Currently: Just this evening, I gave Perry the Duck an injection of penicillin as the next stage in his treatment.
Previously: After my parents got home on the day I found him, I soon located his wound.
He has a tear in his right wing. It looks to me like a small predator, a cat maybe, caught him around the front of his wing, behind the wrist, and he jerked away, tearing the soft membrane between the humerus and radius, also breaking the thin ligament that spans this space. Through this tear, you can see the radius and the broken ligament, which is shriveled against his wing and looks like a wire.
I treated this area with the ointment several times, usually before bed, after he had another bath. Perry has been spending his time alternating between being held, resting in his kennel, swimming in the tub, and staying in a drop-pen outside---which is equipped with a choice blanket and a waterer for him to get in, and drink from.
He has been drinking well, outside from his dish, and in the tub. He moves well also, flapping his wing, and waddling and swimming. However, he cannot fly, and I doubt will ever be able to again. He is stuck being a pet duck, from now on, and I think that will go pretty well, because he seems to be warming up to us (me, anyway) and his situation.
I have two concerns right now:infection, and the fact that he is apparently not eating, or not eating well.
Looking at the food issue, I have given him greens and chick starter, along with various tidbits from the table and pantry. I have no proof that he has taken any of the greens (administered to him in his water and tub), though he might have taken some of the chick starter last night---I left the bowl in his kennel and he tipped it over and made a mess, however there were crumbs in his bill, and so maybe he got a bit down.
I've tried hand-feeding him, and just plunging his bill into the food, and while the latter method worked better, he still spat out pretty much everything I gave him. Viciously. Despite this, he appears to be getting along alright, and seems of normal weight.
Now, as for the infection problem: I noticed last night during his bath that the forearm muscles were hardening, and inflamed just slightly. It bled a little as he cleaned it during his bath, and I washed it and treated it as usual. This morning, it was even harder, and notably more swollen. So we opted to give him a shot of penicillin, which I just injected into his breast. I gave him 1 cc. Hopefully this will help. He's a fierce little thing, and his wing doesn't seem to bother him in the slightest, however if it gets any worse it will become a real problem.
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Oh, and he is officially a male ruddy duck, in winter feather-garb. It took me a while to decide, but I'm now reasonably convinced that's what he is.
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I'll post some pictures of him soon!
