Drake lost webbing on half of one foot

[KittyIsQuackers]

My mallard drake was limping when I came out this morning to check on them, and when I called my Dad out to come check on him, we were able to get a picture. It froze last night, but I had them all in the coop, and I had fluffy straw in there. None of the other birds are hurt, or seen overly cautious like they usually are after an attack. Was it frostbite? This is my least tame duck, so it’s gonna be hard to catch him every time I have to do something. He’s gonna run, so I don‘t want to hurt him further. None of my other birds are aggressive, nothing any worse than a nip because a bird got to the food sooner than a bird higher up in the flock.
Do any of you know what happened? Is there anything I need to do to help him? Is there any way I can prevent this in the future? I have a human first aid kit, some brewer’s yeast, chick nutrition packets, and various other items throughout the house.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Do they have a natural pond?

Maybe a snapping turtle?

 

[KittyIsQuackers]

Do they have a natural pond?

Maybe a snapping turtle?

We don‘t have a natural pond, but we do have a stream small enough that I can jump over it, but big enough that they can swim comfortably. We don‘t usually have snapping turtles, but a few months ago I had to move a baby that we thought was a snapping turtle. And about a week ago, my dad saw one near a neighbors pond, which is about a hundred yards from here.

 

[PirateGirl]

Frostbite kinda dries out and shrivels the edges of the webbing slowly working its way inward. If he had major damage overnight I would suspect injury. You could try cleaning the wound and wrapping his foot to prevent infection, but beyond that I don’t know that there is much you can do.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I have a duck missing webbing between 2 toes. She was attacked by a raccoon at her previous home. Is your pen made with chicken wire? If so, raccoons can reach threw it.

 

[chickenmama929]

I am sooooo sorry for your drake. I do not know anything about that.

 

[KittyIsQuackers]

Here are some closeups of his foot

 

[KittyIsQuackers]

I have a duck missing webbing between 2 toes. She was attacked by a raccoon at her previous home. Is your pen made with chicken wire? If so, raccoons can reach threw it.

The coop is made of wood, and most of the air-flow holes are much to high for a raccoon to be able to grab onto any bird, but there are thin stripes on the sides near the floor. Theres a run around the coop that isn't raccoon-proofed, but would be an annoyance to get into. The duck food tub is in the run, so a raccoon would go for that first, right? There's even a bit missing from the lid, so the smell would be stronger than it would be otherwise.

Frostbite kinda dries out and shrivels the edges of the webbing slowly working its way inward. If he had major damage overnight I would suspect injury. You could try cleaning the wound and wrapping his foot to prevent infection, but beyond that I don’t know that there is much you can do.

Do you know how I could wrap his foot? Would I wrap the whole foot in one bandage? Or would I have to do something special so he can be able to walk? Do you have a link on how to wrap it properly?

 

[Isaac 0]

I would lean towards it being caused by a predator, possibly a snapping turtle. As far as to keep it from getting infected, I would first clean the foot well, slather an antibacterial ointment overtop, and bandage the foot. I'll provide a link below on how to wrap a ducks foot. The damage doesn't look too bad, so he should only really need the bandaging on for a few days/week. Be on the lookout for predators because they will be back.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wrapping-feet.1255043/

 

[KittyIsQuackers]

I would lean towards it being caused by a predator, possibly a snapping turtle. As far as to keep it from getting infected, I would first clean the foot well, slather an antibacterial ointment overtop, and bandage the foot. I'll provide a link below on how to wrap a ducks foot. The damage doesn't look too bad, so he should only really need the bandaging on for a few days/week. Be on the lookout for predators because they will be back.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wrapping-feet.1255043/

Thank you! I don't have those kinds of bandages, so I'm going to go into town and wrap his foot when I get back. A commenter on the post said they used a baby sock and then bandages, so I'm also going to see if I can get a pair just in case I have trouble with the layering of bandages.