Duck bedding to prevent bumblefoot…tired of bumblefoot!

[HennyPenny44]

I’ve had 6 ducks for almost a year now and while I love them, they’re turning out to be way more work than I ever imagined they would be and more than my chickens ever were. I am dealing with tons of bumblefoot! I use pine shavings in the duck house and I've done pine needles and straw in the run but they turn it all into a muddy mess in no time plus the rain. So I opted recently for wood chips aged for over a year in the run though I don’t think it’s the best option for those delicate flippers.

For the last month, I’ve been treating one duck for bumblefoot. I did two surgeries on her and I’m waiting on an antibiotic to bring the swelling down. I need a separate cage for her in the duck house and the run which I manage. I have another duck who has a medium bumble on each foot. I just soaked her feet, tried to remove the scabs but got some blood so I bandaged her up with sugardine like the other one and put a zip lock bag around her feet so she could stay with the others. These ducks I’m pretty sure got the bumbles prior to the aged wood chips.

I did a check just now on the rest and two more ducks have a small bumble on each foot! That’s 4 out of 6 ducks now! Am I doing something wrong?

I give them their pool regularly but because there’s so much bumble going on and I don’t want their bandaging getting wet, I’ve cut that down. I simply don’t have the time to spend every day soaking them in Epsom salt, doing bumble foot surgery and bandaging webbed feet….or setting up and managing separate living quarters every day in the house and run. Please help!

 

[Mo_fawaazzz]

try dry sand or dirt.
I raise all my baby birds outside after day 3 (with a heat lamp at their coop that they can return to when needed). I either use dried leaves or dirt as bedding. Now my birds rarely ever get sick at all, nor do they have any health problems. Even my little turkey poults (which are known for being the weakest poultry species to care for) thrived after I put them outside.

Putting your chicks outside really boosts their immunity to diseases.

I find raising birds in brooders really hard to manage since they mess it up really quickly.

 

[HennyPenny44]

try dry sand or dirt.
I raise all my baby birds outside after day 3 (with a heat lamp at their coop that they can return to when needed). I either use dried leaves or dirt as bedding. Now my birds rarely ever get sick at all, nor do they have any health problems. Even my little turkey poults (which are known for being the weakest poultry species to care for) thrived after I put them outside.

Putting your chicks outside really boosts their immunity to diseases.

I find raising birds in brooders really hard to manage since they mess it up really quickly.

Thank you for the advice but these are grown ducks that have been living outside since they were ducklings and like I said, they turn everything into a muddy mess in no time as does the heavy rain we get so the leaves, pine needles and straw just gets incorporated into the mud. I have chickens for 5 years now and they’ve had zero bumblefoot with the same conditions.

 

[Mo_fawaazzz]

Thank you for the advice but these are grown ducks that have been living outside since they were ducklings and like I said, they turn everything into a muddy mess in no time as does the heavy rain we get so the leaves, pine needles and straw just gets incorporated into the mud. I have chickens for 5 years now and they’ve had zero bumblefoot with the same conditions.

do they stay in their pen 24/7 or do they free range too? Ducks are loyal free rangers and stick to their home territory. Maybe keep the pool and their water bowl away from their sleeping space.

 

[HennyPenny44]

do they stay in their pen 24/7 or do they free range too? Ducks are loyal free rangers and stick to their home territory. Maybe keep the pool and their water bowl away from their sleeping space.

I live in a predator heavy rural area. We’ve had fox and hawk casualties even when my birds were enclosed. So I have done supervised free range time and put the pool outside the run. They had no interest in the pool at all when they saw all that foraging space and were running all over my 6 acre non-fenced property. I was chasing them just to keep them from running off onto the road or the neighbors’ properties. They’re a very active breed (Welsh Harlequin). Their pool and water are in the run…no water in their duck house at all.

 

[Mo_fawaazzz]

I live in a predator heavy rural area. We’ve had fox and hawk casualties even when my birds were enclosed. So I have done supervised free range time and put the pool outside the run. They had no interest in the pool at all when they saw all that foraging space and were running all over my 6 acre non-fenced property. I was chasing them just to keep them from running off onto the road or the neighbors’ properties. They’re a very active breed (Welsh Harlequin). Their pool and water are in the run…no water in their duck house at all.

I got an idea:
Try removing the pool for now and placing their water somewhere like this or in a depression in a corner -

photo from Duck Creek Farms
cover most of the top part of the run with a tarp to avoid the rain and place a ton of hay mixed with sand as the substrate.

With a pool, drinking bowl, and rain showers, it makes the perfect conditions for a muddy duck run. And muddy runs can cause bumblefoot.


Hope this helps ..

 

[HennyPenny44]

I got an idea:
Try removing the pool for now and placing their water somewhere like this or in a depression in a corner -
View attachment 3812260
photo from Duck Creek Farms
cover most of the top part of the run with a tarp to avoid the rain and place a ton of hay mixed with sand as the substrate.

With a pool, drinking bowl, and rain showers, it makes the perfect conditions for a muddy duck run. And muddy runs can cause bumblefoot.


Hope this helps ..

Thank you for all the suggestions. I will need to try out the sand and hay. I had tarps on top before but they got destroyed by the snow so now I have fishing line only to deter hawks. It’s a very large chain link dog run. But I agree about the mud situation. It needs to get under control. I’ll try moving their water too out of the way like you suggest.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I agree that the bumblefoot is more because of the mud, and not necessarily the bedding. I have used pine shavings and hay for 8 years and have never had any issues with bumblefoot. But, my ducks free range in a fenced garden during the day. Would it be possible to create a fenced free range area they can spend some time in during the day to give their coop a break? My first fence was just those green stakes with metal fencing on it.

 

[HennyPenny44]

I agree that the bumblefoot is more because of the mud, and not necessarily the bedding. I have used pine shavings and hay for 8 years and have never had any issues with bumblefoot. But, my ducks free range in a fenced garden during the day. Would it be possible to create a fenced free range area they can spend some time in during the day to give their coop a break? My first fence was just those green stakes with metal fencing on it.

I can create a grassy pen for them but I'd have to be out there the whole time. I’ve had foxes hide in the brush waiting to pounce on my birds. I will work on the bedding issue but if the bumblefoot persists, I may need to give up on ducks.
.

 

[fowltemptress]

I can create a grassy pen for them but I'd have to be out there the whole time. I’ve had foxes hide in the brush waiting to pounce on my birds. I will work on the bedding issue but if the bumblefoot persists, I may need to give up on ducks.
.

If foxes are the main issue, have you tried electric poultry netting?