Hi ya'll! I have a male pekin duck named Pip. 2 months ago, we noticed that Pip, our strongest and most aggressive male, was limping. He is a very large breed as you may know, and it isn't uncommon for him to be clumsy and fall out of the pool. Not like it was a long fall, most of the ducks could hop out with ease, since they were smaller breeds. (and of course, Pip just HAD to avoid using the steps. 
) Anyway, we figured he had a sprain due to a fall, or even a break. I did a little research, and the possibility of bumblefoot arose. I've heard of at-home surgery for bumblefoot, so I wasn't that concerned. We decided to call a vet to see if Pip could go in for an appointment to get his leg x-rayed for any signs of a break. The vet told us over the phone that this would cost us $250 since they don't often work with ducks. $250!!! Just for an x-ray??? I wanted to help Pip more than anything, believe me. I had raised Pip from the day he hatched, and he's always been my baby. Losing him would be horrible. We decided to check out the signs of bumblefoot, and see if we could figure out what was wrong. we saw bumps, but no visible scabs. we made a small incision, and squeezed it, to see what came out. it was just blood. The lumps were calluses. now we were really lost. We sprayed Pip's foot with poultry wound spray, wrapped it up, and then went back to the drawing board. 
Within a day, Pip's foot SWELLED. his leg, all the way up, was TWICE the size. I panicked big time. It had to be an infection. if not, a sprain. He didn't use his leg at all, and would just sit around. I separated him from the rest of the flock, and put one of our females in the pen with him. she must have realized that he couldn't walk, because she quacked at him for a while, then sat down beside him for the rest of the day, never leaving his side. 
Sure it was cute, but I was WORRIED! He couldn't get up to eat or drink! I made him a deep nest that allowed him to relive pressure off his leg, them placed a pan of water and food in front of him, for easy access. For pain we gave him ibuprofen, crushed up, on some bread. he nibbled it a bit, but didn't eat all of it. It was a staph infection, Judging from the swelling that would worsen each day. I knew how serious they were, and each day that passed, I would pray I would hear pip's raspy quack when I entered the barn. We didn't stop looking for help. THEN ONE DAY.....We got a call from a different vet, (from canada) telling us that he could give us free advice for our duck, since he understood the costly treatment of vet care. We were so excited to finally heal poor Pip! The injections we were told to administer to Pip worked! His leg is still slightly swollen, but he DEFINITELY feels better! He started to eat, drink, and even manages to "run", though he has to stop and take a break. 
Campbell, his mate, will always wait for him to catch up, before she goes inside for the night. If he get's tired and stops for a breather, she'll rest with him. He's getting better every day.
BIG thanks to the vet that helped us, knowing that healing Pip was worth more than money.
) Anyway, we figured he had a sprain due to a fall, or even a break. I did a little research, and the possibility of bumblefoot arose. I've heard of at-home surgery for bumblefoot, so I wasn't that concerned. We decided to call a vet to see if Pip could go in for an appointment to get his leg x-rayed for any signs of a break. The vet told us over the phone that this would cost us $250 since they don't often work with ducks. $250!!! Just for an x-ray??? I wanted to help Pip more than anything, believe me. I had raised Pip from the day he hatched, and he's always been my baby. Losing him would be horrible. We decided to check out the signs of bumblefoot, and see if we could figure out what was wrong. we saw bumps, but no visible scabs. we made a small incision, and squeezed it, to see what came out. it was just blood. The lumps were calluses. now we were really lost. We sprayed Pip's foot with poultry wound spray, wrapped it up, and then went back to the drawing board. Within a day, Pip's foot SWELLED. his leg, all the way up, was TWICE the size. I panicked big time. It had to be an infection. if not, a sprain. He didn't use his leg at all, and would just sit around. I separated him from the rest of the flock, and put one of our females in the pen with him. she must have realized that he couldn't walk, because she quacked at him for a while, then sat down beside him for the rest of the day, never leaving his side. Sure it was cute, but I was WORRIED! He couldn't get up to eat or drink! I made him a deep nest that allowed him to relive pressure off his leg, them placed a pan of water and food in front of him, for easy access. For pain we gave him ibuprofen, crushed up, on some bread. he nibbled it a bit, but didn't eat all of it. It was a staph infection, Judging from the swelling that would worsen each day. I knew how serious they were, and each day that passed, I would pray I would hear pip's raspy quack when I entered the barn. We didn't stop looking for help. THEN ONE DAY.....We got a call from a different vet, (from canada) telling us that he could give us free advice for our duck, since he understood the costly treatment of vet care. We were so excited to finally heal poor Pip! The injections we were told to administer to Pip worked! His leg is still slightly swollen, but he DEFINITELY feels better! He started to eat, drink, and even manages to "run", though he has to stop and take a break. Campbell, his mate, will always wait for him to catch up, before she goes inside for the night. If he get's tired and stops for a breather, she'll rest with him. He's getting better every day. BIG thanks to the vet that helped us, knowing that healing Pip was worth more than money.
