Reptile & Amphibian Forums

For the past two years, I've regularly fed a group of Pekings that someone released at a lake near my office.

A female injured her leg. At first, I thought she was nesting when I didn't see her. I don't know how long she's been hurt but I'd guess 7 - 10 days.

I found her hiding on some land that's beneath a dock. She would ignore food, quack loudly and scoot away rather than eat feed when I finally found her.

Now, she'll climb the steep bank and lay down on the grass with the others. Her appetite has returned which seems to be a good sign.

I am not sure whether she injured her foot or her right leg.

She puts a little weight on the injured (right) leg but does so very slowly. She's SLOWLY regaining her mobility.

There is a dark area on the bottom of her right foot. It was probably 1/2 of her foot when I first saw it a couple of days ago and is probably half of that size now.

Although this duck knows me and would eat bread out of my hand (until I read to find them poultry feed), she's still very skiddish right now and I do not want to cause her more shock by catching and moving her to a "safer" location where a retiree can care for her.

The lake she lives at is in an urban area and the Pekings are in the lake at night so she's probably safe from nocturnal predators.

I do not have anything to sedate her with in order to move her but am confident I could catch her. She's probably approx.
2 1/2 years old.

I am inquiring about taking her to a rather skilled but "amateur" animal rescue person (retiree recommended by non-aviary vet).

Should I risk moving her?

If so, any advice how to catch her while causing the least trauma?

Thanks In Advance!

If she is slowly healing, let her be. The stress of trying to avoid you or to escape, would do her more harm.
Providing appropriate food is a good move as she probably isn't foraging well right now.
Ducks are notorious for injuring ankles.

Thanks. That's the conclusion a friend (who raises birds) and I came too. But, I felt better knowing you agreed with a "tough choice".

She's doing better. Limping at half speed towards food and doesn't favor the bad leg/foot. She lost the smaller half of her webbing.

Fed her a couple of times a day so I'd be certain she was getting a decent amount of food. She still doesn't seem to forrage much in the lake and probably won't return to all of her habits.

Again, thanks.