Duck injured bones in her web--how to help?

[lhbisbee]

We have a Pekin hen who has been injured, ostensibly from the Mallard drakes constantly chasing her around and wanting to mate with her. Her "mate," a black and white Swedish drake has done all he can to keep them off of her, but not before she got injured running away. At first, just the bottom part of her leg was swollen. We have kept her separated, quiet in the back yard with her drake, who won't leave her, food and a pool. We tried keeping her in a large dog crate, but she got very upset. The yard is fenced in and the rest of the flock can't get it, though they come by and quack through the fence. She has been quiet and mostly staying off it. At night we put her and the drake in the coop with the rest of the flock, but have her separated in a small enclosed area--she can see them and vice versa, but they can't get in with her.

That's been about five days. She seemed to be doing a little better until today. Today, she's really limping and holding up her leg. She hasn't even tried to swim and mostly is just laying around. When I picked her up to inspect, I see the swelling is mostly gone from her leg, but good heavens!!! Look at the bottom of her poor webbed foot. The middle and outside bone is really swollen. I've shown the normal foot for comparison.

What on earth can we do? Ernie is a pet and we want to help her heal. I don't want to put her down at all. Olaf would be lost without her and she is an major part of the flock.

The black spots on her normal foot are just black spots. The one on the hurt foot looks like gravel, but I have no earthly idea how she could get that. We have 10 1/2 acres, the ducks free range--and it's all grass and pasture--and pond.

Incidentally, all of a sudden, the 3 Mallards have separated themselves from the rest of the flock. They still hang around our yard and come to us for food, but they sleep on the pond instead of in the coop and the other drakes fight them and won't let them near (the drakes, not the one little hen).

Any help would really be appreciated. So worried about my duck.

 

[Amiga]

Bumblefoot. There are ways to treat it non-surgically, if you have found it early enough. I will get some materials posted for you.

Meanwhile, you could post this over on the Duck Forum, where there are many helpful and knowledgeable duck keepers.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/42/ducks

Here is some information from Haunted55

On July 1st, I found one of my Pekin ducks with what I would consider a bad case of Bumblefoot. Both feet were involved and I'm ashamed to say, the only way I found it was she was limping. One foot had 7 and the other had 3. I was able to grab her and bring her into the house and put her into a warm bath to clean and soak. Two water changes later and softened feet, all I had time to do was paint the bumbles with colorless iodine, grabbed the wrong stuff, and put her into a dog crate in my house until I could get everything ready to operate and get them gone. Did I mention the thought of this scared me half to death?

Sad to say it took 6 days before i was able to get everything together and someone to help out with the 'cure'. The following pictures are what we found after the bath we gave before the planned surgery to remove these things.




















As can be seen, there really wasn't much to operate on, even though I was prepared to do just that. No matter how much squeezing or prodding or soaking, there just wasn't anything more to come out, it was all on the scabs that were covering the sores. The swelling was down from the 'marbles' I saw when I first found them. I poured betadine over the ones I had opened and painted the ones that I hadn't again with the iodine and put her back into her crate with clean bedding.

the next pictures are of the same Pekin and anothe duck, Dottie the Mallard, who was also found limping.












As can be seen in the first two pictures, the bumbles have been dramatically reduced on the Pekin with just the iodine application and the smaller ones totally gone. The last four pictures are of the Mallard who is still under going the iodine applications.

As can be seen, this is how the left and right foot look tonight on the Pekin duck. The heels being the worst are still showing infection and need for more treatment. tomorrow, I will again give a bath and pull/cut out the scabbing and treat with straight iodine this time. These spots are now flat or as flat as they should be considering the part of the foot they are on. I will still touch up the places that had the spots before as well.

 

[CMV]

Leg and foot injuries are common in ducks. Those flappy feet are magnets for injuries! You are doing exactly what you should be doing. She should heal in time. Not much more can be done.

Several years back I had a duck get a leg broken by an irate gander. I thought the duck was history because my waterfowl were strictly free-range at the time. He was eventually OK. He parked himself next to the feed and water and basically laid there for months. He would hobble into the house at the end of each day, but spend the whole day laying within easy access to resources. He healed with only a slight extra waggle to his walk. It took months to heal, though.

I eventually ate that duck. During processing, I checked the leg to see if it was indeed broken. It was. The bone healed pretty cleanly but it was definitely broken judging by the knot on the bone.

 

[Amiga]

Bumblefoot often gets worse and worse without treatment - strategies that work include soaking especially with Epsom salt (make sure they don't ingest it, it is a laxative), applying triple antibiotic ointment without painkiller, or applying clear iodine then several days later soaking and removing the plug.

If the leg is warm, there is a good possibility the infection could get into the bloodstream, and an oral or injectable antibiotic is needed.

You can search the archives from the Duck Forum to see some examples.

 

[lhbisbee]

I really appreciate the help. However, I guess I'm still confused. If it is bumblefoot-- why aren't there any black marks on that really swollen middle tiny bone? And-- the black marks on her "normal" foot just look like black spots. There is no feeling- like a scab or anything. What does it feel like? Is it rough to the touch? Feel like a scab? And I thought I read that bumblefoot comes from walking on gravel or harsh pavements. That's impossible for Ernie. As I said, we live on a farm in Vermont. All she walks on is plush, green grass or mud if she goes in pasture. We don't have any rough pavement. And, it is a fact that she has been chased unmercifully by the Mallards who want to mate with her. It is possible that, while running, she stepped in a hole and sprained or broke her foot. That happens to our sheep frequently and they limp around for a few days until it heals.

If it is bumblefoot- what exactly is done to the black marks? I understand the soaking and iodine, but how and with what do you -what?- pop the scabs? As I said, the marks on her foot are smooth. The only one that isn't is the one spot on the injured foot.

Sorry for so many questions. I just want to do the right thing and I guess I'm not convinced it's bumblefoot-- mainly because of what I read and how a duck gets it. So- help me understand.

If it is a break, can you splint it OE do anything else? She is back in the dog crate and her mate is layingmon the outside. Hopongmto get more info/answers before I do anything. I'll go to duck site as well.

Thanks beforehand for any advice!!!

 

[lhbisbee]

@Amiga--- what do you mean by "removing the plug"?

 

[lhbisbee]

Hello--Me again with the injured Pekin. I took advice of two different sources. I still am not sure it's Bumblefoot, so I took pictures after we were done to let you look at. I soaked Ernie's feet in Epsom's salt for ten minutes. Then I put iodine on her feet--although, there was no black spot on the injured foot. I think it was just caked mud. On the uninjured foot, there are two black marks, but I'm not sure that isn't just mud too because some of the other came off. Then, because the pictures I saw of broken toes looked like the same swelling on Ernie's feet, we cut out a piece of cardboard the shape of her foot and taped her foot to it. Then we wound ace bandage around that so it would stay on. A lot to take off when I soak her feet again later, but worth it at any price if it's what's wrong.

The pictures I have here are after the cleansing. I've showed you the good foot and the injured foot. You can see the huge swelling in the two bones in the injured foot--but no black spots. Is that what Bumblefoot looks like? or is it broken toes?

She is on the back porch in a large dog crate with fresh bedding and food and water. She is still drinking and eating, though I think she's lost weight. Her lover is beside her on the outside. She was very, very good through this whole procedure.

So--after looking at these photos--any other advice? Do you think it's still Bumblefoot? Or do you think it's broken or sprained?

Really appreciate the help--no avian vets in area






Those were the injured foot. Below are the uninjured foot.


.