Ruddy Duck With Keel Wound

The following story about a ruddy duck was shared with us by Alberta Institute For Wildlife Conservation in Alberta, Canada.

This ruddy duck presented to us after being found grounded on a highway with a large, necrotic, old wound over their keel. We initially stabilized with fluids, pain medications, and a bandage until the patient was stable enough for anesthesia to fully assess the wound. Though the wound was quite deep and caused necrosis of the soft tissue around, there was no bone exposure and no fractures identified on this duck’s X-rays.

Under anesthesia and with pain medications on board, we debrided the wound — removing any devitalized or damaged tissue until healthy tissue was exposed. We then placed a manuka honey bandage to keep those tissues moist, clear wound debris, and treat infection.

This diving duck had to be kept out of water on a net-bottom kennel initially while the wound began to heal, however the species typically does not eat well out of water and often lose weight. We thus started to tube-feed EmerAid Intensive Care Omnivore at 4.5 parts and EmerAid Intensive Care Carnivore at 0.5 parts several times a day to support nutrition until the wound has healed enough to move the duck onto a pool.

A small area of scar tissue did develop, that required additional surgery to remove, but the remainder of the new skin healed well and grew new feathers over in the last few months in care. Now fully waterproofed and healed, the ruddy duck was released back to the wild after nearly six months in care.