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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[cochins1088]

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.

I'll try to get more pictures. The lumps aren't squishy, they are rock hard. None of them are really limping, but I can tell that some are a bit reluctant to walk.

 

[cochins1088]

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 ....

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

I'm not convinced either. It shouldn't be happening to so many of them at such a young age, but what is it then? That's why I started the thread. I've done a lot of research but I couldn't find anything that would explain this. The best I had was bumble foot since they are hard lumps forming on the feet.