Bumblefoot? How to treat it?

OK, so i have had ducks for about 5-6 years now and take excellent care of them, like seriously, they are like my life. anyways i have 3 pekin female ducks and 2 buff orpington female ducks. One of my buff ducks has started limping yesterday. i tried to see what it was, but it was the duck that doesn't like to be handled as much as the others. well today i got a good look at it, and the middle toe is very swollen and hot, and there is also a little blister looking thing on the bottom. i did some research and i believe it is bumble foot. I am not 100% positive, but most of the descriptions of bumble foot match what my duck is doing and what her foot looks like. My questions include this:

1. How can i keep her still while i am trying to examen it and soak it in Epsom salts? Do you suggest any specific ways to hold her so i can look her over without her freaking out?
2. Is Bumble foot fatal?
3. What can i do to treat it? What are the best things to do?
4. Should i keep her separate from the others until she has healed?
5. If it turns out to not be bumble foot, what else could it be?
6. Any other advice would be extremely helpful!

Thank you!

luv4ducks2814 said:

OK, so i have had ducks for about 5-6 years now and take excellent care of them, like seriously, they are like my life. anyways i have 3 pekin female ducks and 2 buff orpington female ducks. One of my buff ducks has started limping yesterday. i tried to see what it was, but it was the duck that doesn't like to be handled as much as the others. well today i got a good look at it, and the middle toe is very swollen and hot, and there is also a little blister looking thing on the bottom. i did some research and i believe it is bumble foot. I am not 100% positive, but most of the descriptions of bumble foot match what my duck is doing and what her foot looks like. My questions include this:

1. How can i keep her still while i am trying to examen it and soak it in Epsom salts? Do you suggest any specific ways to hold her so i can look her over without her freaking out?
2. Is Bumble foot fatal?
3. What can i do to treat it? What are the best things to do?
4. Should i keep her separate from the others until she has healed?
5. If it turns out to not be bumble foot, what else could it be?
6. Any other advice would be extremely helpful!

Thank you!

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear your bird is feeling down!

1. Hold down wings to prevent flapping, and gently put other hand on abdomen and hold legs.
2. No, it is not.
3 & 4. To treat bumblefoot, separate bird from the rest of the flock, and then drain all of the pus from the callus. Then, thoroughly wash the pad and treat with a bacteriode. Keep the bird on soft, thick bedding until it gets back on it's feet.
5. Sometimes a sliver or sharp object can infect foot pad.

Good luck!

OK, Thanks so much for the advice blackberry18. I tried to separate the same duck before and she gets extremely nervous and upset. What should i do about that?

We have not had to cut our ducks' feet when we have had mild cases of bumblefoot. We have treated it with Epsom salt soaks followed by triple antibiotic ointment without painkiller.

Recently I learned of another non-invasive method that has worked well for others. After the soaks, drop a few drops of clear (not brown) iodine on the bumble. After about five days, soak the foot again and there should be dark scabs that can be gently removed, taking the pus with them. If the scabs don't come off easily with some gentle pulling, a few more drops of clear iodine and wait a few more days.

This works even on serious bumbles.

Oh wow, OK thank you! I will definitely try the iodine method, because i really don't want to put my duck through the pain of cutting it out. I also had another question. How do you suggest holding the foot still while i am doing stuff to it? Because i never have had to hold my ducks feet before, and can't get my duck to keep her foot out, and I do not want to break it. Any suggestions would be helpful

For soaks, I prep the flat bottomed bowl, pick up the duck and gently stand her in the bowl. I hold her gently around the middle, hands over wings. I have handled the Runners and Romy so much this is usually easy.

For the Buffs - I need to be prepared for much more wiggling, so getting a firm but gentle grasp of the duck is a technique I work on. And if it is ever a question of letting the duck go or hurting her, you know I let her go and we try again later.

For compresses or applying medicine:

First, I get my stuff handy. Down low where I can reach it, but not where other ducks can mess with it (though they don't want to be close when I hold a duck). I can generally pick the duck up with my hands around her middle, squat down so that I am stable (maybe on my knees or one knee). She often will instinctively hold her legs straight back, so that it is easy to see the bottom.

For ointment, I put the ointment on a finger before I grab the duck - then I just swab the ointment on, and we are done.

For the iodine, I need to have the bottle near me. Or I can put several drops in a small flat (unbreakable) dish so I can just put her foot down on the dish and we are done - like a stamp pad. Knowing that they will wiggle, I try to imagine the angle I will have to work with, and make adjustments there.

OK, Thank you so much for your help!