Duck Favoring Foot

[SJanay]

My duck is favoring her left foot. This must have happened within the last day since I did not notice if before. I cannot tell if her injury is in her leg or foot. But she puts very little weight on it when walking and uses her left wing to balance herself. I cannot take her to a vet--not really any vets around me that would look at a duck. Besides, I really don't have the money and even if I did, I don't think I'd be willing to put a lot of money into her. So I can only do what I can do from home. I tried to bandage her leg up and see if that would help, but no difference. You can see from one photo that she has sores on her feet that need attending, but her right foot also has a sore and that's not keeping her from walking. Also, in another picture you might see a little dotted line on her foot. That seems to be a sort of scab. Please give me advice. I'm really at a loss. I would separate her from the others if I could, but my two cages that I use for sick/injured chickens/ducks are both in use right now--go figure!

 

[SJanay]

I got some advice from a friend. I am going to treat her foot issues--bumblefoot of course. My friend advised me to separate her from the others but keep her close. Like fence her off in the coop so she can still see the others. She said it was likely a sprain. She didn't tell me how to help the sprain except to separate her and try to keep her immobile. Any other ideas? I like treating naturally. Any essential oils that will help with a sprain?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Epsom salts are good for sprains, most folks have them on hand as well. You'll want to keep an eye on the scabbing. If it is bumble foot, you're going to have to open it up and remove the seed/kernel and irrigate the wound.
Hopefully she just slipped and pulled a muscle. A couple of my chickens have done that. They hobbled around for a week or so, but eventually walked it off.

I hope your girl gets better!