Lucky gets a new name
This little baby duck was born in a hatchery factory back east and then shipped at one day old to a factory farm in Langley along with thousands of other baby ducks. So the odds of this baby finding his way to a farm sanctuary were far greater than 1 in a million.
Lucky was badly injured in transport and was unable to reach the food and water troughs at the factory farm. He would have been dead the next day if not for Kindred volunteer Matthew Taylor who, undercover, chaperoned him to safety (look for Matthew’s story soon).
We didn’t know the extent of Lucky’s injury, so he was taken to our bird vet. It wasn’t good news, he has a dislocated knee with no option for treatment. But we wanted to give Lucky a chance once again to beat the odds so he was put into foster care with Kindred volunteer Sophia Manolis and then with Matthew.
Matthew started to bring Lucky to the farm every day when he was volunteering, and Lucky slowly was integrated with the other birds and one day had a sleepover. Well, it only took one night for us to feel that Lucky might be a good friend for Ray Charles who had just lost Ruby. We tucked Lucky into a crate beside Ray. All was going well with Lucky, but it didn’t last long. One Sunday morning he was discovered by a volunteer with a horrible bloody back – he must have been attacked at night by a predator that somehow got into his crate.
He was rushed to a vet clinic where we were told, he had lost skin and muscle tissue, he would have a poor quality of life and immediate euthanasia was recommended. I asked the vet how she would treat a dog or cat who came in with a bad wound and they said that they would treat it. This just didn’t seem right to me that a dog or cat would be helped but not a little duck. I asked them for a chance to treat Lucky and an estimate of what that would look like and cost. I was given an extensive list of treatment that totaled $1,500. I asked them to give Lucky pain meds, antibiotics and keep him overnight so I could contact our bird vet Monday morning.
I sent photos of Lucky’s injury to our bird vet and he said they looked very superficial and to bring him in. I brought Lucky in on Monday, he was cleaned up without anesthetic and he had all his skin and muscle still intact. After a thorough exam it turned out he had just feathers pulled out and was in no pain. Lucky was discharged with a hug and a 10-day course of antibiotics. Total cost $60.
My feeling is the original vet actually didn’t clean Lucky’s wound and had no idea what was happening under the bloody area (it did look horrific with the red blood against the white feathers.) I also feel that this vet does not know bird medicine. I have since sent them a letter to let them know Lucky was misdiagnosed and almost lost his life. I also included these before and after photos.
The Guardian Angel for Sunday is Michael, so it seems fitting to give Lucky a new name
“Lucky Michael Snow.”