Help! My Poor Duck's Foot is Injured!

[lunkerchicken]

Hello all,
My poor duck has an injured foot and I need help determining what it is. We noticed this about 7 - 10 days ago and it has gotten worse since, to the point where she is having a very difficult time walking. They do live in the same pen as my two goats so perhaps the duck was stepped on. The only other thing that I can think of is she got something stuck in her pad and it became infected? I don't see anything sticking out. Other than that, I don't have any idea of what it could be. She has been eating and drinking just fine.
Any thoughts on what it is and how I can treat it?

Thank you in advance for all your guidance!
Lunkerchicken

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

That looks painful. I hope someone can offer you good advice!

I've never used epsom salt soaks/compresses, but it seems like they get recommended a lot for these types of injuries. Maybe you could look up the details on how exactly to use epsom salt as a treatment?

Does anyone out there know if this could be bumblefoot? If you don't get any responses, you could also look up bumblefoot on the BYC forum... I've seen a few postings.

 

[Amiga]

Looks like quite the case of bumblefoot.

She may be at the point where oral antibiotics are a good idea. If you have a vet, I would take her in.

In the meantime, let her spend some time - at least half an hour - in a tub of lukewarm water, no soap. That will help clean the foot, take pressure off of it, improve circulation.

Make an Epsom salt solution, a tablespoon of E.s. to a cup of warm water. Soak a clean cloth in the solution and wrap the foot and the leg in the cloth and hold it as long as you both can stand it. Five minutes would be good, ten better.

Several people have had success following the soak with the application of a few drops of clear iodine. Clear. Iodine

Also labeled as Yodo Blanco. I found some at Walmart. A few drops on the main part of the bumble. Let it sit for a few seconds, then blow on it to dry it a little. I would keep her in a clean crate with fresh water and food for at least over night.

The idea with the iodine is to let that work on the bumble for 3 to 5 days. Others have found that it starts to form a kind of scab, and then the foot can be soaked again, and eventually the scab can be easily pulled off, and it will bring with it some amount of the yucky stuff underneath. Sometimes another round or two of the clear iodine are needed to get all of it to come out.

This is from a thread about the process, as described by Haunted55

On July 1st, I found one of my Pekin ducks with what I would consider a bad case of Bumblefoot. Both feet were involved and I'm ashamed to say, the only way I found it was she was limping. One foot had 7 and the other had 3. I was able to grab her and bring her into the house and put her into a warm bath to clean and soak. Two water changes later and softened feet, all I had time to do was paint the bumbles with colorless iodine, grabbed the wrong stuff, and put her into a dog crate in my house until I could get everything ready to operate and get them gone. Did I mention the thought of this scared me half to death?

Sad to say it took 6 days before i was able to get everything together and someone to help out with the 'cure'. The following pictures are what we found after the bath we gave before the planned surgery to remove these things.




















As can be seen, there really wasn't much to operate on, even though I was prepared to do just that. No matter how much squeezing or prodding or soaking, there just wasn't anything more to come out, it was all on the scabs that were covering the sores. The swelling was down from the 'marbles' I saw when I first found them. I poured betadine over the ones I had opened and painted the ones that I hadn't again with the iodine and put her back into her crate with clean bedding.

the next pictures are of the same Pekin and anothe duck, Dottie the Mallard, who was also found limping.












As can be seen in the first two pictures, the bumbles have been dramatically reduced on the Pekin with just the iodine application and the smaller ones totally gone. The last four pictures are of the Mallard who is still under going the iodine applications.

As can be seen, this is how the left and right foot look tonight on the Pekin duck. The heels being the worst are still showing infection and need for more treatment. tomorrow, I will again give a bath and pull/cut out the scabbing and treat with straight iodine this time. These spots are now flat or as flat as they should be considering the part of the foot they are on. I will still touch up the places that had the spots before as well.

 

[taras.farm]

Yep,It's bumble foot and you should get some attention to it right away.
Will be a lot of work but if you follow Amiga's advice you'll get through it.
Keep on it...soak clean,wrap,change soak clean.
The big bumbles do require surgery..which sounds insane to most but is not that bad and your duck can be saved...just be organized have everything by your side-no distractions.....work steadily..allow for breaks for water for the duck (and you)ducks tend to get hot when they are worked on-it is stressful even if they appear totally calm..keep clean etc etc
Your bond will be greater after all is healed...i did this one time and this hen is so trusting and friendly now..as if she knows I helped her somehow grateful.It was scary at first...but i was determined to help...and was so proud of myself for doing this..it's truly amazing what a person will do for an animal sometimes!
You have to get the nastiness out or this infection will progress and lameness will be the start of other many other issues...like lack of eating drinking and being outed by the flock. All the best.
epson soaks,antiseptic (bactine or even better is Dettol solution for cleaning during surgery) and iodine or polysporin in gauze wraps during healing. I gauzed her bumble woulds heavily with polysporin or iodine and wrapped with that sport wrap (sticks to itself. Wrap just as the duck would stand on a normal foot...toes spread flat...not squished together. They pull at it ...so tape with bandage tape with the edge at the back or wrap around a few times...if you see their feet are not staying flat you can cut a square or circle of cardboard and place it after gauze to stiffen shape before sport bandage wrap goes on. Lots of rest---- greeeeeens! high protein duck feed and clean water and duck gets alone alone time...other ducks will bother the injured and wear them out...isolate and visit often. they will walk funny at first but then get used to it. do not put bandaged ducks back outside or in messy conditions. And for the others...time to make sure they are on dry ground at least during nightime hours...ducks can take wet of course but not 24hours...their winter callusses swell and crack and bacteria get in and voila..bumble foot...most often seen in the spring...when we all struggle to keep things tidy (especially here in Ontario Canada) I've almost perfected my duck management (pat on back ...they are alot of work! Ducks should never live in mud...at least put strw down...layered..and it can be hosed off...so its' wet but at least cleaner than shavings or mud.
check and clean those healing feet at least 2 times a day after surgery..may need a couple hours of bumble removal.... preferably all in the same afternoon so the worst is done all at once and then the bird can rest up,be spoiled and heal up...at the same time you are cleaning and changing bandages all the time. tough to say 3 weeks...once scabs form...clean gently and use leess polysporin or iodine and start to allow for more air time to dry out a bit beetween wraps on dry towels...once the scabs drop...you're golden. best of luck,Tara
I wish dducks pooed waaay less...thank goodness they are so cute and entertaining!

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

You should also check your other duck's feet (and your chickens')... After researching bumblefoot on this forum, I've learned of several cases where multiple birds are affected by this staph infection. They may not be limping yet, but they could still have bumblefoot.

Good luck to you! Keep us updated as you treat your duck!

 

[lunkerchicken]

Thank you so much for the great information - I will get to treatment ASAP and update as I go....

Thank you again,
Lunkerchicken