Advice Please: Is This Bumblefoot?

[NEgoosegirl]

Hi All!

I discovered the other day that my 4 1/2 yr. old gander has funny "callouses" on the bottoms of his longest toes, under the claw. (They sort of bulge forward and make his toe look funny from above.) The claw looks normal; I didn't happen to notice any abnormal heat; he's not limping. Just wondering what opinions you might have as to whether this is bumblefoot, Sebbie callouses (I've heard they get something wierd that looks like bumblefoot, but isn't.), frostbite?? Or something else.... The only thing close to similar that I've seen before is callouses on my goose's feet before they were a year old and were living on straw bedding. Her callouses dissapeared once they got out on grass permanently. Unfortunately, I didn't take pics of hers at the time, and don't remember what they looked like. But I was using more straw this year in the goose shed than usual. So maybe it's that? Here are a couple of photos:

What I'm most concerned about is that the skin around the brownish crack is white -- not orange or pink. Does that mean loss of blood supply? It seriously looks like I could clip it with fingernail clippers and not hurt him.

Thanks for looking!

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

@Eggcessive @casportpony @sourland
I can’t really tell. Mind if you get some more pics?

 

[Eggcessive]

My guess is slight frostbite, especially since one toe tip is discolored. @Miss Lydia is more familiar with ducks than I am. You can apply aloe vera to affected areas. Here is a link about frostbite to read:
http://www.duckdvm.com/condition/frostbite

 

[Miss Lydia]

That looks like a scab on the end of toe, better pics would be good. A good soak in some warm water with Epsom salt mixed in can help make it feel better.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Looks like very minor frostbite to me warm Epsom salt soaks never hurt

 

[NEgoosegirl]

Thanks so much everyone! I really appreciate it! Maybe I'll try the epsom salts -- if he'll hold still!!

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Thanks so much everyone! I really appreciate it! Maybe I'll try the epsom salts -- if he'll hold still!!

 

[NEgoosegirl]

Thanks for the article on frostbite, @Eggcessive! I'll definitely read that!

 

[NEgoosegirl]

Hi everyone,

Thanks again for your help! I tried the epsom salt bath, and he held still for a few minutes. I didn't manage to get much better pics of the toe tips, but when I looked at his feet, I found that he had other things going on. They look like frostbite to me? I was reading another thread on here, and realized that I had been doing a bad thing leaving the goose water bucket low enough for him to climb into. Some of those frigid days we had in Jan. probably got to his feet. The water bucket is higher now. Problem fixed. (Hopefully.) Here are a couple of new photos:

This is his left foot -- toe & black-edged notch. This toe is the worst. It feels so much like the outer skin of a wart, or the tough skin on a human's toe -- like I could clip it off.

There's a bunch of dirt going on in this one (I had my dad take it before the foot bath.) but you can see a couple of black scabs inside the ring. He has the same thing on the other foot. They didn't soften up much in the bath (He didn't hold still that long....), but I picked off a tiny piece of one, and it seemed like sound skin underneath. Also seemed like he's starting to get a rough callous on the pad of his foot next to those scabs. Oh, and he didn't flinch or act like I was hurting him at all, even though I gently picked at his scabs and his toe. He's still not limping either.

I did buy some antibiotic ointment today. If I put it on, will I need to bandage it? I'm a little bit concerned about him/them ingesting some of it if I don't. But I haven't any idea how to come up with a bandage that would actually stay!

Thanks in advance for any advice!