ACK! More bumblefoot

[DucksOhio]

I noticed one of khaki girls limping slightly, and got her into the house for examination.

She has a VERY small infection, very early stage.

Question: I also am treating a post-surgery girl with bumblefoot, so I have a couple of recent antibiotics on hand:
Baytril liquid
Fortaz injectable

I know the baytril is fairly safe and is often used for bumblefoot if not too advanced, but it's hard to get down the throat easily. Fortaz is guess is another broad-spectrum antibiotic, but my vet prescribed that AFTER surgery, and I'm not finding information that that is effective for bumblefoot.

Should I try Baytril first?

My plan is to keep her in the barn with the other recovering duck, and apply Vetricyn to the affected foot and bandage it with vet tape.

I just spent over $2K on duck vet bills in the last 2 months, and I really need to try to avoid more financial ruin.

Thanks in advance for your advice!!

 

[CoriM]

Oh wow, I feel your pain! I too have spent over a grand at the vet over the last 9 months for ducks. I never expected I would have to take them to the vet - everything I read said they were oh so hardy. How do you obtain the antibiotics? My vet will only give them with an appointment. I also have a few ducks in various stages of bumblefoot and am returning to the vet tomorrow for a duck that needs a second doxycycline injection. The first one has taken no effect and I'm sure the doc is going to push me to x-ray and give me some other option that doesn't help and I'm just done spending money there. Sorry, I've hijacked your post with my own bumblefoot rant! I look forward to seeing what you find that works for you.

 

[DucksOhio]

Oh wow, I feel your pain! I too have spent over a grand at the vet over the last 9 months for ducks. I never expected I would have to take them to the vet - everything I read said they were oh so hardy. How do you obtain the antibiotics? My vet will only give them with an appointment. I also have a few ducks in various stages of bumblefoot and am returning to the vet tomorrow for a duck that needs a second doxycycline injection. The first one has taken no effect and I'm sure the doc is going to push me to x-ray and give me some other option that doesn't help and I'm just done spending money there. Sorry, I've hijacked your post with my own bumblefoot rant! I look forward to seeing what you find that works for you.

I got both antibiotics from the vet...they are less than a month old, so I know they're safe. I only recently heard of doxycycline in injections for ducks, probably from you.

I think if I were you, I'd pass on the Xray, as all that is going to show is if the infection has spread to bone. If it has, there is nothing to do about that. Did your vet do a culture? Takes about 10 days to come back, but it might be helpful in determining the correct medicine your duck needs.

 

[Ratchnick]

I just had 8 ducks with earily bimble (no core) and my vet said dont bother with antibiotics, just clean out the wound and apply neosporin original (not pain relief) now i have no ducks with bumble. Here Is a pucture of one of the worse ones.

 

[DucksOhio]

I just had 8 ducks with earily bimble (no core) and my vet said dont bother with antibiotics, just clean out the wound and apply neosporin original (not pain relief) now i have no ducks with bumble. Here Is a pucture of one of the worse ones.View attachment 2139634

Wow -- that one looks tough! Just regular neosporin? But did you clean out the wound by cutting? Did you bandage them or keep them contained?

Thanks!

 

[Ratchnick]

Dont forget neosporin has mild antibiotics in it! Supposidly pain relief Neosporin is toxic. Bandage with neosporin to sofen the foot, it works great! Then pick the scab off with good quality tweezers. Clean the wound with antiseptic, bandage again with neosporin. 3 days of that showed big improvement. I let them have a day off then did every other day for a few more days. They need to be on clean bedding during treatment.

 

[CoriM]

@Ratchnick Can you share your bandaging method and did you isolate your ducks - or how did you get "clean bedding"? I'm out in their house picking up poopy parts several times a day, but it gets dirty immediately as soon as I'm done.

 

[Ratchnick]

I had 8 of 14 with some sort of bumble, so i could not realy isolate. Nobody was limping though, and no signs of weekness. If you have one or two ducks you can isolate just to make things easier. The run does not need to be sparkling clean but i found that dirt was a problem. I covered the dirt in my run with a small pea gravel. Gravel Is great because you can hose it down. It Is not dusty at all, and its reusable, so you dont have to keep buying it like straw which is $17 a bale here.

Bandageing is certainly a skill you will need to develop. Half my bandages came off the first day. I used a 2x3 piece of gause. Lay it flat on the foot then tape one end around the ankel, the other corners fold up over the toes and get taped to the top. If i had one or two i might use vet wrap or something instead. Make sure they can spread their foot out entirely. I coveted the bamdage with a sandwich bag with the zipper cut off. A breathable bandage would be better but their claws poked holes in the plastic anyway.

 

[CoriM]

Got it - just wondering if I was on the right track. I also have half pea gravel which is amazing because I can easily hose the poop off several times a day. I also bandaged with a gauze pad, vet wrap, and a plastic sandwhich bag! Can be tricky depending on the duck