I have a young drake and I noticed him limping and lifting his leg today. He is putting most of his weight on the other leg. He still looks very healthy, is eating fine and is behaving normally other than the limp. We caught him to have a look and couldn't feel any broken bones or anything, and the only thing we could see was this rectangle brown spot on the top of his foot. It looks like a healed scab of sorts as a small bit flaked off and underneath it looks healed. I never noticed an open wound and I visit the ducks 2+ times a day. Could it be an infection or parasite of sorts? If you have any idea of what this might be please let me know. I will monitor him for another 24 hours then look for a vet if it doesn't start to improve. Thanks in advance for your help.
well I don't think it's bumble foot "yet" so I'd soak his foot in some warm Epsom salt water[ don't let him drink it, it also works as a laxative] after soaking dry really well and if you can get it, most CVS and Walmart carry it as do other pharmacies Colorless iodine great stuff to bring any infection to the surface and with this wound I'd say you can get it under control pretty quick. just use a qtip and spread the C iodine all over let it dry real good before putting him down. keep an eye on it over the next couple days and if need be soak again in 2-3 days and use the C iodine again. But your right there so if you feel a vet is a better choice then by all means go. If you don't know what bumble foot is there's lots of info on line and here on BYC if you type it in the search box at top of page. but it boils down to infection. Please let us know what you decide and how he is doing.
My guess is that is an injury, it could have introduced some infection in the leg. Is the area warmer than the other foot, any swelling? We have a bit of a mystery leg problem here, too, so I sympathize.
