I can for these poor
ducklings.
[/quote]
My best advice to you is to take the information
ie the background to why you think they have what you think they have
printed from your web sources

to a vet before you start on them

You do not have the anatomicaly studies and could well cause more pain than
good

I know there are folk who do not have access to our vets who do all sorts of
things to their animals despite having no training what so ever but even if
our vets are not overly qualified in birds {I now know that !!! having had
vet students around} their basic anatomy and their skills in other animals
make them much better qualified than an unskilled person. No description
over the web is enough to compensate for intimate knowledge

You could cause significantly more pain to them.
It may be that this is now far too far gone - these are not day old
ducklings we are talking about now. Their bones and tendons may be soft but
still not that soft now

You may have to accept that the kindest thing for them - not you - is to do
what should have been done at the beginning and that is to quietly and
gently put them down. They are going to grow into big active birds. It is no
kind of rescue to supject them to a life of shuffling around on their
knuckles

I understand your desire to help them. I have been involved in rescue for
many years. I wish that owners would spend as much on their ducks and
chickens as they do on their cats and dogs which frequently cost no more -
ie hundreds of pounds - then our vets would be better trained in their care
and have more experience but that is not the case
an equivalent operation in a cat - normally acquired for free - would
probably be several hundred pounds No amateur would consider doing such a
thing themselves

I am aware this is harsh
but having a number of fit Aylesbury>s around I know how much they enjoy
life
We have had to do the deed ourselves when a duck has ended up with a
persistant bumble foot that would not respond - probably gorse. Their
quality of life is no where near their kin - and that is something we as
humans can take responsibility for

Good luck to you
but please remember that its not your idea of rescue that matters but theirs

--
Jill Bowis

http://www.poultryscotland.co.uk http://www.henhouses.co.uk
http://www.domesticducks.co.uk http://www.poultry-books.co.uk
http://www.kintaline.co.uk/cottage
>

JumpGP · Guest

[quote]You may have to accept that the kindest thing for them - not you - is to do
what should have been done at the beginning and that is to quietly and
gently put them down.
[/quote]
You know, Jill, you are admittedly a big help to many people here, but you need
to grasp that YOUR focus on raising animals is NOT necessarily the right and
sole way. It appears that you have an obvious focus on utiltiy, i.e. what use
an animal or bird is to you. My perspective is entirely different. It>s not
about what my animals and birds can do for me, it>s about what I can do for
them.
YOU are not qualified to tell me what should have been done with these
ducklings in the first place. Period.
And having rescued and rehabilitated many, many animals and birds, I assure you
that my focus is always on what is best and most humane for the creatures. I
came here hoping to gather some practical information from those experienced
with ducks. Our local vets are not well versed in duck care, but I have
experience with other types livestock and with some instruction could probably
assist these ducklings.
These ducklings will have a chance here, one way or another.

JumpGP · Guest

[quote]The tendon is supposed to go over the hock in the dimple of the joint.
[/quote]
In the back of the leg, at the point of the hock?
So, if I were to gently roll the tendon (which is now on the inside of the leg
when looking at the duck head on) back into the groove on the rear of the hock
joint and tape it (I>ll use vetwrap to do so, as its breathable but
waterproof), that would be the proper correction?
I wasn>t sure if the tendon was to be rolled into the back of theleg, or the
front of the leg...but it>s the back, righ? So that if I held the duck with its
tail toward my face, the tendon would be slid into the hock>s groove that was
facing me?
I am also using hydrotherapy, swimming, three times per day and have seen some
improvement in the hock swelling already.

nuele · Guest

JumpGP <jumpgp@aol.comnospam> wrote:

[quote]Okay, now it appears that these poor kids do indeed have slipped tendons.
Please, can someone tell me how to put the tendon back in it>s proper
place and describe how to wrap the leg thereafter? Please de detailed and
specific, as I have never done this before and frankly have no idea where
the tendon should be. Sorry to be such a bother. I really want to do all I
can for these poor ducklings.
[/quote]

Hi,

sorry I cannot give you any advice for your ducklings - I>ve never kept
ducks myself. But I>ve recently had a little bantam cockerel with a
slipped tendon, and perhaps you might want to hear my experience with
it.

I keep my youngsters in an enclosed run for the first weeks to protect
them from cats, and I spend at least a few minutes with them in there
every day, feeding them, enjoying them... now when they were already a
few weeks old, one day I thought "is that boy limping or not?"
So it started much later than in yours and perhaps cannot be compared at
all. The limping gradually got worse, and after a few days I took him to
the vet to ask what it could be, as I couldn>t find any injury. The vet
said it was a slipped tendon. He showed me how to feel the tendon, it is
on the back of the leg, and if you feel on your own leg, the big tendon
right above the ankle joint, this is what to look out for in the bird,
only much smaller. It should stay in its place when you bend the bird>s
joint, whereas a slipped tendon slips away to the side.

Little limping boy was put in a small separate cage to keep him a bit
more quiet, and he got some antibiotic treatment (and vitamins) for a
week to reduce the inflammation, but after a week the swelling was still
the same. Then I got a paste to make compresses with, and that did
reduce the heat in the swelling, but not the swelling itself. After
these two weeks he was still unable to use his foot, and seeing him in
that little cage, separated from his siblings who were happily running
and fluttering about, fighting their first fights and enjoying their
life, made me think that it wasn>t right to let little cockerel suffer
any longer. I don>t think that he would have been cured even after a
longer treatment, but even if he had eventually got better, after weeks
and weeks of isolation, I don>t think this would have been right to do.
I tried it for a while, because it might have been the result of an
injury, I wanted him to have a chance, but in the end I had to realise
it was more merciful to kill him, than to treat him further.

My book on chicken diseases calls it perosis, and says it may be the
result of a mangan deficiency, or vitamins. It says there is no cure for
chickens with perosis.

It is very nice of you to look after these poor creatures, and it is not
a bother at all if you ask questions - that>s what this group is for, to
exchange knowledge, so keep asking please. The problem is, you do not
always get the answer you wanted to hear - killing birds you have nursed
for a while is always hard. I know what it>s like, I just had to kill
four of my dearest for different reasons.

My advice would be - first get a proper diagnosis by a vet, then act
accordingly, perhaps give them a chance, but do not force them to live a
life that they cannot enjoy.

greetings

Nuele (Germany)

nuele · Guest

nuele <fowls@nuele-online.de> wrote:

[quote]Little limping boy was put in a small separate cage to keep him a bit
more quiet, and he got some antibiotic treatment (and vitamins) for a
week to reduce the inflammation, but after a week the swelling was still
the same. Then I got a paste to make compresses with,
[/quote]
I forgot to say that his leg was taped all the time to keep the tendon
in its proper place, and perhaps help to shorten it a bit

Nuele (D)

Jill · Guest

"JumpGP" <jumpgp@aol.comnospam> wrote in message
news:20030713161952.26727.00000214@mb-m18.aol.com...
[quote]You may have to accept that the kindest thing for them - not you - is to
do
what should have been done at the beginning and that is to quietly and
gently put them down.

You know, Jill, you are admittedly a big help to many people here, but you
need
to grasp that YOUR focus on raising animals is NOT necessarily the right
and
sole way. It appears that you have an obvious focus on utiltiy, i.e. what
use
an animal or bird is to you.
[/quote]
oh no
absolutely not

my first priority is the welfare of the animal in its own right
totally and absolutely

you very obviously have no understanding of what utility means
- its a method of selection and is all about good husbandry and stockmanship
animal welfare is of paramount importance
sometimes - regretably that means letting them go
if we or the vets cannot give them a good quality of life - on their terms
not yours

My perspective is entirely different. It>s not
[quote]about what my animals and birds can do for me, it>s about what I can do
for
them.
[/quote]
your priority is your perspective of what you think is rescue

[quote]YOU are not qualified to tell me what should have been done with these
ducklings in the first place. Period.
You can do exactly what you want to do with them[/quote]
but
I have a pretty good idea what might have happened
and therefore a pretty good idea what they may have already been through
although you consider they have not suffered
that is your right

[quote]And having rescued and rehabilitated many, many animals and birds, I
assure you
that my focus is always on what is best and most humane for the creatures.
[/quote]
in your opinion

[quote]I came here hoping to gather some practical information from those
experienced
with ducks
A number of us are[/quote]
that does not mean we can say every one

.. Our local vets are not well versed in duck care,
but htey will have alot more experience in basic anatomy etc that you

but I have
[quote]experience with other types livestock and with some instruction could
probably
assist these ducklings.
go and ask them then[/quote]
If you have been involved as you say - and as we have and many others in
this and other groups
you will have a great rapport with your vets
You will be able to go to them with what you have learnt - here and
elsewhere
and say to them
okay can we give this a go ????/
All I would say to you is respect their advice as they can see the animals
in the flesh
They know your abilities as you will have been involved with them so much
so can guide you through what can and cannot be done

[quote]These ducklings will have a chance here, one way or another.
[/quote]
Continued life at what ever cost is not always the most humane
despite what the humans think
I have been in rescue for years
I have been in poultry for years
If I was as hard hearted as you try to make out
we might make a profit here from our birds
- instead we have to work many times as hard to make money in other ways
Our birds come first and often that puts us out of pocket so far

the following does not make me happy as a duck keeper: :--

<quotes>
that is, the webbing is not open as in a normal standing foot). These
ducklings get around by hobbling on the hock on the bad leg.
Is there any way of splinting the leg, or better yet, of taping the foot
open so that they are forced to step on the foot and perhaps straighten the
hock joint out from use?
, or are they crippled for life (and if the latter, can they survive on one
good leg)?
so I can>t answer your question regarding why they>ve been allowed to suffer
this long-
? I don>t know very
much about their lifestyle prior to my taking them on, but certainly they
were housed with many other ducklings
They won>t walk on that leg but hobble on that hock and hop along on the
good leg.

<unquote>

I understand you wanted to help these birds
but sometimes we simply cannot
You don>t seem happy to take them to the vets
They may not be experts but it makes me wonder why

--
Jill Bowis

http://www.poultryscotland.co.uk http://www.henhouses.co.uk
http://www.domesticducks.co.uk http://www.poultry-books.co.uk
http://www.kintaline.co.uk/cottage

Guest

OH, good! Surgery. I was wondering as I read this thred whether there was
a surgical fix.
roz
az usa


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