Duck has bumblefoot?

[Sweetest]

We have three ducks...a drake and two girls...soon to be just the two girls. The drake beats up on the girl with the foot problem CONSTANTLY. She is the only one that he mates with, so much so that she is bald on the back of her neck and sometimes her back bleeds where he scratches her.
We noticed her limping yesterday, and brought her inside. We let her swim in my bathtub and changed out the water frequently so she could have a good rinse. We dried her, fed and watered her, treated her foot, and brought her back out to be with the other birds (my chickens and ducks live together).
This morning when I went out to check on her, one of her eyes looked picked and bleeding around it, and he has blood on his bill. I'm 99% sure the chickens didn't touch her, because they don't bother the ducks (I think the chickens think they're just funny looking chickens, they don't realize they're different), and the drake won't let them anywhere near his girls. I went outside the run and stood watching them for a while. The drake jumped right up on her back and pushed her face down into the snow. She kept trying to get up and eat, and he wouldn't let her (we're talking about a very randy drake, so much do that we had to treat him for a prolapsed phallus in the summer). And that's the other reason I know I can't blame my chickens for her eye being picked at...they never bothered him when he was...dragging his manhood all over the ground.
Anyhow, we did some research online and we think she has bumblefoot. We've been VERY lucky and never experienced this with any of our other birds. She does not have inadequate bedding or anything so the only reason we can think of that she might have picked up a staph infection is if she cut her foot on something and picked it up that way, freeranging around the yard with the chickens.

Any ideas, since we've never encountered it before? Is this bumblefoot, or is it something else?

 

[mfaith694]

I don't know much about it myself but if you go to www.metzerfarms.com and look it up on their website they have an article about it

 

[AbbeyRoad]

That definitely looks ouchy.

Bumbles can happen from problem surfaces, like you mentioned. But sometimes just a small nick could get infected. If your other birds are doing well, it might just be this bird is predisposed to it because of its posture or genetics. Maybe offer her something softer to stand on if this keeps happening. Or think about getting her some duck booties.

To fix- get some Epsom salts, foot soaking tub, vet wrap, scissors, non stick gauze, triple antibiotic ointment, Preparation H ointment and these awesome corn pads. You could consider getting some Tricide, if so you will need distilled water and scale. I also got this Vetericyn spray due to someone's recommendation as well.

Soak the foot/feet in a bowl or I used a disposable tin turkey pan from the store for at least 15 mins. Longer is better. I alternated between Epsom salts and Tricide soaks. I started with twice a day, but then went to once a day.

After the soak, i patted them dry. Sprayed the feet down with Vetericyn Spray. I would take a non stick gauze, add the sticky corn cushion to the middle. I took either triple antibiotic oint or Prep H oint (did TAO for a week, then switched) and filled the corn cushion hole up.

Push corn cushion onto the biggest bumble. Wrap the gauze around foot. If more smaller bumble are present, i would add a little ointment or a second gauze/ corn cushion as needed.

Then take vet wrap and scissors and would wrap the whole foot. I had a lot of practice wrapping penguin feet, so I had a nice method that worked. I found cutting just a hole for the back toe, and wrapping the foot/toes in a vet wrap sandwich worked best. Make sure it is not too tight, not too loose. I would press and seal around the toes, like saran wrap. The vet wrap should stick together.

I would change the bandage after each soak and keep the duck by itself with no swimming. You should see progress. As the soaks go, it should start to look better, and the center should start to open up. You could try to get the center out with some tweezers.

If the duck is not acting right- active, eating, drinking etc- take it to the vets for systemic antibiotics. I was lucky enough to cure my duck's foot with just soaks and bandages. That is a much bigger area of involvement than my guy, so you may need to go toward surgery if the soaks don't bring it down fast.

I wish i was still working as a tech, if so I would do DMSO/ Baytril/Dex topical as well. You can get DMSO over the counter, but need the vet script for the baytril/dex injectables to make the mix.

Hope some of that helps and try not to take it too personally. It sucks, but can be fixed. Especially if you find a new home for the drake.

Good luck! Keep us posted.

 

[Sweetest]

Thanks for your reply That's similar to our plan of attack right now, but what a cool addition with the corn pad! About how long would you say to continue the soaks/change bandages before we might see improvement or the center opening up? Because our Pekins aren't friendly to us, sadly, we only just noticed her foot a couple days ago. So this infection has been brewing for quite some time, most likely. I would just hate to soak her little feet for three weeks only to find out that the infection is in her bone or something.
I've read about people lancing the scab off, but if this can be cured with soaks, I'd rather not hurt the poor girl. She's already the abused duck in the little family. And it will be scary enough for her to be inside soaking her feet...they just don't like us.

The drake is no longer a problem. He is relocated to my fridge. As much as I hated doing it, his behavior is abominable, and at least I'm eating him. Poor guy. I cried.

 

[AbbeyRoad]

I definitely saw improvement in a few days and it took 2 weeks or so before I stopped treating. It was my male runner with a bumble the size of a really big pea. I put him in the empty stall next to the girls. He wasn't a big fan of the process but handled it ok. As I was soaking his feet, my husband would sometimes feed him a handful of mealworms. That made him a little more cooperative.

Hopefully you will see improvement in a few days or a week with just epsom salts and wrapping the foot. You might want to add more cushion to support that bumble. If you dont see improvement by then, then you can change your plan of attack.

 

[Amiga]

I agree that treating with E.s. soaks and triple antibiotic is a good way to go.

Another method that has had some success for forum members is after the E.s. soak, using clear iodine on the bumble, letting it dry before letting the duck go, and not covering it. In three to five days, a kind of scabbed plug forms. The foot can be soaked again and the scab can be easily pulled off, bringing some of the crud with it. If all the yuck doesn't come out the first time, they reapply the iodine and go another several days. Since some of us don't have as much success with foot wrapping, this may be something to consider if the first way doesn't work well for you, or seems to overly stress the duck.

You did the right thing by getting the drake out of the equation. That has to be such an awful feeling all around, though.

 

[Sweetest]

Thank you for your reply. I went out and grabbed the sick duck and her "sister" this morning. Once we put them in the tub, the sick duck put her head on her sister's back like she was too tired to be in the water (they can stand, and even laying down their heads would be above water). I'm not sure if it's because she's sick-sick, or if it's because I was in there and they're not find of people. They are happily splashing around...and soaking the bathroom floor and walls...as I type this.
She has what appears to be irritation around her bill where it connects to her face. I don't know if the infection in her foot has made her sick, or what? It doesn't look raw, but it looks like...if you had a hangnail and it was a little red around it. Her bill was orange when we first got the ducks, but lightened as soon as she started laying. She was also the smallest of the ducks.
Any ideas? I'm going to try to get the scab off today.

 

[Sweetest]

 

[Amiga]

I have read that anemia can cause a bill to lighten in color, but there may be other causes. My runners have black bills but they may be tinged with blue or green, depending on their hormones (I am guessing it is hormones that make their bill color change).

I apologize that it took me a while to find your next post - - I thought I had subscribed to this thread.

Can she wash her head frequently? You may have two localized minor infections that you are dealing with.

For the bill, I would dab some triple antibiotic ointment without pain killer around where the feathers and bill meet. Do that two or three times a day, especially after bath time.

Ducks seem to respond really well to bath time. It just seems to cheer them up and that in turn I feel boosts their immune system.

 

[hokankai]

I too am having an issue with bumblefoot. I found one of my girls limping and found an angry red bump on her toe. After inspection it looks like ALL of my ducks have at least one little black scab on their feet, mainly on their toe joints. I am wondering if it was the gravel in their run that did it? I just threw down some straw over their run tonight after taking two girls into the vet to be looked at (and prescribed Clavamox...$$$). I'm feeling very discouraged, because 8 ducks is a lot treat . I'm considering taking in the limping girl for a surgery, because I cut a chunk of gunk out but it's been a week and it's still red, swollen, and the same size.*sigh*