Help! Need some duck in splints advice

[Miss Lydia]

You can soak her foot in warm Epsom salt water till you can easily peel the scab off in the meantime after you soak you can use a drawing salve [prid is one] to try and bring the bumble to the surface so when you get the scab off hopefully the kernel will be attached to the scab then you pack with an antibiotic ointment and wrap till healed. Once you get the kernel out check in a few days to make sure you got it all. Keep her out of water while it is healing. Do you need info on how to wrap?

 

[amanda_rimo]

You can soak her foot in warm Epsom salt water till you can easily peel the scab off in the meantime after you soak you can use a drawing salve [prid is one] to try and bring the bumble to the surface so when you get the scab off hopefully the kernel will be attached to the scab then you pack with an antibiotic ointment and wrap till healed. Once you get the kernel out check in a few days to make sure you got it all. Keep her out of water while it is healing. Do you need info on how to wrap?

Yes that would be great if you have info on how to wrap

 

[amanda_rimo]

Is there any telling how long it will take?

 

[redpandakitty]

I'm definitely not an expert, but I have a duck with similar issues, so thought I'd share what we have been doing.

Our male Pekin, Quacks (he came with the name lol), has an issue with one of his legs where it's not strong enough to support him so it ends up sticking far out to the side when he stands up, and has caused his leg to be crooked at his ankle. Our vet recommended hobbling him to keep his leg under him and strengthen it. It's working some, but the poor guy has a lot of difficulty getting around and spends most of his time lying around. We haven't had him very long and had never intended to own ducks, so have been forced into the deep end, so to speak, trying to care for him (he was an emergency re-home from a friend).

Once we started hobbling him, we moved him to our back deck where we could keep a closer eye on him. He & his mate had a repurposed dog kennel that we put straw in for bedding, and didn't immediately realize that because he was lying in wet straw all the time (despite frequent changing), that it was damaging his belly feathers. He lost all the water-proofing because he wasn't able to properly groom himself and the feathers started breaking off. As soon as we realized what was happening we got rid of the straw, so his belly no longer stays wet all the time. They now have indoor/outdoor carpet that drains water easily & dries quickly so even if his belly is wet when he lays on it, it tends to wick the water away and help him dry. He is currently molting and thankfully new feathers are growing in. Although he has access to a pool, he has a lot of difficulty once he gets into the water because his balance is off, so he mostly just walks up to the edge and splashes water on himself to bathe. This has actually helped keep his belly dry though, since the feathers don't soak up so much water this way. When he wasn't able to stand on his own I would hold him up at the edge so he could bathe.

We also had to deal with sores on the bottom of his feet, especially the foot on his bad leg because he essentially walks on the inner toe and pushes against it all the time when he's trying to walk or stand. Our vet said we caught it before it actually developed into bumblefoot, but we bought him some neoprene shoes to protect his feet and that has helped to prevent new sores from forming.

 

[amanda_rimo]

I'm definitely not an expert, but I have a duck with similar issues, so thought I'd share what we have been doing.

Our male Pekin, Quacks (he came with the name lol), has an issue with one of his legs where it's not strong enough to support him so it ends up sticking far out to the side when he stands up, and has caused his leg to be crooked at his ankle. Our vet recommended hobbling him to keep his leg under him and strengthen it. It's working some, but the poor guy has a lot of difficulty getting around and spends most of his time lying around. We haven't had him very long and had never intended to own ducks, so have been forced into the deep end, so to speak, trying to care for him (he was an emergency re-home from a friend).

Once we started hobbling him, we moved him to our back deck where we could keep a closer eye on him. He & his mate had a repurposed dog kennel that we put straw in for bedding, and didn't immediately realize that because he was lying in wet straw all the time (despite frequent changing), that it was damaging his belly feathers. He lost all the water-proofing because he wasn't able to properly groom himself and the feathers started breaking off. As soon as we realized what was happening we got rid of the straw, so his belly no longer stays wet all the time. They now have indoor/outdoor carpet that drains water easily & dries quickly so even if his belly is wet when he lays on it, it tends to wick the water away and help him dry. He is currently molting and thankfully new feathers are growing in. Although he has access to a pool, he has a lot of difficulty once he gets into the water because his balance is off, so he mostly just walks up to the edge and splashes water on himself to bathe. This has actually helped keep his belly dry though, since the feathers don't soak up so much water this way. When he wasn't able to stand on his own I would hold him up at the edge so he could bathe.

We also had to deal with sores on the bottom of his feet, especially the foot on his bad leg because he essentially walks on the inner toe and pushes against it all the time when he's trying to walk or stand. Our vet said we caught it before it actually developed into bumblefoot, but we bought him some neoprene shoes to protect his feet and that has helped to prevent new sores from forming.

View attachment 3551477View attachment 3551478

Thank you for sharing your story! We have the same issue with Stanley, but it’s both legs. She spends all her time on her belly. When she has her splints on, she is able to move around better, but she stays on her belly all the time, unless we are helping her stand on her splints and holder her up. She was able to swim in the water after fine up until a couple days ago. She barely floats. Her chest slowly sinks and and then she’s barely able to keep her beak above the water so we hold her up so she can splash around and kick her legs for water therapy. I checked her preening gland and I got oil on my fingers when i checked. So the only thing I can think of is that she is unable to reach all her feathers to preen them, because she is unable to stand at all.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yes that would be great if you have info on how to wrap

Is there any telling how long it will take?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wrapping-feet.1255043/

Bumbles can be stubborn to treat but this one on your duck doesn't look real bad so hopefully you can get it treated and healed pretty easily. It does take patience though because you can't just go and rip off the scab and possibly tear healthy skin so soak and treat as long as necessary until the scab begins to lift with your fingernail. Once the scab comes off then either the kernel or plug is attached to the scab or you are going to have to pick the bumble out with sterile tweezers, duck pus is thick and yellowish.

 

[amanda_rimo]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wrapping-feet.1255043/

Bumbles can be stubborn to treat but this one on your duck doesn't look real bad so hopefully you can get it treated and healed pretty easily. It does take patience though because you can't just go and rip off the scab and possibly tear healthy skin so soak and treat as long as necessary until the scab begins to lift with your fingernail. Once the scab comes off then either the kernel or plug is attached to the scab or you are going to have to pick the bumble out with sterile tweezers, duck pus is thick and yellowish.

thank you so much! how long do I soak her foot and how much epsom Salt do I put in the water? just regular epsom salt? sorry i have so many questions. thank you for responding back so much!

 

[Miss Lydia]

What I do when I have to soak is put the Epsom salt and warm water in a 1 gal bucket. Since she has trouble standing you could use a plastic dishpan Dollar general use to have them for a dollar that way she can lay and not be able to drink the water. I hold on to them and try to keep them in for at least 5-10 min.
I use at least 1 cup of ES in a gal of warm water. Reg Epsom salt.

 

[redpandakitty]

Thank you for sharing your story! We have the same issue with Stanley, but it’s both legs. She spends all her time on her belly. When she has her splints on, she is able to move around better, but she stays on her belly all the time, unless we are helping her stand on her splints and holder her up. She was able to swim in the water after fine up until a couple days ago. She barely floats. Her chest slowly sinks and and then she’s barely able to keep her beak above the water so we hold her up so she can splash around and kick her legs for water therapy. I checked her preening gland and I got oil on my fingers when i checked. So the only thing I can think of is that she is unable to reach all her feathers to preen them, because she is unable to stand at all.

I wonder if you could use a pool noodle to make a duck sized inner tube to help her float in the pool.

 

[amanda_rimo]

I wonder if you could use a pool noodle to make a duck sized inner tube to help her float in the pool.

you know what. That sounds like a great idea! Because I don’t want her to not be able to swim in the pool anymore