Antibiotics at Tractor Supply?

[Quatie]

Thank you. I actually got the ducks for my mom (for me to take care of/her to enjoy) — she was pretty depressed last year and in poor health, so I thought having them around would cheer her up because she'd always wanted some. They did, though she didn't get to see them that much because of her limited mobility and because of where I had to keep them until I had a permanent place for them. We finally got their pen built right after she died, and I hated that she didn't get to them in it. That's great about your husband! They are definitely lovable.

If the pocket of fluid is still partially there, but she's not limping, do you think it would be okay to put her back outside and just keep an eye on things? She will be with two drakes, but she has plenty of hiding places to get away from them, and there are other hens, so she won't be the single focus. And she is not afraid to tell them to back off. She was pretty high on the pecking order before, so I'm not sure how that will go.

I feel so bad leaving my porch drake solo again because he's loved having her company, but I also feel bad for my girls who are with the two drakes outside! Boys are more trouble than they're worth sometimes. Haha. Anyway - one other little bit of good news - Junie is laying again. She'd stopped for a couple of days, and I thought she'd stopped for over a week, but I actually found she'd made her own little nest behind my recliner on the porch. I never even look back there. She was actually sitting on them when I went to get her this evening for her medication, and I thought great, all I need is for you to be broody now!

That was really sweet of you. That is such a wonderful thing to do for your mother.

If she is walking fairly normal, I would consider putting her back with everyone. It is always hard to determine what the best way to go is. I personally would try it, but there is always a chance it could get worse again. If she is possibly starting to go broody, changing her area may also break her of her broodiness. It really just depends on the duck. My Saxony are super, super, super broody. They go broody for like a month even when I kick them out of the coop and destroy their nest every morning. Others will give it up after a day or two of doing this.

That it is hard for your drake. You mentioned putting him with the girls and separating the other two out. Are you still going to try that? Some people also set up two flocks and rotate who is with who.

 

[SeaSea47]

That was really sweet of you. That is such a wonderful thing to do for your mother.

If she is walking fairly normal, I would consider putting her back with everyone. It is always hard to determine what the best way to go is. I personally would try it, but there is always a chance it could get worse again. If she is possibly starting to go broody, changing her area may also break her of her broodiness. It really just depends on the duck. My Saxony are super, super, super broody. They go broody for like a month even when I kick them out of the coop and destroy their nest every morning. Others will give it up after a day or two of doing this.

That it is hard for your drake. You mentioned putting him with the girls and separating the other two out. Are you still going to try that? Some people also set up two flocks and rotate who is with who.

So, I did a good inspection of her foot today, and the infection seems to be gone. There is no warmth to it anymore. I'm back to thinking maybe I should just poke the bubble with a sterile syringe and see if it drains. At this point, I think it's just bugging her, not necessarily painful. If I did, I'd try to wrap it afterward and keep her in a big clean dog crate for a day or two with minimal water. And keep her on the antibiotics for an extra day maybe?

She's definitely not broody! I've yet to have a duck do it, but I have a little Austrolorp chicken who I have to work with for a month at a time too. I do plan to put my little porch guy with the girls and separate my other boys, but I'm still working on a separate little pen for them. It'll probably be a few more weeks before I can finish it. And after a raccoon managed to get in with my rooster last week, I want to make sure it's 100% secure.

 

[Quatie]

So, I did a good inspection of her foot today, and the infection seems to be gone. There is no warmth to it anymore. I'm back to thinking maybe I should just poke the bubble with a sterile syringe and see if it drains. At this point, I think it's just bugging her, not necessarily painful. If I did, I'd try to wrap it afterward and keep her in a big clean dog crate for a day or two with minimal water. And keep her on the antibiotics for an extra day maybe?

She's definitely not broody! I've yet to have a duck do it, but I have a little Austrolorp chicken who I have to work with for a month at a time too. I do plan to put my little porch guy with the girls and separate my other boys, but I'm still working on a separate little pen for them. It'll probably be a few more weeks before I can finish it. And after a raccoon managed to get in with my rooster last week, I want to make sure it's 100% secure.

So I wouldn't keep treating with antibiotics after the length of time is up. With sterile needle and how small of a hole it will create, if you coat it with bacatracin or triple antibiotic ointment and wrap it to keep it clean, it will likely be fine.

There is also a possibility she has grown new tissue on her foot around the swollen area. I have a couple spots like that on my Pekin from when she had bumblefoot.

Hopefully that be pen will work out for you and make things better in your flock.

 

[SeaSea47]

So I wouldn't keep treating with antibiotics after the length of time is up. With sterile needle and how small of a hole it will create, if you coat it with bacatracin or triple antibiotic ointment and wrap it to keep it clean, it will likely be fine.

There is also a possibility she has grown new tissue on her foot around the swollen area. I have a couple spots like that on my Pekin from when she had bumblefoot.

Hopefully that be pen will work out for you and make things better in your flock.

I'll take a closer look at it tomorrow - I had no time today and I was up all night last night with a sick dog (I've had my share of needy animals lately!), so I don't feel like I'm steady enough to do anything like that with no sleep anyway. I did think about trying the drawing salve again before I stuck a needle in, but I don't want to do it too long after finishing the antibiotics, which tomorrow is her last day. She's also really bad about removing bandages I learned after trying to wrap it up a couple of times. I was reading about a similar issue in another thread here, and someone's vet told them to put their duck back outside and see if it kind of wore down with more movement since there is no open wound. I just don't want to make it worse than it is, but I'm afraid if I do nothing, it'll get back to being as bad as it was. I will just have to see what tomorrow brings.

 

[Quatie]

I'll take a closer look at it tomorrow - I had no time today and I was up all night last night with a sick dog (I've had my share of needy animals lately!), so I don't feel like I'm steady enough to do anything like that with no sleep anyway. I did think about trying the drawing salve again before I stuck a needle in, but I don't want to do it too long after finishing the antibiotics, which tomorrow is her last day. She's also really bad about removing bandages I learned after trying to wrap it up a couple of times. I was reading about a similar issue in another thread here, and someone's vet told them to put their duck back outside and see if it kind of wore down with more movement since there is no open wound. I just don't want to make it worse than it is, but I'm afraid if I do nothing, it'll get back to being as bad as it was. I will just have to see what tomorrow brings.

Sorry to hear about your dog. When it rains, it pours. Hopefully things will start looking better.

It is hard to say what will happen. Most likely she will be just fine if you put her back with the flock. But you can always play it safe and keep her with your other drake for a little bit longer. It makes him happy, so she can keep him company longer and gives her a few more days to heal. And it can give you some more time to have less on your plate before reintegrating her.

 

[addctd2plnts]

So, I did a good inspection of her foot today, and the infection seems to be gone. There is no warmth to it anymore. I'm back to thinking maybe I should just poke the bubble with a sterile syringe and see if it drains. At this point, I think it's just bugging her, not necessarily painful. If I did, I'd try to wrap it afterward and keep her in a big clean dog crate for a day or two with minimal water. And keep her on the antibiotics for an extra day maybe?

She's definitely not broody! I've yet to have a duck do it, but I have a little Austrolorp chicken who I have to work with for a month at a time too. I do plan to put my little porch guy with the girls and separate my other boys, but I'm still working on a separate little pen for them. It'll probably be a few more weeks before I can finish it. And after a raccoon managed to get in with my rooster last week, I want to make sure it's 100% secure.

As a human doctor who deals with foot infections daily, and somebody who worked for vets for 8 years, I'd discourage you from lancing or sticking a needle into the foot now. Here's the reason. You've said she is getting better. When you use blade or needle, you will be causing an opening that then can get infected and you are likely to move that bacteria into the areas that are very hard to treat. Since it's on the mend, there's no need to drain anything. Now, if it wasn't getting better, that indicates an abscess and any pus in an abscess does need to be drained. But once you mess invasively with it, you can end up introducing bacteria into a joint or tendon sheath or a joint. If infection gets into the bone, there's nothing that can be done for the duck to cure it (In humans we do 6 weeks of IV antibiotics through a central line). Ducks are impossible to keep out of water and poop and getting an area wet that you've just created a hole in, is a recipe for disaster. It's just a bad idea, UNLESS the duck is not getting better and we know there's a pus pocket.

Not all redness is infection. Tendonitis and gout are also common in ducks, especially Pekins. Both will cause redness and pain. Both will cause limping. I've seen good human doctors mistake both gout and tendonitis for infections many times. From your history and improvement, especially since it's during breeding season. I'm leaning towards saying it may just have been a tendonitis. Warm soaks will help resolve tendonitis so there's no definitive way to say. The antibiotics won't hurt, so they are worth giving. And they are good to have around, since you'll need them at some point anyway.

 

[SeaSea47]

As a human doctor who deals with foot infections daily, and somebody who worked for vets for 8 years, I'd discourage you from lancing or sticking a needle into the foot now. Here's the reason. You've said she is getting better. When you use blade or needle, you will be causing an opening that then can get infected and you are likely to move that bacteria into the areas that are very hard to treat. Since it's on the mend, there's no need to drain anything. Now, if it wasn't getting better, that indicates an abscess and any pus in an abscess does need to be drained. But once you mess invasively with it, you can end up introducing bacteria into a joint or tendon sheath or a joint. If infection gets into the bone, there's nothing that can be done for the duck to cure it (In humans we do 6 weeks of IV antibiotics through a central line). Ducks are impossible to keep out of water and poop and getting an area wet that you've just created a hole in, is a recipe for disaster. It's just a bad idea, UNLESS the duck is not getting better and we know there's a pus pocket.

Not all redness is infection. Tendonitis and gout are also common in ducks, especially Pekins. Both will cause redness and pain. Both will cause limping. I've seen good human doctors mistake both gout and tendonitis for infections many times. From your history and improvement, especially since it's during breeding season. I'm leaning towards saying it may just have been a tendonitis. Warm soaks will help resolve tendonitis so there's no definitive way to say. The antibiotics won't hurt, so they are worth giving. And they are good to have around, since you'll need them at some point anyway.

Thanks for your input. I was literally sitting here debating whether to drain it when I saw your post! I guess I will hold off and see how she continues to do naturally because I really don't want to do anything invasive. Today is her last day on antibiotics, and it's not fully healed. I was doing warm soaks for a couple of weeks, but I've stopped those because I felt like they weren't helping. She still has a slight limp but it has improved, and it's much better than it was when she first got injured/infected, and it's no longer warm to the touch as it was.

 

[SeaSea47]

Sorry to hear about your dog. When it rains, it pours. Hopefully things will start looking better.

It is hard to say what will happen. Most likely she will be just fine if you put her back with the flock. But you can always play it safe and keep her with your other drake for a little bit longer. It makes him happy, so she can keep him company longer and gives her a few more days to heal. And it can give you some more time to have less on your plate before reintegrating her.

I'm gonna get her antibiotics finished up today and probably leave her inside until at least next week, just to give poor little Franklin some extra days of company. I decided again not to drain it (and @addctd2plnts just confirmed my decision) and just see if it goes away now the infection is hopefully gone. Keeping her inside another few days will help me monitor it better too because catching her outside is not easy. She's to the point now where she'll run from me a little on the porch, but she goes to the corner where I catch her and just stands, knowing it's inevitable. I may also do some more soaks on it every other day or something like that.

 

[SeaSea47]

To anyone interested, I took a couple more pictures this morning. It’s totally soft, but you can see it’s still there.

 

[SeaSea47]

Sorry to hear about your dog. When it rains, it pours. Hopefully things will start looking better.

It is hard to say what will happen. Most likely she will be just fine if you put her back with the flock. But you can always play it safe and keep her with your other drake for a little bit longer. It makes him happy, so she can keep him company longer and gives her a few more days to heal. And it can give you some more time to have less on your plate before reintegrating her.

Well, she is definitely broody. She spent half the day building a nest and has only moved from it to eat and bathe when I changed her water, and she was quite sassy when she did. Though she did run over to her corner where I pick her up like she thought I was coming out for meds, which we wrapped up yesterday. I’m gonna let her be for tonight so she’ll rest her foot some, but I’m gonna have to take those eggs tomorrow. I figure if she is feeling well enough to do that she has to do he feeling pretty good?