Is this Bumblefoot on my duck?? What should I do?

[sushi1222]

Hi! I am new so nice to meet everyone! I have been raising 4 khaki Campbells since July of 2020. They started laying a few months ago and have been the best! I am a first-time duck mom so please give me some advice. I found a large bump on one of my ducks and I am not sure what to do. I have been soaking her foot in Epsom salt baths 2x a day and applying Vetericyn and triple action care with a cotton pad and wrapping it in vet wrap. She is currently in a dog crate with food, water, and pine shavings. When I first found the bump, she was not limping. She seemed happy. After her first few baths, the plug on the bump loosened so I removed it with a tweezer. The inside looked white and hard. I tried to do squeeze the kernel out with my partner holding her on her back. I tried using a tweezer to possibly pick it out but it started to bleed a little and looked fleshy, which made me nervous. However, around the edges is still white and cheese-like. I ended up putting Vetericyn and the triple action care on her again and wrapping it up. Is this bumblefoot? If so, does this seem like an easy case where I can just soak her foot and the stuff inside will be drawn out? Should I dig in more?? I saw a video where someone cut around the plug and pull out the kernel but I am very uncomfortable with cutting into her foot like that. Do ducks feel pain down there?

Thank you so much! Please let me know what I should do. Photos attached. There is a photo when I first found the bump and the second photo is after the plug was removed and I tried to remove the kernel.

 

[KaleIAm]

It does look like bumblefoot to me. When my ducks used to get bumblefoot I took them to the vet and followed their instructions. Your duck's bumble looks a bit bigger than mine so I'm not sure if the treatment would be the same.

My veterinarian recommended keeping my ducks on soft surfaces, like grass outside, thick layers of straw in their coop, or multiple layers of towels inside the house. She had me remove all gravel, rocks, boards, and hard surfaces. Since I started doing that my ducks haven't had bumblefoot for years.

 

[Isaac 0]

In more developed cases of bumblefoot, simply applying topical ointments will not suffice, and surgical debridement of the lesion is often indicated. Many do minor surgery at home, but if you feel squeamish about doing so, I think it may be best to have a veterinarian step in. If she were mine, I'd likely continue soaking to achieve softening of the eschar, then cut the eschar out with a scalpel, squeeze any puss, or caseous material out, pack with an antibacterial ointment, and bandage.

 

[IttyBittyBirdy]

It does look like bumble foot. You need to get the plug out or it won't go away and will get worse.
They do feel pain, but they're able to tolerate it a lot better than a human.

Here's what you need:
-epsom salt
-bucket or bowl
-gloves (if you have open cuts, I really recommend this)
-I used vet wrap (find it in the horse section at TSC) as it was on hand, but you could use something else.
-gauze
-scalpel & tweezers

Here's what I did:
Soak the foot in warm water + Epsom salt and make sure it's clean. Do a little scrub if necessary.
Cut the foot just above and below, starting from the plug and out a little bit. For Baby I added a slit about 1cm. This will help get it out. It will bleed, keep some gauze or something to wipe away as you get it out. I used tweezers to grab the plug and got it all out. Some people use a biopsy punch, I never have.
Once it's all out, you'll clean it again and then I smeared neosporin on it and use vetericyn too, and wrapped it in gauze and some vet wrap. I changed it every 2 days for a week, just to make sure it was kept clean and that the neosporin did its job.
Remember to breathe, it's okay to feel squeamish about it. It helps to have your partner hold your chicken in a towel.

 

[sushi1222]

Thank you so much for the advice and recommendations! I have been continuing to soak her foot and wrapping it in vetericyn and triple action care once a day. With your encouragement, I will try again to get the plug and pus out in a few days with the help of my partner. I decided to let her back out into the run with her foot wrap and be with her friends because she was getting really stressed inside. She is walking and playing with her friends happily which I felt was better than seeing her stressed in the crate quacking all day. Will let you know of any changes I see with her foot tomorrow!