Duck toenail, limping, help!

[samuelsonfarm]

have a male jumbo pekin that is 3 months old. We noticed today he was limping badly. I examined him and his left leg seems larger/swollen and hot. The toe nail on the "thumb" is darker, soft and shorter than the one the other leg. So far I have just brought him inside for a nice warm bath in the bathtub...which he loved! I am sure that there is a good course of action but there are some awesome duck experts on here that I'm sure have some great advice. So I'm putting out the call....help!

 

[The Howards]

Continue with the warm baths/ They will help relax the leg muscles and keep weight off of it. Keep him as still as possible or at least confined so he cannot move around a lot. If you see no obvious signs of injury he could have just pulled something, landed/moved wrong, or gotten stung by something. Have you checked for bumblefoot? It can lead to limping.

 

[samuelsonfarm]

I don't see any obvious infection on the pads of the foot. The only thing I noticed was his one toenail is black instead of peachy color, and it feels soft. He didn't seem sensitive when I touched it, but I don't know ducks that we'll, these are my first ones!

 

[The Howards]

Honestly if he is still eating and drinking normally I would just confine his movements and watch him, most of the time the ducks normal high body temp does great job at fighting off infections. If you see signs that his health is deteriorating then you may want to step in with some antibiotics. If you want to get some just to have available should you need them you can get Penicillin G and/or FishMox (amoxicillin for fish). The PenG is injectable and you can get at feed stores, TSC for instance, and FishMox you would most likely have to order online. Or obviously find a vet if there is one local.
If it is hurting him I am sure he would find a way to let you know when you touch it, like snatching his foot away or biting at you.
We had a little girl get a large, deep ragged cut just above her leg. All we did for her was to trim the feathers, put neosporin (non-medicated) on it and keep her contained. She completely healed on her own. Ducks are very resilient.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Pekins are also known for having leg problems just their size and weight, I think even at 3 months I'd start your duck on some plain niacin or brewers yeast. given daily. Sure can't hurt and may even help along with rest and water therapy The Howards has talked about.

 

[samuelsonfarm]

Thank you so much for your suggestions. I appreciate the kindness and thought! I have my little (well, not so little anymore!) Guy Pickle in his old brooder box in the laundry room where he and his 12 brothers and sisters spent their first 4 weeks of life. It's kinda nice to have him close again. Put some networking on it and he's nice and dry. We will see how it goes tomorrow!

 

[The Howards]

keep up updated on how he is doing

 

[Miss Lydia]

 

[samuelsonfarm]

This morning he is still energetic, eating and drinking well, but his whole foot is very swollen. He won't put any pressure on it all. He is loving the baths and lots of attention. I gave him some brewers yeast and some fortified oat cereal for some extra vitamins along with his normal feed. He is pretty confined so he's forced to rest as much as possible. I may call my feed store and see if they carry any antibiotics. Do you all think I should hold off on that or give him some today if I can find it? Like I said he is acting fine aside from the foot.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This morning he is still energetic, eating and drinking well, but his whole foot is very swollen. He won't put any pressure on it all. He is loving the baths and lots of attention. I gave him some brewers yeast and some fortified oat cereal for some extra vitamins along with his normal feed. He is pretty confined so he's forced to rest as much as possible. I may call my feed store and see if they carry any antibiotics. Do you all think I should hold off on that or give him some today if I can find it? Like I said he is acting fine aside from the foot.

Have you actually run your finger over all the skin on his foot? could have a splinter or thorn? or small cut? do you have Epsom salts? if you do put a cup into a small container with warm water and soak his feet yes both of them because it's too hard to do one. and using a small bucket or dish pan will keep him from drinking the water which has laxative effects. soak for as long as he'll let you and do it as often as you can at least 1X a time if you don't feel anything on the foot pad then it has to infection of some kind to have the foot swelled up like you say. I do know ES is good for swelling and inflammation. But going to get an antibiotic probably would be a good idea to have it on hand if you don't notice any change for the better by end of day. can you post a pic of his foot. and is his leg affected at all? you mentioned his one nail? does it look infected? maybe that's the problem.