Holes in webs!

[Smurfbrew]

Duck webs always seemed so thin and fragile to me and just recently I noticed that two of my ducks have holes in their webs! They don't look scabby or bloody at all, so I don't think they are fresh, but yesterday I saw that one of the holes has gotten a bit bigger.

Anybody have any experience with this? The bedding in their house is straw, in the pen the have pine shavings, and the rest of the time they are outside running around in the grass. They could have punctured them on sticks or the like, since it's a little messy out in the yard, but I'm wondering if I should bandage them up? If I do that will the holes close up?

 

[JadeComputerGal]

Duck webs always seemed so thin and fragile to me and just recently I noticed that two of my ducks have holes in their webs! They don't look scabby or bloody at all, so I don't think they are fresh, but yesterday I saw that one of the holes has gotten a bit bigger.

Anybody have any experience with this? The bedding in their house is straw, in the pen the have pine shavings, and the rest of the time they are outside running around in the grass. They could have punctured them on sticks or the like, since it's a little messy out in the yard, but I'm wondering if I should bandage them up? If I do that will the holes close up?

Are you able to post a pic of their feet? Stepping on something sharp can cause that, but are you sure they weren't like that when you got them? Many breeders do that intentionally to identify the ducks.

 

[jducour]

I had a duckling get a hole in his webbing by stepping on some reed clippings in our pond. It healed on its own, and looked like a perfect hole. It never seemed to bother him, so we left it alone. I would just keep an eye on it, and look for signs of infection. If they tolerate being held, it wouldn't hurt to apply some triple antibiotic ointment on it every night. If you don't find what is causing the injuries, they could continue to hurt themselves. Think like a duck and look around

 

[Smurfbrew]

Are you able to post a pic of their feet? Stepping on something sharp can cause that, but are you sure they weren't like that when you got them? Many breeders do that intentionally to identify the ducks.

I'll try to get a pic today, it just take two people! No the holes weren't there before, I was really paranoid about bumble foot for a while and have been checking their feet often. Wouldn't you know i take a couple weeks off from it and now they've got holes!

 

[Smurfbrew]

I had a duckling get a hole in his webbing by stepping on some reed clippings in our pond. It healed on its own, and looked like a perfect hole. It never seemed to bother him, so we left it alone. I would just keep an eye on it, and look for signs of infection. If they tolerate being held, it wouldn't hurt to apply some triple antibiotic ointment on it every night. If you don't find what is causing the injuries, they could continue to hurt themselves. Think like a duck and look around

I do have some rose bushes, plus some wild areas in the yard that they like to play jungle duck in. It could've been lots of things I guess. The antibiotic is a good idea. I will put some on when I get some pics today.

 

[Smurfbrew]

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I hope that pic worked. I finally got some.

 

[Smurfbrew]

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[Amiga]

Looks like something punched up through the web, sure enough. Are there things with round thorns in the area? I know once, Romy kept getting into the thorny blackberry patch so I ran some three foot tall fence to keep her out of it. It was a chore - she kept trying to find places she could slip under. When she found them, I'd block them.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I do have some rose bushes, plus some wild areas in the yard that they like to play jungle duck in. It could've been lots of things I guess. The antibiotic is a good idea. I will put some on when I get some pics today.

That looks like a healed injury, and I don't see any signs of infection. The biggest concern I can think of is that the puncture will make it a little more prone to a tear in the future if he gets it caught on something. Did you ever identify what they had stepped on that caused it?

 

[Smurfbrew]

Looks like something punched up through the web, sure enough. Are there things with round thorns in the area? I know once, Romy kept getting into the thorny blackberry patch so I ran some three foot tall fence to keep her out of it. It was a chore - she kept trying to find places she could slip under. When she found them, I'd block them.

Thanks Amiga, I'm not really sure what would cause holes so big, unless it just ripped the web when it went through. I've got raspberries growing kind of wild in one corner of the yard, plus roses, and a kind of tall grass wild area that they like to roam around in. There's all sorts of branches on the ground in there too that could've done it. It would be a pretty big job to duck-proof it all. If their run wasn't so small, I'd just leave them in there, but right now until I can upgrade it i think it would be cruel. I suppose I could just buy some duck shoes for them all and then they could go wherever they wanted!