About Willie and Lemonade

Willie and Lemonade

Have you ever seen anything so adorable as these two?
They have such a heartwarming story.

We were contacted by the owner of Lemonade, the chick. She was just one week old. Lemonade was hatched and right away they knew something was wrong. She had a couple of problems. She has cross-beak, which is when the bottom and top beak do not line up. They can have difficulty eating and drink with this condition. But besides that, she also seemed to be blind in her left eye. It would not open. The concerned owner was heartbroken and felt that the chick needed more care than she was able to give. She took wonderful care of Lemonade and became extremely attached. But she made the painful decision to giver her to us.

The same day, were were contacted by the owner of Willie, the duckling who was also just one week old. Willie was born without his left eye and seemed to be blind in his right eye. He was located in Rhode Island. The owner again, wanted the best care possible for Willie and was very attached to him. They asked if we would be able to help. We immediately said yes and thought that it was fate.

Willie and Lemonade would make perfect companions for each other!

Sponsor Duckling Willie

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Update

Willie

A few days after getting Willie, his left side where his eye should be started getting crusty. I brought Willie and Lemonade to the veterinarian to make sure they were not in pain and to find out their prognosis.

They were both treated with antibiotics for possible infection. Their conditions did not improve. I found an eye specialists in NY that treated cats and dogs. Once I told her their story, she was more than happy to see them. We made the drive to NY.

After examining Willie, the doctor found that where Willie’s eye is missing, there is actually a very small hole and his tear ducts are draining from that hole and that is causing the crusting. This is really not a concern as long as we wipe it clean daily.
The right eye is a little bit more concerning. Willie was born with some tissue missing in that eye and also some of his iris is missing (the colored part of the eye) and he has several small cataracts on the eye as well. We need to monitor this eye. He reacts to light in the eye but we are not sure how much vision is there. He acts totally blind.

Lemonade:

We have better news for Lemonade. She has total vision in her right eye. It seems the muscle that controls her eyelids in the left eye are not working so her vision is very limited.

Her cross beak is worsening as she grows so we may have to start trimming her beak so she can eat and drink properly.

💔 May our beloved Lemonade rest in peace. 💔

About Flora

Ducks, Their Stories

Flora was brought to us with her sisters, Fauna and Merryweather. They were purchased by their owner at a farm supply store. They were all doing well until a few weeks later, Flora started having trouble walking. Her owner brought her to the veterinarian and was told it looks like a niacin deficiency. This happens way too often to ducklings.

What happens is when they are ducklings in these stores with chicks, it is very common for the ducklings to be fed chick food. Ducks need a large of amount of niacin in their diets and chick food just doesn’t have the amount they need so they develop a niacin deficiency. If caught early enough and treated with supplements and physical therapy, they sometimes can recover.

Flora’s owner wasn’t seeing much of an improvement and she only wanted the best for her, so she contacted us to see if we could help. She didn’t want her to be alone so she offered us to take in her sisters as well. They are very much a bonded trio!

Flora’s Sisters

The ducks are a breed called Pekin which grow very quickly and can weigh up to 15 pounds when fully grown.

These ducks need to spend a lot of time in the water because their feet are not built strong enough to carry their body weight.

Not only does Flora have lameness, she also had gape worm, which we treated her for, but she also developed sores on her hocks and to top things off, she has a sinus infection. But she is one strong girl and one heck of a fighter!

She loves her physical therapy in the pool, her bath time and she absolutely loves the blow dryer!

With not seeing much improvement, we decided to get Flora a wheelchair. This will lift her body weight off of her feet and we are hopeful that her legs and feet will get strong enough that she can waddle along. When we first put her in the wheelchair, she was not able to push with her feet. Another issue, is that Flora will not open her webbed feet. They stay rolled up.

On a positive note, Flora is getting to be a stronger swimmer and she is paddling her little heart out when in the pool so I am hoping that when her legs gain some strength, she will be able to use the wheelchair.