I'm posting this in a couple of different places, hoping for some help...
Hey, friends, I have a question for any of you who knows about ducks or bumblefoot. One of my 'rescue' ducks from back in November has come down with bumblefoot. Every morning, I let the ducks out and they waddle through the pasture, down to the creek, to play all day. In the evening, they all waddle back up and wait by the gate to the chicken yard to be let back in. A couple of days ago, my DH were out in the pasture when they were doing their evening waddle back up. We watched in amusement (it's just too cute to see them do the waddle dance), and noticed Miss Priss was limping. We followed, and I picked her up as we were letting them back in the gate. Sure enough, she had the classic bumble on the bottom of her foot. Her ankle was slightly swollen and warm, as well.
I came inside and performed a bumblefoot search on here. Yesterday, I went to TSC and picked up some scalpels, vet wrap, 3-way ointment, and bird-size needles. I've got Dura-Pen in the fridge that has never been used, but I keep it 'just in case'. It says it's for beef cattle, and expires in 2012. Some of the posts I have read have said to give this to ducks at a dosage of 1cc per day for about 5 days. I've never administered antibiotic, and I'm nervous. Anyone have any pointers?
I soaked her foot yesterday in a diluted iodine solution for 15 minutes. Then, I wrapped her in a towel, slipped on some surgical gloves, and opened the scalpel. Based on what I read on here, I was expecting to cut into a cheesy-like hard substance that I could simply squeeze out. Nope. She started to bleed, and it freaked me out. I was not expecting blood. I couldn't even see what was there, because of the blood. So I applied pressure, stopped the bleeding, put some ointment on a cotton ball and wrapped her foot/ankle in vet wrap. Then I cried and stressed out all night, thinking that I did something horribly wrong and wondering if she was going to bleed to death or get blood poisoning from the staph entering the bloodstream. I had separated her and put her into the lambing pen (which is not in use right now). I also put my 7 ducklings in with her to keep her company. This morning, she had laid her usual egg, her wrapping was still on (and not bloody), and she was eating and drinking and playing with the ducklings. She's still limping.
I'm scared to death to try the scalpel thing again. From what I've read, you've got to get the 'core' thing out. How the heck do you do that when they are bleeding? I've read a couple of posts where they said you can cure it just with Dura-Pen injections. Can someone help me out with this? Thanks so much!
Hey, friends, I have a question for any of you who knows about ducks or bumblefoot. One of my 'rescue' ducks from back in November has come down with bumblefoot. Every morning, I let the ducks out and they waddle through the pasture, down to the creek, to play all day. In the evening, they all waddle back up and wait by the gate to the chicken yard to be let back in. A couple of days ago, my DH were out in the pasture when they were doing their evening waddle back up. We watched in amusement (it's just too cute to see them do the waddle dance), and noticed Miss Priss was limping. We followed, and I picked her up as we were letting them back in the gate. Sure enough, she had the classic bumble on the bottom of her foot. Her ankle was slightly swollen and warm, as well.
I came inside and performed a bumblefoot search on here. Yesterday, I went to TSC and picked up some scalpels, vet wrap, 3-way ointment, and bird-size needles. I've got Dura-Pen in the fridge that has never been used, but I keep it 'just in case'. It says it's for beef cattle, and expires in 2012. Some of the posts I have read have said to give this to ducks at a dosage of 1cc per day for about 5 days. I've never administered antibiotic, and I'm nervous. Anyone have any pointers?
I soaked her foot yesterday in a diluted iodine solution for 15 minutes. Then, I wrapped her in a towel, slipped on some surgical gloves, and opened the scalpel. Based on what I read on here, I was expecting to cut into a cheesy-like hard substance that I could simply squeeze out. Nope. She started to bleed, and it freaked me out. I was not expecting blood. I couldn't even see what was there, because of the blood. So I applied pressure, stopped the bleeding, put some ointment on a cotton ball and wrapped her foot/ankle in vet wrap. Then I cried and stressed out all night, thinking that I did something horribly wrong and wondering if she was going to bleed to death or get blood poisoning from the staph entering the bloodstream. I had separated her and put her into the lambing pen (which is not in use right now). I also put my 7 ducklings in with her to keep her company. This morning, she had laid her usual egg, her wrapping was still on (and not bloody), and she was eating and drinking and playing with the ducklings. She's still limping.
I'm scared to death to try the scalpel thing again. From what I've read, you've got to get the 'core' thing out. How the heck do you do that when they are bleeding? I've read a couple of posts where they said you can cure it just with Dura-Pen injections. Can someone help me out with this? Thanks so much!
