Ducklings with foot problems. Help?

[cochins1088]

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.

That's at least 5 and half hours worth of duck feet per day.

and I add more hay daily, though I'm unable to clean it out completely because it's winter and everything is frozen. Especially with them spilling their water everywhere.

 

[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...

 

[Amiga]

Wait a minute.....ten ducklings, six minutes each, is an hour twice a day. How did we get to five?

cochins1088: " That's at least 5 and half hours worth of duck feet per day.

and I add more hay daily, though I'm unable to clean it out completely because it's winter and everything is frozen. Especially with them spilling their water everywhere.

The ducklings are five weeks old and the bedding is frozen . . . .

Do they have a place that's 70F?

 

[zooweemama]

Wait a minute.....ten ducklings, six minutes each, is an hour twice a day. How did we get to five?

cochins1088: " That's at least 5 and half hours worth of duck feet per day.

and I add more hay daily, though I'm unable to clean it out completely because it's winter and everything is frozen. Especially with them spilling their water everywhere.

The ducklings are five weeks old and the bedding is frozen . . . .

Do they have a place that's 70F?

I just read that too. Frostbite do you think?

OP- it sounds awfully cold where they are kept. How long have they been kept here? I wonder if it couldn't be frostbite?

 

[wildpeas]

Do you have a vet that could take a culture to see what you are dealing with? For so many to all have the same thing going on at the same time seems like an environmental issue unless you know they are all from the same batch of eggs then maybe a genetic thing.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Do you have a vet that could take a culture to see what you are dealing with? For so many to all have the same thing going on at the same time seems like an environmental issue unless you know they are all from the same batch of eggs then maybe a genetic thing.

Not entirely convinced I would recommend the vet/testing route. Been there, done that. Got NOTHING but a big bill. They can tell you what "cooties" are in the foot but not what caused the problem and not how to solve it.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

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...

These are good questions.

 

[cochins1088]

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...

They are out in the barn as they had outgrown their brooder within 2 weeks. They have hay for bedding. They don't have access to anything rough, and I add fresh hay daily.

None of my chickens have ever had bumble foot. It's just these ducklings.

 

[cochins1088]

I just read that too. Frostbite do you think?

OP- it sounds awfully cold where they are kept. How long have they been kept here? I wonder if it couldn't be frostbite?

Wait a minute.....ten ducklings, six minutes each, is an hour twice a day. How did we get to five?

cochins1088: " That's at least 5 and half hours worth of duck feet per day.

and I add more hay daily, though I'm unable to clean it out completely because it's winter and everything is frozen. Especially with them spilling their water everywhere.

The ducklings are five weeks old and the bedding is frozen . . . .

Do they have a place that's 70F?

I don't think it's frostbite. They have a 6 ft by 6 ft area in the barn with a heat lamp in one corner. If they get cold, they warm up under the heat lamp. Temperatures are below freezing, yesterday morning was -9 degrees but I rarely see them huddled under the heat lamp. They are almost completely feathered and seem perfectly happy.

Anything away from the heat lamp freezes. There water dish is heated. When they spill their water, it freezes on the ground.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
Would LOVE to see more pictures. Do you dare cut into any of their feet? I'd be curious to know more about what is in those lesions.