A swollen leg, in humans or in animals, is cause for concern, a swollen leg in humans can point to a number of issues, and so can a swollen leg in ducks.
If your duck’s legs are swollen you’d be right to be concerned, this article looks into why this happens.
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Duck swollen leg:
A duck’s leg can suffer a variety of different issues and these issues will need to be treated accordingly for the bird’s leg to heal. Here is why your duck may have a swollen leg:
Injury:
Duck bodies react to swelling in a similar way to how human bodies, and other animal bodies, react to swelling.
Ducks can injure themselves in a variety of ways, a duck may injure its leg when entering or exiting water, it may get its foot or leg caught in a cage, it may step on a sharp object accidentally, or the bird’s foot may get cut as the bird is fighting, playing or just walking around
When a duck becomes injured the bird’s body recognizes that there is an injury present and the body sends a lot of white blood cells to the area to start repairing the injury.
The bird’s body will send more blood to the area to transport the white blood cells. This results in swelling, this can also result in redness, and heat accumulating in the injured area.
What to do:
You’d first need to figure out if the bird is indeed injured and if this is the reason for the swelling in the bird’s leg.
Catch the bird without startling it. Startling the bird can cause the bird to injure itself even further.
Once you’ve caught the bird, examine it to see if it is indeed injured. Look to see if there are any cuts on the bird’s leg and check to see if there is any bleeding on the bird’s leg.
If the bird’s leg is cut, you’d need to clean the wound and then close the wound using a bandage.
Some injuries will not be visible to you, this will be the case if the injury is not a puncture or a laceration. The bird may have an internal injury like a fracture, dislocation, strain, or a sprain, this may be why your bird’s leg is swollen.
If you can’t see a visible injury on your bird’s leg then you may need to take the bird to an avian vet to be examined and diagnosed, taking the bird to a general vet will be fine but taking the bird to an avian vet is recommended.
Infection:
If your bird does not have a leg injury then the bird may be suffering from an infection. An infection will cause a ducks leg to start to swell up. Infections are the body’s way of dealing with an irritant.
The infection can be anything from bacteria, fungi, virus, or even a foreign object. If the bird has an infection then the bird may also experience pain, redness, and heat in the area.
Your bird may still develop an infection even if there is no wound or entry point on the bird’s leg
What to do:
Keeping the bird’s leg as clean as possible is recommended. Also, help the bird keep pressure off of the leg while the leg is swollen.
Infections are best cleared up using antibiotics. Your bird may be suffering from a variety of infections, different infections will require different antibiotics.
Taking your bird to the vet to get the correct antibiotics is recommended. The vet will be able to properly diagnose your bird, prescribe the correct antibiotic for the problem as well as prescribe the correct dose of antibiotics for your bird.
The vet will likely give your bird an antibiotic injection over an oral antibiotic. Injectable antibiotics are more effective than oral antibiotics. The bird will likely be given an injection in the breast bone rather than the leg muscle.
Taking your bird to the vet, and not treating the bird yourself, is highly recommended. If you give your bird the incorrect antibiotics, or give your bird antibiotics at the incorrect dosage, the bird may develop antibiotic resistance
You’d need to move the bird somewhere safe, dry, and isolated to give the bird the opportunity to recover.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other chicken related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Duckling Died When Hatching, Duck Feathers Look Bad, Duck Eggs Not Hatching Day 30