Big Boy in sick-bay
Seems the raptor has found a chink in my armor. One of my big Muscovy boys was attacked today but he must've fought back pretty hard. Of course, he weighs about 12 pounds so the hawk (at less than 4 lbs) was certainly out-sized. Before my duck got away he lost a lot of feathers on the back of his neck, had a tiny wound near his wing and a big "bite" of meat near his chest. I only really noticed because he looked kind of dirty and these guys keep their white feathers pretty clean. But the other ducks were sort of pecking at him so I knew something was wrong. This is the male I planned to keep for my breeding flock so I really need him to be healthy!
I wrangled him up, brought him into the house (under protest) and settled him into the sink for a good cleaning. He seemed to like to cold water from the sprayer on this hot, hot day, but was significantly less happy about the vinegar I poured over his feathers and wounds. I got him cleaned up, some Bactine on his owies and set him up in a temporary "sick bay". OK, I know it's not fancy (it's pretty ugly) since it's all built from leftover parts of other projects. But it's sturdy and predator proof.
I took Buffy's old broody box and a large wire dog kennel pushed against the open gate to expand the outdoor area and got him set up in there so he could heal up without the others picking on him. He really started to freak out when the rest of the Muscovy lined up and headed into the barn for bedtime. So I grabbed one of the small Muscovy girls and put her in there with him. He calmed down immediately and she didn't seem to mind; plus she wasn't pecking at him. These birds are extremely social and are always touching each other so I knew it would be too hard on him to leave him all alone. Once it was full dark I saw that the two of them had gone inside to the nest portion of the broody box... that's a good sign. I guess in the morning I'll take her out when I treat his wounds again.
A guy on one of my homesteading forums uses honey on his ducks wounds and says they heal up really nice. My only problem is I can't wrap a bandage on him by myself. He's a big boy and I need both hands to hold him so I might have to call in reinforcements - who? I really, really dunno. Lordy, I need a second pair of hands... Bobby! Hey, little bro... I'll throw it out one more time, dude.
UPDATE: I kept this Muscovy boy in sickbay for 2 days and checked on his wound twice a day. I used a lot of neosporin on it and he seems to have recovered fine so I let him back out with the rest of the gang. This is great news!
I wrangled him up, brought him into the house (under protest) and settled him into the sink for a good cleaning. He seemed to like to cold water from the sprayer on this hot, hot day, but was significantly less happy about the vinegar I poured over his feathers and wounds. I got him cleaned up, some Bactine on his owies and set him up in a temporary "sick bay". OK, I know it's not fancy (it's pretty ugly) since it's all built from leftover parts of other projects. But it's sturdy and predator proof.
I took Buffy's old broody box and a large wire dog kennel pushed against the open gate to expand the outdoor area and got him set up in there so he could heal up without the others picking on him. He really started to freak out when the rest of the Muscovy lined up and headed into the barn for bedtime. So I grabbed one of the small Muscovy girls and put her in there with him. He calmed down immediately and she didn't seem to mind; plus she wasn't pecking at him. These birds are extremely social and are always touching each other so I knew it would be too hard on him to leave him all alone. Once it was full dark I saw that the two of them had gone inside to the nest portion of the broody box... that's a good sign. I guess in the morning I'll take her out when I treat his wounds again.
A guy on one of my homesteading forums uses honey on his ducks wounds and says they heal up really nice. My only problem is I can't wrap a bandage on him by myself. He's a big boy and I need both hands to hold him so I might have to call in reinforcements - who? I really, really dunno. Lordy, I need a second pair of hands... Bobby! Hey, little bro... I'll throw it out one more time, dude.
UPDATE: I kept this Muscovy boy in sickbay for 2 days and checked on his wound twice a day. I used a lot of neosporin on it and he seems to have recovered fine so I let him back out with the rest of the gang. This is great news!
Everybody thought they were missing out on something in there
The others found something else to do but Big Boy's girlfriend won't leave him
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