Duck with bumble foot, please advise!

[azygous]

Appetite doesn't usually come roaring back after near starvation. The body chemistry is slow to return to normal, and after it does, then so does the appetite. We need to be patience and be content with the steady improvement.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Happy to update that she ate two strawberries and a handful of mealworms this morning

Hopefully a good sign as I've officially run out of eggs to feed her. I still have some critical care and I've I've blending oats with water and nutritional yeast/rooster booster when I'm waiting on eggs- that works well. Photo of the patient standing on both feet today, very proud of her.

Photo of the bumble 1 week ago

And today:

The difference may not be hugely obvious, but the tissue around the scab used to be very hard and hot, and now it is not as hot and is softer/flatter. The scab itself is actually a bit paler and smaller in more honest lighting. The skin around the scab is peeling off very heavily as you can see, I suppose this is due to the skin expanding so much and then beginning to deflate? It is very dry so I did put a little vaseline on her foot/ankle incase it's a little sore- it was a touch red where some skin had scraped off.

I think she is definitely less swollen and feeling better, she is able to walk now with a limp- and she isn't repeatedly covering herself in faeces and needing constant baths, as she is standing more and holding her tail back up when she sits.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Good news!
She has started to eat her normal food, just a bit, but it's a start!
Her poops have gone from green to the usual brown colour, and she is able to walk again very well, with a very mild limp.
I'm still doing 1-2 tube feeds a day at present as she's still not eating anywhere close to enough, and with how thin she's gotten during this whole thing, I want her eating sufficiently before I stop.
She's still on her antibiotics until the swelling in the ankle and her foot are completely gone, but I have reduced her pain and anti inflammatories back to the initial dosage as she is doing so much better.
This evening her foot was continuing to peel, and the scab fell off! Her foot is looking so much better, and the pad on her foot is soft now, getting smaller by the day. The heat is down further and almost gone.

I know it sounds dramatic, but for a short while when she was at her worst, I really feared losing her. It came on so fast and her symptoms were so severe despite the bumble not being that big. It's a huge relief that she's on the mend.

Thank you for all your advice and support @TwoCrows @azygous
I hugely appreciate you both

 

[TwoCrows]

Good news!
She has started to eat her normal food, just a bit, but it's a start!
Her poops have gone from green to the usual brown colour, and she is able to walk again very well, with a very mild limp.
I'm still doing 1-2 tube feeds a day at present as she's still not eating anywhere close to enough, and with how thin she's gotten during this whole thing, I want her eating sufficiently before I stop.
She's still on her antibiotics until the swelling in the ankle and her foot are completely gone, but I have reduced her pain and anti inflammatories back to the initial dosage as she is doing so much better.
This evening her foot was continuing to peel, and the scab fell off! Her foot is looking so much better, and the pad on her foot is soft now, getting smaller by the day. The heat is down further and almost gone.
View attachment 4196638
I know it sounds dramatic, but for a short while when she was at her worst, I really feared losing her. It came on so fast and her symptoms were so severe despite the bumble not being that big. It's a huge relief that she's on the mend.

Thank you for all your advice and support @TwoCrows @azygous
I hugely appreciate you both

Wow, her foot looks fabulous!! I too am a worry wart and always fear the worst. I am so happy she is in the mend now! Keep up all the lovin' on her!

 

[BelovedBirds]

Another happy update, she has gotten her appetite back pretty much completely, she is eating about the same amount as her sister, perhaps slightly less. There is a little bit of lingering heat in her ankle, but the swelling is down almost completely, and her foot pad is shrinking down and becoming softer. It is almost the same as her other foot, just a bit of stretched out skin still going back to normal. She still has a little limp, that hasn't gone away yet, and because of the lingering warmth in her ankle I'm continuing her current course of antibiotics until it's back 100%.
Do you think she is ready to go back outside? I'm thinking yes as she has put on over 50g (now 2kg, just a bit more to go. She weighed about 2.08kg at the vets her first appointment) and she is able to walk despite the limp.

I'm just scared of her getting worse again, the ground in their pen is quite hard. (They have rubber mats around their pool area, and then their coop with pine shavings and a grass area, the mats are quite hard so I'm going to reduce them a bit and add more grass). Should she be okay going out? It's not as if she has drakes or competitive ducks to worry about, it's just her and her sister Dougie.