Bumblefoot? And missing toenail?

Hoover has been limping on and off for a little while now. (I thought maybe she strained it and it would get better on it's own) But the last 2 days she seemed much worse. Laying down a lot and the limp was accentuated and didn't get better throughout the day. Now I wish I had caught her sooner to take a look, I just know how stressing it is on them so I've been avoiding it. I love my ducks but they don't really love me

So I ask all of you folks......this is bumblefoot right? It looks just like some of the pics I've seen on here. The only difference is that she is missing a nail!!!! I have no idea how or when she lost the nail or if losing it caused the infection or if the infection caused her to lose it. My guess is that the infection started when she lost the nail somehow???

We caught and looked at her tonight and put her and her best friend Wendy (so she has company) in a small coop separated from the others. We put triple antibiotic ointment on her foot for the night. In the morning I will call the vet for advice.

I've read, on here, that Epsom salt soaks and compresses are needed. Can any one tell me what the salt to water ratio should be?

Also we looked up something called vetericyn. Has anyone used this before or have any thoughts on it?

I know there are already so many threads on bumblefoot but I haven't seen any that have included losing a nail before. Any thoughts, suggestions or insights?

Did we catch this early enough to treat ourselves? Thanks

I do not have ducks, and am by no means knowledgeable about bumblefoot. But yes, it does appear to be bumblefoot, and not nearly as bad as some pictures I've seen. I've only treated one of my chickens for bumblefoot, and it was several years ago. My girl's foot looked worse than your girls. Whether the nail loss is due to the bumblefoot or not isn't clear. I do know nail injuries can be painful.

My girl had an obvious scab over a swollen area, so we cut the scab away and dug as much of the infection out as we could. I did soak her foot in Epsom salts. I have no idea of the mixture ratio - if using 4 cups of water, maybe 1/2 - 1 cup of salts??? Too much won't hurt anything, so more is better than less. Make sure the water is warm - the bird will like it better. We wrapped our girl's foot as best we could to keep it as clean as possible. I gave her amoxicillin - caplets that I opened up and mixed with yogurt to feed to her. I got our amoxicillin on on-line (look up Fish Mox), no prescription...

Keep somewhat contained (as you're doing) for a few days and re-soak the foot every two days or so...

Again, I'm no expert. But my girl's foot looked far worse than your duck's, and she's now 7 years old and going strong...

Thank you for responding. I put only 1/2 tsp of salt per gallon. Ugh. There is so much mixed information out there. I've seen everything from 1/2 tsp to 2 cups per gallon. Foot soaks 3 times a day to once every few days. We did a foot soak last night and it went better than expected. Gave her treats during......She loves her peas! Then dried her foot the best we could and sprayed Vetericyn all over. Didn't wrap it because I have no idea how it would even be feasible to wrap a webbed duck foot. We were going to give her another soak this am but she escaped under the temporary day fence we had set up and headed to the pond. Tried to get her again but to no avail so we will have to wait till "night night" time when we coop them up like normal to get her again.

I'm glad your girl is doing well. And, thank you for telling me your story. Do you remember how long you needed to treat her before she was ready to go back with the rest of the flock?

I'm hoping we don't have to cut into anything, and that it fixes its self on its own. Fingers crossed

I'll look up fish mox and get some ordered. Thank you so much for the info!!

Oh, its the same with chickens! Ask 10 different people their opinion and you'll get at least 8 different answers with multiple variations of each...lol. As we know, there is often more than one way to skin a cat (I hate that phrase, but it works here). But I would definitely go heavy on the salt rather than light.

And I don't really remember how long we treated our girl - most likely 10 -14 days, since we did see obvious improvement/healing. I did not contain her, as she's very tame, so I can just walk over to her and pick her up. I do remember wrapping her foot a bit to keep it clean-ish. But of course a chicken's foot with its toes is easier to wrap. A smallish sock cut down and taped around her ankle might work to keep it protected a bit better in between soakings. But if you can't wrap it, the soakings and antibiotics should still help.

Thanks. A sock sounds like a good idea. Mayb I can try that.

I looked up fish mox but all I could find was something called Amoxfin. Close to $45 for a bottle. I might be able to get something less expensive through my vet. I'll call on Monday.

Try www.allivet.com - I think a bottle of 250mg capsules is about $16.

Thank you!

duckitup said:

Thank you for responding. I put only 1/2 tsp of salt per gallon. Ugh. There is so much mixed information out there. I've seen everything from 1/2 tsp to 2 cups per gallon. Foot soaks 3 times a day to once every few days. We did a foot soak last night and it went better than expected. Gave her treats during......She loves her peas! Then dried her foot the best we could and sprayed Vetericyn all over. Didn't wrap it because I have no idea how it would even be feasible to wrap a webbed duck foot. We were going to give her another soak this am but she escaped under the temporary day fence we had set up and headed to the pond. Tried to get her again but to no avail so we will have to wait till "night night" time when we coop them up like normal to get her again.

I'm glad your girl is doing well. And, thank you for telling me your story. Do you remember how long you needed to treat her before she was ready to go back with the rest of the flock?

I'm hoping we don't have to cut into anything, and that it fixes its self on its own. Fingers crossed

I'll look up fish mox and get some ordered. Thank you so much for the info!!

Click to expand...

Many people successfully treat bumblefoot in ducks without cutting. Because they are in and around mud and water so much, cutting them can be risky.

You can apply a triple antibiotic ointment without painkiller two or three times a day - be sure to apply it before bedtime, when they are less active overnight.

This is after the soak.

You can also soak the foot well, then apply clear - clear - clear - not brown - iodine, just a couple of drops to the affected area, then wait several days. A scab will form that can then be soaked off. The scab often takes most of the yuck out with it, then just keep rinsing the foot to keep it clean as it finishes healing. In this case, though, I think the triple antibiotic will do it. It can take several weeks at most.

Please join us on the duck forum. https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/42/ducks

Thanks Amiga.

How much salt do you recommend per gallon of water?

We tried upping it to 1 tablespoon this morning (from 2 tsp last night) but she was really antsy this time. She has been pretty easy to treat up until now as long as she has her peas to snack on. I Don't know if it was the salt or if she was just in a mood. We were only able to treat her for 12 minutes today (instead of the usual 20). Can too much salt burn her?


We also noticed slightly matted feathers around her eyes last night. This morning they had a touch of foamy eye so we gave each eye a drop of Tobramycin that we had left over from another ducks treatment (Mr. Fiona 9 months ago, which is doing great btw and is now the "flock protector"). I hope it was okay to give. I remember the vet telling me it was a pretty safe drug and to use it if Mr Fiona ever showed signs of foamy eye again. I panicked because Mr Fiona lost sight in one eye and obviously I don't want Hoover to go through that.

Anyways, thank you for your response. I've always trusted your advice on mine and others threads and admire your dedication.

I would use Epsom salt, not sodium chloride (table salt).

I generally use compresses. So I dissolve Epsom salt in lukewarm water - might only take a tablespoon or two. Then I soak up the solution in a clean rage or washcloth, and wrap it around the duck's leg and foot, and hold it there.

@Miss Lydia has a flat-bottomed, small bucket she uses and she just holds the duck standing in the bucket.

Epsom salt is a laxative, so don't let them drink it.

Medicated eye drops from the vet sound safe to use for foamy eye.