Duck with bumble foot

My Pekin has bumble foot on both feet. Our ducks have never had this before so we need some help. I bought some vetericyn, sprayed and wrapped her feet after I soaked then with Epsom salt. She is in a confined area to keep her from walking and getting wet. I was told to giver her some Oxytetracycline hci in her water. Is this safe? Tonight I was going to coop her up with our other 3 as she is having a hard time being separated and so are the others. If she can have the Oxytetracycline will it hurt the other 3 if they don't have symptoms? Any other suggestions? Her feet look pretty bad to me but like I said I never had to deal with this before. Thanks in advance!

duckymama2 said:

My Pekin has bumble foot on both feet. Our ducks have never had this before so we need some help. I bought some vetericyn, sprayed and wrapped her feet after I soaked then with Epsom salt. She is in a confined area to keep her from walking and getting wet. I was told to giver her some Oxytetracycline hci in her water. Is this safe? Tonight I was going to coop her up with our other 3 as she is having a hard time being separated and so are the others. If she can have the Oxytetracycline will it hurt the other 3 if they don't have symptoms? Any other suggestions? Her feet look pretty bad to me but like I said I never had to deal with this before. Thanks in advance!

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I would not give the Oxytetracycline to your other ducks since it kills both good and bad bacteria no need to treat them when it isn't necessary so If you go with antibiotics I'd keep her separated. But before you start post a pic of the bumble alot of us have had good luck using Epsom salts soaks and colorless iodine. Soaking the feet in the ES then drying and using a qtip spread colorless iodine all over the bumbles let dry and wrap if you want I didn't with my chicken but I soaked daily and used the Colorless iodine every other day till the scab formed then I kept treatment up till scab peeled off easy and pulled out the bumble with sterile tweezers then I used the Veterycin That way you don't have to separate them from their buds. If the bumble is very infected you will probably need Antibiotics. Walmart carries colorless iodine and so does CVS.

Not sure if photo will show up. I would prefer not to separate her as they are all very close. I think her feet look pretty bad but I haven't seen this before.

Just want to do the best thing for her. Let me know what you think I should do. Thanks!

duckymama2 said:

Just want to do the best thing for her. Let me know what you think I should do. Thanks!

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That looks pretty bad is it a scab? if it is keep soaking till you can peel it off real easy the bumble won't be runny like in humans it is thick and yellowish but once you get the scab off the bumble should come out pretty easy it will leave a hole so you'll probably want to either continue using the colorless iodine or veterycin and wrap if hole is large. Does the area look swollen and is there alot of heat in her foot or ankle or leg? If you can keep her feet fairly clean then I wouldn't separate it cause such stress for them. If you had to separate then I would let her have at least one buddy.

Miss Lydia said:

That looks pretty bad is it a scab? if it is keep soaking till you can peel it off real easy the bumble won't be runny like in humans it is thick and yellowish but once you get the scab off the bumble should come out pretty easy it will leave a hole so you'll probably want to either continue using the colorless iodine or veterycin and wrap if hole is large. Does the area look swollen and is there alot of heat in her foot or ankle or leg? If you can keep her feet fairly clean then I wouldn't separate it cause such stress for them. If you had to separate then I would let her have at least one buddy.

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It feels soft so I don't think it's a scab. It is swollen and didn't feel hot this morning. She is in a smaller area now to keep her off her feet. She is with the flock now and is happier with them. Both her feet look like the picture. She will get soaked again soon and more spray on her. I don't have any iodine and closest walmart is 45 minutes away. I'm going to check with local pharmacy in the morning.

duckymama2 said:

It feels soft so I don't think it's a scab. It is swollen and didn't feel hot this morning. She is in a smaller area now to keep her off her feet. She is with the flock now and is happier with them. Both her feet look like the picture. She will get soaked again soon and more spray on her. I don't have any iodine and closest walmart is 45 minutes away. I'm going to check with local pharmacy in the morning.

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I really like Veterycin and always have it on hand but I haven't used it for bumble I'd think once you get the bumble out the Veterycin would work better for healing but I do know the colorless iodine works I have used it 2X on 2 different hens. Never have had bumble in one of my ducks thankfully. I'm not saying Veterycin won't heal it because i strongly beleive it's a great product just can't say for sure since I haven't used it from BF ask for the colorless iodine sometimes they keep it behind the counter.

Miss Lydia said:

I really like Veterycin and always have it on hand but I haven't used it for bumble I'd think once you get the bumble out the Veterycin would work better for healing but I do know the colorless iodine works I have used it 2X on 2 different hens. Never have had bumble in one of my ducks thankfully. I'm not saying Veterycin won't heal it because i strongly beleive it's a great product just can't say for sure since I haven't used it from BF ask for the colorless iodine sometimes they keep it behind the counter.

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I am really hoping that my pharmacy has the colorless iodine. Just soaked her and changed her bandage. After her soaking the foot in the picture was bleeding a little. This time I put some neosporin on it too. She does have a bump on each wing. I really think my male is mating to much with all three of my females. Elsa (she has the bf) and Wallace (the male) are inseparable. They have been together since babies and never separated. I think Wallace stands on top of her and hurt her wings. Is the black part suppose to be hard like a scab and is bleeding normal?

duckymama2 said:

I am really hoping that my pharmacy has the colorless iodine. Just soaked her and changed her bandage. After her soaking the foot in the picture was bleeding a little. This time I put some neosporin on it too. She does have a bump on each wing. I really think my male is mating to much with all three of my females. Elsa (she has the bf) and Wallace (the male) are inseparable. They have been together since babies and never separated. I think Wallace stands on top of her and hurt her wings. Is the black part suppose to be hard like a scab and is bleeding normal?

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If you think Wallace is over mating her or any of your ducks he should have some time out to give the girls a break it can be in separate enclosure but right beside each other so they can all see but Wallace can't get to your girls especially Elsa while she is recovering and yes the drakes can cause sores and feathers to be scraped off pulled out because of over mating. I don't think some bleeding with BF would be anything to worry about maybe the scab or flesh got pulled up a little The scab will be hard and ES soaks should soften it up enough that eventually you will be able to pull the scab off and get to the bumble.Just keep on with what your doing and hopefully you can get the colorless iodine and add that to your med chest.and use it with this BF
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/807777/bumblefoot-new-ideas-on-treatment-with-pictures
Here is where I first read about the colorless iodine and using it for BF

duckymama2 said:

My Pekin has bumble foot on both feet. Our ducks have never had this before so we need some help. I bought some vetericyn, sprayed and wrapped her feet after I soaked then with Epsom salt. She is in a confined area to keep her from walking and getting wet. I was told to giver her some Oxytetracycline hci in her water. Is this safe? Tonight I was going to coop her up with our other 3 as she is having a hard time being separated and so are the others. If she can have the Oxytetracycline will it hurt the other 3 if they don't have symptoms? Any other suggestions? Her feet look pretty bad to me but like I said I never had to deal with this before. Thanks in advance!

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One of my ducks had bumble foot, and after I put her back in with her companions, and still had to give her Oxytetracycline, I had the same concerns as you did. My husband came up with a brilliant idea. In a small bowl, mix 1/8 teaspoon of the Oxy with 1/4 cup of water, add dried mealworms to it. Feed the bowl to the injured duck, while tossing mealworms to the others. It worked great for us!!