Duck Addicts Anonymous (DAA)

[Isadora]

I guess today is the day of lame ducks! I have Lily soaking in the tub now.
Looks like she has a few bumbles. And one of my runners, Sassafras, can't walk properly this morning so she's next on the exam table.

 

[KaleIAm]

@HeatherKellyB @Quatie Speaking of Pekins with limps, after suffering through like a 9 month bout of bumblefoot and trying to get the scab to go away, the day it disappeared completely, my pekin Penny hurt her leg and stopped walking. Well, she uses her wings to gain balance and limps around a few steps at a time, but it's been two months now and she's not getting better. When she comes out of the coop in the morning I pick her up and place her by the food and water. She moves around a tiny bit in the run, but mostly sits. I carry her out to the pond to swim a couple times a day, then put her in a little corner in the tractor - she has to be fenced off from the other ducks because she gets picked on by my younger ducklings and then she tries to get away and I'm worried she'll hurt herself more. She still eats and enjoys swimming, and doesn't seem unhappy (how do I know?), but her quality of life is definitely not super great, and I have no idea what sort of pain she's in when she tries to walk. How long do I keep going this way with her? I just don't know...she has other issues too - she's always had strange scabs on her body, since she was young, and I can feel them whenever I carry her around, sometimes they stick out on her neck. I don't think it's anything that hurts her, it's just odd. I've thought about euthanizing her, but just don't know when the time is right. She's sweet and I do love her, but don't want her to suffer.

Cori, I'm so sorry to hear about Penny. I understand how hard it is. Quality of life has been a priority for me with my ducks as well, but of course I don't want to let them go too soon either.

With Thimbleberry I spoke with her vets a lot about pain. They told me that ducks get puffy, and pull in their necks when in pain. Kind of like they do when cold. Another vet told me that lots of slow blinking, like wincing, can indicate pain. When Thimbleberry stopped eating one evening I made my choice and euthanized her the next morning at the vet.

You could try pain meds, too. It really helped Thimbleberry.

Either way you go Penny has had a wonderful life with you.

It's like we are doomed with our pekins from the start. We just love them and do our best.

 

[Isadora]

It's like we are doomed with our pekins from the start. We just love them and do our best.

Reading a lot of the stories on here about people struggling with pekins and now experiencing some problems with my own, I'm seriously consider switching over to Muscovy for my meat source. I originally got my pekins from a friend who was moving and didn't want them, but I read up that they were a good meat breed so I decided to keep a small flock and then incubate their eggs to process. But if keeping my original flock is going to be this difficult, maybe Muscovy would be a better choice.

 

[Isadora]

Okay, here is Lily's foot. The middle toe is swollen and warm to the touch. She has a bumble on the other toe, but I'm more concerned about that middle toe. No scab on it, as far as I can see. Is it possible it's broken or something? She can walk, But with a heavy limp.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

@CoriM like Kale brought up, anti inflammatory meds and/or pain meds might help Penny enjoy life a little more. It's definitely something to think about One thing to keep in mind is if she's got an ongoing injury, the meds might masks it to the point of her overdoing it and making her injury worse. I learned this the hard way with Honey Boo Boo


@Isadora I understand where you're coming from but some people don't experience so many issues. Obviously you're tending to bumblefoot now, but maybe all of them won't have problems, at least we can hope for that. My little Buff Duck has had bumblefoot too, but the heavyweights are more prone. I didn't know that Muscovy was a dual purpose breed. Thank you for that tidbit. I've read about some massive Muscovy.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Okay, here is Lily's foot. The middle toe is swollen and warm to the touch. She has a bumble on the other toe, but I'm more concerned about that middle toe. No scab on it, as far as I can see. Is it possible it's broken or something? She can walk, But with a heavy limp.
View attachment 2913207View attachment 2913208

Poor baby. That looks painful. Do you feel any crunching if you manipulate that toe? That's a tough call but if she was my duck, I'd probably look into getting x-rays on that toe/foot. If that's not an option, I'd have to do a lot of thinking. Any chance you can share a picture of the bottom of that foot? The other foot would be the usual bumblefoot treatment, if she belonged to me

 

[Isadora]

Poor baby. That looks painful. Do you feel any crunching if you manipulate that toe? That's a tough call but if she was my duck, I'd probably look into getting x-rays on that toe/foot. If that's not an option, I'd have to do a lot of thinking. Any chance you can share a picture of the bottom of that foot? The other foot would be the usual bumblefoot treatment, if she belonged to me

It does look painful, poor thing. I did bend it gently and didn't hear anything. All ducks medical care is on me, unfortunately.
The pictures I shared are of the same foot.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

In between the obvious bumblefoot on the outside digit and the middle digit, do you see or can you feel any type of abrasion or small scab that isn't visible? Her foot pad looks like bumblefoot is starting too. Probably from the way she's walking and carrying herself. This is why Honey Boo Boo still has to have her foot wrapped a year after she finally recovered. Her limp causes her foot pad to lightly drag, which results in an abrasion and the dreaded BF cycle begins

 

[Isadora]

In between the obvious bumblefoot on the outside digit and the middle digit, do you see or can you feel any type of abrasion or small scab that isn't visible? Her foot pad looks like bumblefoot is starting too. Probably from the way she's walking and carrying herself. This is why Honey Boo Boo still has to have her foot wrapped a year after she finally recovered. Her limp causes her foot pad to lightly drag, which results in an abrasion and the dreaded BF cycle begins

I don't feel anything, but there has to be something, right? I mean it wouldn't get infected for no reason.
This makes me so sad.

 

[CoriM]

I guess today is the day of lame ducks! I have Lily soaking in the tub now.
Looks like she has a few bumbles. And one of my runners, Sassafras, can't walk properly this morning so she's next on the exam table.

Cori, I'm so sorry to hear about Penny. I understand how hard it is. Quality of life has been a priority for me with my ducks as well, but of course I don't want to let them go too soon either.

With Thimbleberry I spoke with her vets a lot about pain. They told me that ducks get puffy, and pull in their necks when in pain. Kind of like they do when cold. Another vet told me that lots of slow blinking, like wincing, can indicate pain. When Thimbleberry stopped eating one evening I made my choice and euthanized her the next morning at the vet.

You could try pain meds, too. It really helped Thimbleberry.

Either way you go Penny has had a wonderful life with you.

It's like we are doomed with our pekins from the start. We just love them and do our best.

Thanks @KaleIAm , that's helpful to know about those signs to look for. I do have some baby aspirin that I gave her at one time when she had bumblefoot. Two things I worry about - masking the pain so she walks more and makes it worse, and also, how long could I potentially give it to her without hurting her. But if I feel like she may not last much longer, maybe I should give it to her just so she's more comfortable? It does make me sad to see her lying off by herself while the rest of the ducks are having fun. Thanks for your kind words. I feel like I've put tons of time and effort into Penny during her short 2.5 year lifespan. She started out as not my favorite duck, but I've grown pretty attached to her after all we've been through with her medical care. I agree, it feels like we're doomed from the start with Pekins. If only I had known....