To Miss Lydia, getaclue, & any others who had input & are interested...Thank All of u for your help! As a new duck owner, I never imagined I'd be doing surgery within first couple months.
A couple of days before Memorial Weekend the top wound began to protrude straight up like a little volcano. It began to open up & bleed on its own so I knew surgery could not be postponed.
We did the surgery the Saturday of memorial weekend. Working from top down, besides the scab, I only pulled out one large piece of infection. All of the little blackish spots seen in photo on bottom of foot had disappeared. I thought i saw more infection but she was bleeding so much, I couldn't keep it clear to see well. So after several minutes of exploratory, I decided to wrap it up & check at bandage change in couple days. On monday, (memorial day) again I thought I saw more infection, again she started bleeding so much,couldn't see. Was losing daylight so had wrap it up. Next bandage change in couple more days, had really started to heal up. I would have had to reopen wound more but the little spot that was still open, I could no longer see or feel any more infection. Figured bandage it up again & just keep an eye on.
So now couple weeks later, no more bandages.She still has a little swelling but it is still going down. The very first morning after her surgery her spirit was about 90% back. Now shes 100% back to her usual self! No limping.
We have two adult males that we adopted along with her. She calls out for her buddies every day since her surgery. They come & hang out next to her recovery pen. ( It is a large around 20x20 old dogpen with a small concrete building in the corner for shelter). We also have 6 ducklings that we keep in the same pen as her but had them separated so they couldn't bother her. Now that they are bigger & she's better, they all hang together. I really think she enjoyed their company during her month-long ordeal. I'm hesitant to let her free-range yet until swelling is completely gone.
Anyways, I think my first surgery has been a success! Again, I just wanted to thank everyone for their help on this! I really couldn't have done it had I not stumbled across this forum!