bumble foot, runner foot problem-anyone else?

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

I noticed my fawn and white indian runner has been slow and a little gimpy, she also stands favoring one foot. I picked her up and examined her feet and there are these big black calluses on her joints and on the base of her extra toe the callus has grown sideways and seems to be spur-like and is also blackish. They don't appear to be bleeding, but they look like they could go that route if they get bigger and dry out more. This problem has been observable for about a week and a half. She is 25 weeks old.

I have pea gravel in the yard and hay/wood shavings under and inside their coop. I wet down the pea gravel/sand on hot days so the heat factor can't be that bad-especially since the other ducks don't have this problem. I have 5 ducks and a goose and the fawn/white runner is the only one with the foot problem.

I am concerned it will affect her ability to get extra tidbits and food since she is so slow now, and I don't want her in pain. I read in Holderread's book that it could be vitamin deficiency or rough ground. They all eat the same thing (2/3 layer pellets, 1/3 scratch) and walk on the same ground. Has anybody had similar issues with their ducks?

 

[DuckLover179]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=566625

Yup...

 

[Amiga]

I have had a number of bumblefoot cases - most of them last year.

What I have done and it seems to work:

Two or three times a day, depending on severity of bumble (in your case, I'd start with 3X a day), rinse the foot off with a few drops of povidone iodine (example: Betadine), then slather with triple antibiotic ointment. You might try to wrap the foot overnight, but the catch is, you don't want to hobble the duck so the wrapping needs to fit more like a shoe - the toes need to be spread normally and all that. And the duck may just rip the bandage off anyway. But I have been able to successfully wrap a foot at least the first two or three times, and at night (when they won't be going into water), just to get a jump on the infection.

After the duck stops limping (which I reckon means it's getting better and has only taken a couple of days for me so far), I switch to twice a day slather with ointment, no bandage. It's greasy enough that it stays on for a while.

I want to avoid cutting open the foot, because they're walking all over the poopy ground, and that would just invite more and possibly worse infection.

Other things that could help accelerate healing are to give the duck a chance to swim in warm water for a while before the antibiotic ointment, and giving extra vitamins/electrolytes/probiotics to boost the immune system.

Bumblefoot just happens sometimes, as (if I recall correctly) it's caused by a common bacterium - Staphylococcus aureus - and it just needs an abrasion or cut to start. The fewer rough surfaces the duck walks on the better, but I don't see how someone could keep a duck from ever getting a minor cut or major scrape on their foot.