Duck with Bumblefoot (Warning Viewer Discretion Is Advised)

Patti, remember when some of my big duckies were 5 weeks old and they were on their backs and struggling for air? Well one of my little Pekin duckies was having the same problem yesterday. I always make sure that they have water to wash down their food, and there wasn't anything in the brooder that she could've been choking on. She's 3 and a half weeks old. I happened to walk in there at the right moment, and noticed that she was having a hard time breathing, but not on her back. She was opening and closing her bill and no sound came out when she tried to peep, but there was a whistling sound coming from her nares. She kept drinking water like she was trying to wash something down and her pouch on her neck was FULL of water. It looked like she was drowning herself. The whites of her eyes were red and she looked really stressed. I pulled her out, and my sister and I rubbed her neck and chest and she regurgitated a lot of water. She just sat quietly in the towel for 15 minutes, then she was her normal, peeping, ducky self and she's been fine since. I didn't give them any food or water for a few hours after that. Their waterer isn't really deep enough for them to clean their nares, but I was giving them a bath twice a day because they were so messy. I don't know if that was the problem, but I gave them a different "duckling waterer" just in case:



Yes, it's a Huggies wipe box.

That's not all that happened. I went to put the ducks and chickens up for the night at 8:00, and the run was wide open. There was a drake in the pool, a chicken running around, and 3 of the chickens were in the shed. The rest were still in the run, thank goodness. Anyways, I was letting them out this morning, and noticed that Flapper (the drake that was in the pool), was limping really bad. He can't even walk - he hops on one foot, stands on one foot, and kinda topples around. I brought him in and gave him a bath so I could look at his foot. It doesn't look broken or swollen, and there's nothing stuck in it. It looks completely normal other then how bad he's limping on it. I put him in a bin with hay, and he's in the house. Should I make him some sort of splint? Should he be walking on it? Should I keep him away from the others? The drakes have been acting really aggressive and protective lately, I don't know if one of the other drakes attacked him, or he hurt himself when he got out some how.



@Miss Lydia @casportpony

Could be a sprain. They take days and days to heal, but you can help with lukewarm tub time if possible, Epsom salt compresses (it is a laxative don't let him eat or drink it), and some arnica ointment or T-Relief - just a tiny dab rubbed into the leg.

DiamondSwan said:

Patti, remember when some of my big duckies were 5 weeks old and they were on their backs and struggling for air? Well one of my little Pekin duckies was having the same problem yesterday. I always make sure that they have water to wash down their food, and there wasn't anything in the brooder that she could've been choking on. She's 3 and a half weeks old. I happened to walk in there at the right moment, and noticed that she was having a hard time breathing, but not on her back. She was opening and closing her bill and no sound came out when she tried to peep, but there was a whistling sound coming from her nares. She kept drinking water like she was trying to wash something down and her pouch on her neck was FULL of water. It looked like she was drowning herself. The whites of her eyes were red and she looked really stressed. I pulled her out, and my sister and I rubbed her neck and chest and she regurgitated a lot of water. She just sat quietly in the towel for 15 minutes, then she was her normal, peeping, ducky self and she's been fine since. I didn't give them any food or water for a few hours after that. Their waterer isn't really deep enough for them to clean their nares, but I was giving them a bath twice a day because they were so messy. I don't know if that was the problem, but I gave them a different "duck waterer" just in case:



Yes, it's a Huggies wipe box.

That's not all that happened. I went to put the ducks and chickens up for the night at 8:00, and the run was wide open. There was a drake in the pool, a chicken running around, and 3 of the chickens were in the shed. The rest were still in the run, thank goodness. Anyways, I was letting them out this morning, and noticed that Flapper (the drake that was in the pool), was limping really bad. He can't even walk - he hops on one foot, stands on one foot, and kinda topples around. I brought him in and gave him a bath so I could look at his foot. It doesn't look broken or swollen, and there's nothing stuck in it. It looks completely normal other then how bad he's limping on it. I put him in a bin with hay, and he's in the house. Should I make him some sort of splint? Should he be walking on it? Should I keep him away from the others? The drakes have been acting really aggressive and protective lately, I don't know if one of the other drakes attacked him, or he hurt himself when he got out some how.



@Miss Lydia @casportpony

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I agree with Amiga sounds like he may have sprained his leg do what she recommends. and let us know how he is doing, limit his walking but let him have warm water therapy.

I think you did good giving your ducklings a deeper container for drinking I like the idea of the huggies container. Sounds like you did great getting your lil duckling to get rid of the extra water. How is she doing now?when getting them to regurgitate make sure to hold them with bottom up a little higher than front so they don't get excess liquid down into their air sacs.

Amiga said:

Could be a sprain.  They take days and days to heal, but you can help with lukewarm tub time if possible, Epsom salt compresses (it is a laxative don't let him eat or drink it), and some arnica ointment or T-Relief - just a tiny dab rubbed into the leg.

Click to expand...

Miss Lydia said:

I agree with Amiga sounds like he may have sprained his leg do what she recommends. and let us know how he is doing, limit his walking but let him have warm water therapy.

I think you did good giving your ducklings a deeper container for drinking I like the idea of the huggies container. Sounds like you did great getting your lil duckling to get rid of the extra water. How is she doing now?when getting them to regurgitate make sure to hold them with bottom up a little higher than front so they don't get excess liquid down into their air sacs.

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Ok, that's what I'll do. We don't have that ointment stuff though, so I'll just use coconut oil - it does the same thing. The little girl ducky is doing fine, what do think would cause that? Thank you guys so much! My patients are stacking up.

DiamondSwan said:

Ok, that's what I'll do. We don't have that ointment stuff though, so I'll just use coconut oil - it does the same thing. The little girl ducky is doing fine, what do think would cause that? Thank you guys so much! My patients are stacking up.

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I don't know why she did that unless she had feed backed up and water was her way of trying to wash it down. What ever it was I am thankful you used your head and got her back to normal.

Wow. I hope all is well!

Miss Lydia said:

I don't know why she did that unless she had feed backed up and water was her way of trying to wash it down. What ever it was I am thankful you used your head and got her back to normal.

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I had to do that last time when the other duckies had the same problem. I'm wondering if it was the same thing that happened.

Lamaremybabies said:

Wow. I hope all is well! 

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Everything is good, Flapper should heal in a week with a little TLC, and the little girl ducky is fine.

DiamondSwan said:

I had to do that last time when the other duckies had the same problem. I'm wondering if it was the same thing that happened.

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May have been. Your quick thinking probably saved her life.

I tried a duck egg for the first time ever, and it was awesome!!! It tasted like a chicken egg, only way better! You should put your ducks on Dumar layer crumbles Sophia, it's a really nice quality food. I keep it available for them to eat all day, and I've also been mixing a little bit of Natures Best organic layer pellets with it too.