# Tough question about euthanasia



## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

One of my ducks was attacked by a dog a few months ago. Her back was pretty raw and she had some deep wounds by her legs. There were no broken bones, at least not that I could tell, so I gave her lots of TLC and she recovered.
Now she is fully healed by all appearances, but she still doesn't seem 100% to me. She is much more reluctant to fly than the other two.
She seems to enjoy life on the ground; she walks fine; she does the "ducky dance" when the others do it and mostly follows them around. But when they fly high she usually stays behind. She also seems just a little less active than the other two.
My concern is that she has pain somewhere. I do not want her to suffer. But when I see how happy she can be, I just can't think of putting her down.
Above all, I want to do what is best for her. What do you think?


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Does she have a limp? Does she flap her wings well? Where was all the damage from the dog? Do you have a pic of her?
Sorry for all the questions....just trying to figure this out...oh, and what breed? Muscovy?


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## Mrndly (Aug 16, 2012)

last year my chickens were attacked by a fox. all but one of them were killed , the remaining chick had a chunk taken out of her leg. She healed up pretty nicely but she was limping for quite awhile, It happened the end of April and I would say she limped until end of August, so it might take some time before your duck is back to normal


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

That doesn't sound to me to be a duck that has given up on life. I look at quality of life. If the only thing she can't do is fly, I don't see that as being poor quality of life. She may just have some permanent damage that makes her not able to do everything as the others but doesn't necessarily mean that she is in pain.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

No, she has no limp. She does flap too. Oh, and as to a picture of her, she is "Mr. Drake" from my thread asking if they were ducks or drakes. Now she is Jemima because I'm pretty certain she's a female.
She looks normal externally. I don't have a picture of the damage, unfortunately, but it seemed to be mostly just skin damage.
The dog doesn't kill the ducks, he just catches them and uses them as chew toys.  I had to kill one duck before that because he had really dug into her and broken a bone.  I'm wondering if he gnawed this one enough to break ribs or damage internal organs, though the visible damage was mostly just to the skin. I know animals have an unbelievably high pain tolerance.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Only you can decide but your description just doesn't say euthanize to me.


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## AdamsAcres (Dec 3, 2012)

There may have been some other type of injury such as nerve damage that is keeping her from being able to fly. She may recover completely, or she may never fly with the others, and is going to be the odd duck, but it does seem to me she's a happy girl none the less. I wouldn't consider putting her down at all.


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## sbaker (Nov 11, 2012)

If she has healed enough that she looks happy and acts like a duck, I would think she is fine! We had a rooster once that lost use of a leg due to a dog attack. Once the open wound healed, he was fine! Hopped around on one leg, but could race the other chickens for scraps- and win! He was just as happy as any other chicken, even though he was one legged. Animals adapt very well!


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## Karen (Jun 22, 2010)

She does not sound as if she is in pain, I wouldn't worry about it for now.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

OK, great! Thanks everyone! Maybe I was just worried about nothing.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

When you described the duck, I hear it as, the duck is full of life. If the duck can't fly, that isn't a death sentence. Cause I know of some people, that clip wings, so, they stay close and can't fly.

Now, if the duck is in pain and not acting normal, other than cannot fly. Then, I would consider putting it down.

It is up to you though, whether or not, you want to put it down,you are there to see how it is doing. I won't frown on your decision, one way or the other.


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

Definitely not a death sentence. If the duck is handicapped but still carrying on daily activities I would let it live its life. If suffering is obvious, put her down. 

As for the dog, that is NOT tolerated in my neck of the woods. Pet, $1000 show dog, or guardian, any dog that goes after and does any sort of damage to any type of livestock being chicken, calf, kid, cow, sheep, horse is shot on the spot. NO second chances, they do it once they WILL do it again, especially if the dog is not yours to train. Owner is contacted if it has one once taken care of. If not, the body is given to the vet as a nuisance. We have had to "do away" with two dogs. One was a stray searching for a chicken as a meal, and the other was a neighbor's dog that came over every day searching for a "toy". We had two chickens (expensive $25 rare adult hens) disappear suddenly, we had problems with this same dog with a newborn calf and stalking the heifer and her baby. Owner was given warning to keep it on a tether. On the third day I staked the coop out and the stupid dog went INTO the coop for his snack. Problem taken care of. If this is not acceptable in your neck of the woods, capture the dog and call police. No animal needs to fear for their life because of a stupid untrained dog.


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