Some of our muscovy ducks have bumblefoot. All remedies I've read for that requires capturing the ducks at least twice a day, for many days. Now, our ducks hate being touched, and if we manage to catch one of them once, it'll be a lot more hard to catch it later the same day... Not to mention catching it the next day... Not to mentioning doing the same to two of them.
My point is, any treatment that requires repeated and frequent catching are simply not worth it. It's too stressful for the ducks, too time-consuming, and frankly, I'm afraid that all the wild attempts at escape by the ducks will harm them. All that twisting, flapping and kicking, and possible dropping on the ground, two times a day... One duck is bound to at least strain something.
So my question is if I can:
1) Simply ignore the bumblefoot, and hope that the scovies live happy lives with it?
2) Cure it with a one-time treatment? I'm sceptical towards amateur surgery, it's bound to be terribly painful and probably infected.
Or is my only ethical option to kill them?
My point is, any treatment that requires repeated and frequent catching are simply not worth it. It's too stressful for the ducks, too time-consuming, and frankly, I'm afraid that all the wild attempts at escape by the ducks will harm them. All that twisting, flapping and kicking, and possible dropping on the ground, two times a day... One duck is bound to at least strain something.
So my question is if I can:
1) Simply ignore the bumblefoot, and hope that the scovies live happy lives with it?
2) Cure it with a one-time treatment? I'm sceptical towards amateur surgery, it's bound to be terribly painful and probably infected.
Or is my only ethical option to kill them?