One Month Progress Report - Keelyn's Recovery

Three video clips documenting Keelyn's recovery progress

First clip:
Just out of the pool she is able to stand and preen etc. You can really see the nerve damage and weakness in her right leg (which had the worst break). It can hold some weight but has limited strength and control. We expect much of that to be permanent. Dispite all that she is making good progress and learning to compensate. If we can keep her from reinjury for another month or so, she should have a good chance at being independently mobile.


Second Clip:
You can see here that after a few minutes of standing, preening and snacking she starts to get sore and weak, at which point she uses her head and neck to balance/stabilize herself and shift her weight. She has a two water bowls in her small “play pen” area, a low bowl for easy sipping from a sitting position and a coffee cup deep enough for washing her face, but still reachable from a seated position. You see her washing her nose out toward the end of this clip.


Third clip:
The final clip for today makes us both happy and sad. We are pleased to see that when her she gets sore she will sit down and rest her legs. Continued rest with very little standing and walk/wobbling (for another month or so) is what she needs to let her leg bones finish healing. However, it saddens our hearts to see the extent of the nerve damage in her right leg. She is our little Keelyn; still flirty, feisty, and sweet; and although she will very likely never again run to chase bugs, she is making good progress and learning to compensate for her disability. We are hopeful that as she continues to heal she will learn to walk and be strong enough to spend time with the rest of our little flock unaccompanied by the human family/flock members.

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NOTE: Keelyn is recovering from two broken femurs, one is worse than the other. Today (June 23) is about one month after the acute injury, and about two weeks after reinjuring her left leg in an over zealous attempt to walk and follow other ducks when they walked away from her.