Pekin duck limping- missing nail?

[Jen_naay]

Hi everyone. My female Pekin started limping yesterday and she will sometimes stand on one leg. I’m new to this and have no idea what bumblefoot looks like.. I took pictures of the bottom of both feet and one looks like she’s missing a nail? Should I be concerned/is there anything anyone recommends doing? Thanks!!

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

Hi everyone. My female Pekin started limping yesterday and she will sometimes stand on one leg. I’m new to this and have no idea what bumblefoot looks like.. I took pictures of the bottom of both feet and one looks like she’s missing a nail? Should I be concerned/is there anything anyone recommends doing? Thanks!!
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I don’t think it’s because of her nail but feel her legs and see if there any heat in one.

 

[Jen_naay]

I don’t think it’s because of her nail but feel her legs and see if there any heat in one.

Not warm from what I can feel

 

[KaleIAm]

My duck, Nettle, came to me as an adult missing that same nail. I decided to do nothing as she was very feral and I didn't want to risk interfering with the taming process. Within a few months it grew back! But it was much smaller than the nail on the other side.

However, it does look like there could be some small bumbles on that same foot missing a nail, or it could be dirt. Can you wash that foot well and repost the photo?

People have different favorite techniques to deal with bumblefoot. I take mine to the vet and do what they say.

 

[Isaac 0]

Hi there, sorry to hear you're having problems with your duck. Could you provide us with some more information?

What is she being fed? What is her setup like, do you have pictures? Have you inspected her leg for signs of swelling, warm spots, discoloration, etc? Could you upload a video other limping? To post a video you'll need to upload it to a video platform like youtube or Vimeo then copy/paste the link here.

I X2 on what Kale said,

"However, it does look like there could be some small bumbles on that same foot missing a nail, or it could be dirt. Can you wash that foot well and repost the photo? "

 

[Jen_naay]

Hi there, sorry to hear you're having problems with your duck. Could you provide us with some more information?

What is she being fed? What is her setup like, do you have pictures? Have you inspected her leg for signs of swelling, warm spots, discoloration, etc? Could you upload a video other limping? To post a video you'll need to upload it to a video platform like youtube or Vimeo then copy/paste the link here.

I X2 on what Kale said,

"However, it does look like there could be some small bumbles on that same foot missing a nail, or it could be dirt. Can you wash that foot well and repost the photo? "

They are out in the yard from morning until night, They go into their enclosure at night. We give them purina duck pellets. No swelling or discoloration. She still can get around ok just with a little limp. She also just started laying yesterday I thought that could have something to do with it. But I will wash her foot in the morning and re post a picture

 

[Isaac 0]

They are out in the yard from morning until night, They go into their enclosure at night. We give them purina duck pellets. No swelling or discoloration. She still can get around ok just with a little limp. She also just started laying yesterday I thought that could have something to do with it. But I will wash her foot in the morning and re post a picture

Excuse my laziness, but I'm about to copy/paste a long post I did this morning (I don't feel like retyping the whole thing).

"Basing off your profile picture I see two Pekins, and a Buff, is that correct (?) Those breeds, especially Pekins are quite heavy, so they tend to be more prone to leg problems then your lighter breeds like Indian Runners, since they grow so fast, and carry so much weight on the leg's that aren't anatomically designed to be bearing that weight for the periods we have them do so.

Most of the time, when you see wild ducks in their natural habitat, they tend to be on water. The water relieves the weight off their legs, while at the same time exercising their legs. The problems we see with ducks now, is their kept on land way too long then they're really supposed to be, so they develop, bumblefoot, strains, sprains, etc. To promote, these legs problems owners will feed diets formulated for other species like chicks, and keep them on hard compacted bare dirt.

Understanding the predisposing leg factors associated with ducks, and correcting any of them that are being incorrectly managed will greatly help in treatment, as well as prevention. So to do a quick re-cap, that would include, providing them with a deep water source that they can play in, providing them with soft grounds to walk on, and lastly, feeding them a nutritionally complete diet. If you do all of those things, which you may have already done, you will have to deal with leg problems a lot less, but on occasions, you will get a duck with a sore leg, and I'll suggest a basic treatment plan below.

If I were to see a limping duck out in the yard, I'd probably wait till they go to bed if the bird is hard to catch, and once in the coop, I'd do a thorough inspection of her feet looking for swelling of the hock area, or dermal surfaces of the footpads, any discoloration, or any warm spots. In most case's with a slight limp, it's either Bumblefoot, or some minor soft tissue damage/sprain. Since you mentioned there is no sign of bumblefoot I'll discuss what I do for minor soft tissue damage in ducks.

I tend to start off by separating the duck into a little soft padded pen area, where she can walk around a little, but not race around the yard and further damage her injury. Providing a source of water, or letting her go into a source of water to reduce any inflammation on her legs will help a lot during treatment, and if wanted, Epsom salts can be added to the mixture to help reduce even more inflammation/swelling. For pain, ideally, and what most vets will give is an NSAID like Meloxicam, but they will also use Carprofen, or Ketoprofen. If you have any of those on hand that I just mentioned, I can give you a dose, but if you don't, you only have a few options.

If you want to reduce pain, swelling, and inflammation, you can give her one 325mg tablet of aspirin and dissolve that in 250ml of water, or give her Ibuprofen, the dosage is 5-10mg/kg two-three times a day. Or if using the liquid ( 100mg per five ML/ 20mg per ml) you can administer 0.11ml per pound of bodyweight. Lastly, if you can get your hands on some DMSO gel for pets, you can dilute half of that down with water, and apply it to her leg a few times a day for additional benefits.

Just a few last things I want to mention is. One, these drugs have been used several times with birds with no problems, but its generally recommended you don't administer them for longer then the two-week mark or GI tract problems may occur. During administration always be on the lookout for any symptoms. Also not, these drugs directly interfere with their pain receptors, that said, they will think they are better even when the injury is not completely healed, So it's vital you keep them penned during treatment, so they don't further, or reinjured their leg.

If the leg or problems keep on continuing with this certain duck you may consider some sort of vertically passed on the nutritional deficiency that is causing her to develop these limps more often, such as a niacin deficiency or a calcium deficiency, and try to supplement her with both of those vitamins. "