Ducklings with foot problems. Help?

[cochins1088]

I have 13 five week old ducklings and they seem to have some sort of growth on their feet. I believe it may be bumble foot, but there are no black spots. 10 of the 13 ducklings have these large hard lumps where their nice soft foot pads should be. The tops of the lumps are rough and cracked.

I started noticing signs of hard cracked feet when the ducklings were only 2 weeks old, but I didn't think anything of it until now. I raised them on horse bedding pellets for the first 2 weeks because I was told that the pellets would absorb the extra water keeping the ducklings cleaner. After those 2 weeks, I moved them to a 6 ft by 6 ft pen with hay for bedding. I added fresh hay daily to keep them nice and clean.

If it is bumble foot, how do you recommend treating? I keep tricide neo on hand because of my koi, should I use that? I have no idea how I would soak, wrap, and keep nearly 20 duckling feet clean...

Here's a picture of what I'm talking about. Most of the duckling's feet look like this. I have other pictures, but most of them turned out really blurry as the ducklings didn't appreciate being upside down for the pictures.

 

[Amiga]

My experience with bumblefoot is that you don't necessarily have to cut anything.

I agree we don't know exactly what it is. It could be viral, bacterial, or fungal.

I know that anything you have to do to everyone's feet will be time consuming. At the same time, if you can spend some extra time to get rid of it without doing more harm than good, that's a good thing.

Epsom salts is said to be both antibacterial and antifungal. It is also quite the laxative, so you don't want them ingesting it. I would take a deep breath and put 2 tablespoons of Epsom salts in a small sink - with the drain closed - (bathroom sink size) so that I could avoid too much squatting and bending, add a pint of warm water to the sink, just enough to dissolve the Es. And I would gently, carefully hold the duckling and let it splash its little feet in the Es for three to five minutes, wipe the feet off with a damp washcloth.

I would follow that up with a dab of triple antibiotic ointment on the bad spot, then put baby back in the brooder and pick up the next little one till I had treated everyone. That would be about 6 to 8 minutes per duck, and I would do it twice a day.

I would also be sure to change out the bedding a little more frequently to reduce the amount of spores or bacteria in the bedding.

 

[zooweemama]

Where are the duckies? Are they in a brooder? What kind of bedding? Or they in a coop...back to the bedding? Do they have access to rough surfaces like sharp rocks, thorns, rose bushes, berry bushes...etc to get puncture wounds or scrapes on their feet? Is their bedding managed well- regularly changed? 5 weeks is really young and for so many of them to have it...if it is Bumblefoot it sounds like the cause really needs to be weeded out because even if my grown ducks - nearly all of them had it- something is off in their environment or they are getting into something causing wounds on their feet...

 

[cochins1088]

This is an excellent recommendation! I found it really helpful.

I have two ducklings that their feet look just like this. They are a little over 3 weeks old. I guess my DH noticed it a week ago and never mentioned it to me. When they got their first once overs, they're feet were in perfect condition. They are in a brooder with pine bedding that gets changed daily. Should they get time to walk around the house? Would it be good for their feet? Right now, they get 1-2 baths a day. I'm going to try to give them an Epsom salt soak to see if might soften their callus'/whatever it is. One duckling is worse and her left foot definitely has a soft, but hard squishy bump.
This is all so confusing! I find animal husbandry varies so much from bird to bird, it's almost impossible to diagnose something.
So thanks for the photos and the advice. I love BYC!

Here's a quick update since you're having a similar problem.

I soaked their feet for a couple of days, but it quickly became extremely messy and time consuming with so many ducklings. I decided to just keep an eye on them for a while.

I'm sure they were simply callouses. My ducks still have them (1 year later) and they aren't any better, but they aren't any worse. They're simply rough spots and they don't seem to bother my ducks at all.

They were my first ducklings so I probably overly worried.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I hope you get help and answers Coch, I will check my gangs tomorrow thats for sure!

 

[Wynette]

That does look similar to bumblefoot that I've seen in chickens, but I've never seen it in ducks before. Hopefully, others will pop in & help!

My buddy Barngoddess01 has chickens and has had several with bumblefoot...I'm not sure if the treatment would be the same, but she may be able to tell you definitively if that's what you're dealing with. I'll shoot her a note & ask her to pop in & look.

Do you have any more pics you can post?

 

[BarnGoddess01]

I have ZERO experience with ducks. Really hard to be sure without feeling the foot and the lesion. Your picture doesn't entirely look like the "bumblefoot" I deal with in chickens. Plus, you say most of your ducklings have it which doesn't sound like "bumblefoot" as it isn't really contagious (it can be but really, it isn't .... long story.) Bumblefoot is an infection (abscess) that is the result of something foreign penetrating their foot. Something has to cause the infection. That said, I've tried tricide neo with the chickens. A complete waste of time. If it IS bumblefoot, you need to cut it out. Period. Hopefully, find the source of the problem, the sliver or whatever caused the problem in the first place, get that and the nonsense that has grown around it out, pack the clean hole with an antibiotic ointment (neosporin) after flushing with betadine, and wrap it well to keep it clean for a few days. I use Vetrap cut into narrow strips to wrap. Just a tiny bit of towel or gauze to cover the hole. Might be more of a trick to wrap a webbed foot ....

 

[BarnGoddess01]

5 weeks old is AWFULLY young for bumblefoot. I'm not convinced ....

 

[Sally Sunshine]

5 weeks old is AWFULLY young for bumblefoot. I'm not convinced ....

I am not either but OMgoodness what is it then!

 

[zooweemama]

Can you share another picture where the foot is and wound is more visible? Ducks get little ugly bumps on their feet that are squishy. Is it squishy? Are they limping? I liken these bumps to 'moles' on us.