My duck can’t walk!

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Can we rule out sepsis?
It has been contested on this board but these are our babies and cash. This is how I treat early stage bumbleds foot. If it does not cure, it helps at least.
May your Duck be well soon.

@YodaBat - Admit it: You're not trying to fix their bumblefoot, you are pre-seasoning your ducks!

Sepsis was my first thought too! @Cayuga Lover - Your duck has chronic bumblefoot you wrote. Does she have permanent bumbles on her foot or do new bumbles spring up after the old ones have healed off? Has her LEFT foot/leg ever felt hot to the touch (hotter than the right one)?
It could be, that she has a chronic infection in her body and her immune system has been weakened over time. Now she got the antibiotics that killed a lot of those bacteria, but left some resistant onse over and her immune system was just too weak to kill those off.
If a vet is not an option - to rule out any kind of injury - i would give her high doses of FishMox (Amoxicillin) for the next two weeks, just to make sure that any lurking infection is suppressed. I would also mix Vitamin C into her drinking water, 1 teaspoon per gallon give her immune system a kick in the rump. Yes i know most of it will be wasted, but that stuff is dirt cheap.

 

[DuckyDonna]

Bless her heart. Just because we’ve seen amazing things with this maybe you could put her on liquid B Complex TSC has the best one brand name Durvet. It will say injectable but giving it orally works great I’d give it to her by mouth 1 ml a day. It’s an inexpensive option that will help with strengthen the leg muscles. If you put her into a tub of warm water can she swim around using both legs? Water therapy is another way to help strengthen her legs. If this is nutrient then you should see. Improvement with the b complex and water therapy. If it’s an infection or inflammation then she may need another course of antibiotics. We’re def not vets but can give advise on our experiences and what has helped others.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If you think this is sepsis and you can. Might be a good idea to have the vet look at her again.

 

[Cayuga Lover]

@WannaBeHillBilly she doesn’t get new bumbles but her foot will swell periodically and take a week or so to go back down. She almost always has a scab on it, too. But that’s her right foot. She’s now favoring her left.

As far as sepsis - she’s not acting sick, she’s acting injured. And she’s definitely favoring her left leg/foot now. She also yelled when we first touched it when we were examining her. So I’m inclined to think it’s not sepsis. Am I incorrect?

Oh and neither one of her feet and legs are warm or hot to the touch.

Also, order the vitamin b stuff. Thank you @Miss Lydia!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Did you put her in warm water and let her float? See how she uses her left leg?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

@WannaBeHillBilly she doesn’t get new bumbles but her foot will swell periodically and take a week or so to go back down. She almost always has a scab on it, too. But that’s her right foot. She’s now favoring her left.

As far as sepsis - she’s not acting sick, she’s acting injured. And she’s definitely favoring her left leg/foot now. She also yelled when we first touched it when we were examining her. So I’m inclined to think it’s not sepsis. Am I incorrect?

That in fact sounds like an injury! If a duck shows you that something hurts (yelling) it must hurt really, really bad! They usually do not flinch a bit.
Either an x-ray or ultrasound at the vet or rest, rest and some more rest. A duck-swing might be an option to keep her from moving around and making the injury worse.

 

[Cayuga Lover]

@Miss Lydia we have not yet, but we will get her in a tub! We have dogs who need to never be near the ducks so it’s difficult to find the exact right time!

@WannaBeHillBilly what is a duck swing? Sounds intriguing!

The odd thing is she didn’t actually do anything to injure it that we saw. She’s not outside so it’s not like she took a big fall or something. We don’t understand what the heck has happened to her!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

A Duck-swing - i just deducted from a chick-chair: A piece of fabric with three holes in it, one for each leg, one for the poop and then let your duck dangle in mid air. This way she can't put any weight on her legs and is restrained, so that she can't move around.
Examples for chick-chairs are here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/post-18356950
You just need to be creative and hope the duck won't chicken out...

 

[Cayuga Lover]

I rushed a bit through my last couple posts, so I want to make sure everyone has all the information.

When I pick her up, she puts her belly/breast against my chest, her neck on my shoulder and usually “stands” on my hand. When we picked her up to examine her, she got in that position. She was putting weight on her right foot on my hand, but her left was tucked upwards between her and me. When we gently moved it down so we could see it, she yelled. Then she let us examine it and move every joint without a peep. But I could not get her to put weight on her left foot which is unusual. She is a super tough girl as evidenced by the number of times we or the vet have cut into her right foot trying to clear the infection. We were both surprised when she yelled because we were just moving her left leg.

Again, we have no earthly idea what she did to it which is the confusing part! She was getting stronger and healthy and then one day couldn’t walk! It’s so upsetting!

@WannaBeHillBilly thank you for the link! I’m not sure how we’d get that into the area we have the ducks...it used to be our dining room...but we’re putting our thinking caps on.

To everyone - how do you calm your ducks? We want to get her in the tub but all of our ducks are very skittish with new things and we don’t know how to make it not stressful for her. And we need the dogs to probably be outside and we’re getting a snow and ice storm tonight and tomorrow. Life is never easy!

 

[Miss Lydia]

When I want to do any kind of medical things with my ducks etc I wrap them in a large towel that keep wings close to their body. If you can get her into the water wrapped then wring our the towel hang to dry.