This morning, a couple of strays got into our yard and had a hayday with my ducks. We had to put one down because he was too torn up for me to save him. My question is, what do I use to "sew" up the others that weren't so bad off but still had their backs ripped to shreds? I know to use a needle, but what kind of thread? Or does it matter. BTW, the dogs are now at the animal shelter and it turns out that they are "frequent flyers" there. Why can't people be responsible owners and keep their dogs confined to their property? Anyway, I guess I've spilled my guts for the night. Let me know your imput a.s.a.p. so I can get these guys taken care of. Thanks!

-- c.d. (his4ever@mac.com), December 17, 2001

Answers

I'd just use cotton thread, c.d. It seems the most benign to me. I've had my ducks attacked by wandering dogs twice, and it's no fun. The loss of the ducks is bad enough, but my blood pressure goes up everytime I think of it even years later. There would have been some hard talk going on if I'd ever seen the owners!

Then of course there was the New Year's Eve when some total jerks stopped their truck in front of my house and shot four of my geese in broad daylight. I can imagine the training their dogs (or kids) would have had . . .

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), December 17, 2001.

c.d., I thought I had the perfect answer but I can see how serious you are. And I know how rough it is when you have an injured pet. Especially when it is so uncalled for. I agree people should be more responsible for their animals.

Oh heck, I'm going to give you my perfect answer anyway. DUCK TAPE

-- Belle (gardenbelle@terraworld.net), December 17, 2001.

c.d. If the dogs are frequent visitors to the animal shelter that must mean they have an owner. I hope you are going to get the owner to reimburse you for the loss and damage to your ducks.

If these dogs did not have an owner the animal shelter would not even offer these dogs for adoption they would hold them the required amount of time to see if anyone claims them and then euthanize them.

Any type of thread will do, I just use regular cotten thread, you will need to remove the stitches in a few days so they don't get infected.

-- anita in NC (anitaholton@mindspring.com), December 18, 2001.

Well, actually Duct tape is not a bad deal. I have used it to hold a duck's wing next to it's side when it was broken and dragging it. Took lots of ribbing from my hubby too!!!! It holds great when wet and then will come off with a little vaseline later or with a gentle pull. I have used the cotton covered polyester on my geese, ducks, chickens..etc...it works great. Make sure that you tie a knot after each stitch. When I first started my chicken stitching I didn't know that and it took forever to remove the stitches because a running stitch goes into the skin too deep after a few days. Also...I have always put the blue lotion(which is really purple btw! ) on the wound after I am finished. Any wound that you can not stitch needs a dab of it on there too. Wish you blessings for your little feathered buddies! Oh...point of information.....I asked the vet about the pain. It made me HURT to stitch them up. He said that a chicken's skin is not like ours and doesn't have the same kind of nerve endings. I sure hope that he was right!!!!!!!!!!!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), December 18, 2001.

When our favorite duck got torn up by dogs, I had a hard time keeping a bandage on (the wound was on the breast). The vet suggested a piece of nylon stocking with holes cut for the feet. Worked pefectly. The wound was so bad I had the vet sew it up. Duck is doing fine now - has raised 2 batches of ducklings since then. The vet was so fascinated about working on a duck - a first for him! - that he didn't charge much at all.

-- Bonnie (stichart@plix.com), December 20, 2001.

Super glue! I had a Muscovy duck which had a massive gash caused by a fox. I cleaned the wound with Iodine then joined it every quarter of an inch with a spot of super glue - like closing a zip from each end. Once the wound was held together I closed the gaps between the spots and ran a bead of super glue allong the whole of the gash. (This seals out all the dirt which would probably get in through the neadle holes if you stitch it). After a couple of weeks it was back on its feet and it fully recovered after about a couple of months though it's feathers looked a bit odd in that area. Good luck

-- Rod Dalton (rod@c4.com), January 16, 2002.