Possible bumblefoot in duck? Need advice

[Imjusttrying]

I tried posting in the emergency / diseases/injury care forum but didn’t get any responses yet so I wanted to try posting here

For context I’m a newbie flock owner (only 1 year now) I have chickens and ducks (separated) and they free roam which is what I’m thinking maybe have caused the bumblefoot because there’s jagged berry bushes scattered on the property they like to forage and I think maybe she stepped on one of them (honestly not sure this is the time of year there’s no berries yet so it’s just a guess)



I have a one year old rouen female duck, she was totally healthy until about 12 days ago when I noticed some swelling a minor limp, there is a tiny hole on the bottom of her foot (I have the checked the rest of the flock and they are all fine and normal)



Unfortunately I can’t afford to take her to a vet so I’ve been trying things recommended here (at this point I am considering like an online vet service like vetster because there’s nothing nearby for me to take the duck too)



Now for how I’ve been treating:



Epsom salt soak everyday and sprayed with banixx everyday (tried this for the first few days while I waited for the things listed below to come in because I ordered them but there was no improvement and swelling continued)

With gauze and bootie on I tried:

Tried prid for 3 days

Tried silver honey (which has manuka honey) for 3 days

Tried neosporin (non pain relief) for 3 days



Everyday she has a bootie on over the gauze with the treatment to keep the area dry and clean which that has been working but haven’t seen any results



Currently I have Epsom salt poultice to be delivered today, the kind made for horses which is something I seen recommended but I’m just at my wits end worrying about her



Nothing seems to help, the swelling is still there, still limping and now the hole in the foot has what appears to be something black (bumblefoot kernel?) under the skin which I haven’t been able to express by squeezing after soaks or going in with tweezers, she has also stopped laying everyday and now only lays every other day



I’ve seen mixed 50/50 on cutting or just treating with antibiotics like tricideneo and at this point I just don’t know what to do I know bumblefoot can take time to resolve but I don’t want the infection to progress



Pic is today (3/31) below before todays soak because I normally soak in the evening so that I can apply the medicine and bootie and just send her to bed basically

 

[FuzzyDinoNuggets]

Is there a vet in your area that you could take her to?

 

[FuzzyDinoNuggets]

If you gently press on it, does it feel firm or like it’s full of liquid?

 

[Imjusttrying]

If you gently press on it, does it feel firm or like it’s full of liquid?

No vet near that’s why I’ve been considering the online ones, and it feels firm when pressed

 

[FuzzyDinoNuggets]

Hmm that does sound like bumble foot. Keep trying hopefully the epsom salt will help

 

[Imjusttrying]

Hmm that does sound like bumble foot. Keep trying hopefully the epsom salt will help

That’s what I thought too, here’s hoping! I don’t want to have to cut it because it makes me nervous to cause more trauma

 

[nfoster70]

Hello, we have a 3 year old female Indian Runner duck. Last weekend we found her leg bleeding and noticed her left leg dew claw had been broken at the nail and was bleeding a little bit. We came to notice it because we saw blood on her orange leg. The toe appears fine. It it not warm to the touch or swollen. We did some duck first aid and put blue cote on it for the night. For the following week, we’ve soaked it in some warm baths, kept her separated so she lays down and stays off of it, and did one epsom salt bath.

Flash forward to today and she isn’t putting weight on the other foot. We examined this leg not realizing that it wasn’t the foot with the broken claw until an hour or so ago. It doesn’t feel warm, and doesn’t appear infected. She has no sensitivity to me touching the leg in any place. But when put on the ground she stands on one leg, has restricted movement and doesn’t follow the other ducks, but if forced to walk she has a noticeable limp or swims. We put some T-Relief cream on both legs tonight and have her separated from the rest of the ducks as a precaution.

Could the forum help me identify if this is actually from bumblefoot as she has a bigger callous on the foot she isn’t putting weight on, than the other. I can’t tell if it is bumblefoot or we are dealing with a sprain/strain situation. Pictures are attached.

Thank you for the help in advance!

 

[Imjusttrying]

Hello, we have a 3 year old female Indian Runner duck. Last weekend we found her leg bleeding and noticed her left leg dew claw had been broken at the nail and was bleeding a little bit. We came to notice it because we saw blood on her orange leg. The toe appears fine. It it not warm to the touch or swollen. We did some duck first aid and put blue cote on it for the night. For the following week, we’ve soaked it in some warm baths, kept her separated so she lays down and stays off of it, and did one epsom salt bath.

Flash forward to today and she isn’t putting weight on the other foot. We examined this leg not realizing that it wasn’t the foot with the broken claw until an hour or so ago. It doesn’t feel warm, and doesn’t appear infected. She has no sensitivity to me touching the leg in any place. But when put on the ground she stands on one leg, has restricted movement and doesn’t follow the other ducks, but if forced to walk she has a noticeable limp or swims. We put some T-Relief cream on both legs tonight and have her separated from the rest of the ducks as a precaution.

Could the forum help me identify if this is actually from bumblefoot as she has a bigger callous on the foot she isn’t putting weight on, than the other. I can’t tell if it is bumblefoot or we are dealing with a sprain/strain situation. Pictures are attached.

Thank you for the help in advance!

I am not very experienced considering I had to make the original post but from what research I have seen and based on looking at my own flocks feet it doesn’t look like bumblefoot (from what I’ve seen, even if it doesn’t have a scab, it would be swollen a lot and even red) but if her other leg was hurting because of the claw she may have been putting more weight on the other leg which just overworked it for a few days and now it’s sore too

I can’t say for sure but that is what I would assume in the situation, epsom salt is supposed to soothe aches and pains so that would probably help if she’s hurting and I’ve been using epsom salt poultice on bumblefoot in my duck and she doesn’t limp as much as she used to she gets around pretty well and it seems to be bringing it to the surface slowly so I’m still doing soaks and keeping it bandage with poultice but swimming will help keep pressure off the foot and the epsom salt may help soothe if it’s achy

 

[Imjusttrying]

Current update on my ducks bumblefoot:

Have been using Epsom salt poultice because it seems to work better then prid at drawing to the surface…it’s slow going but soaking and the poultice seems to be working it out so I’m just waiting currently because when I try to go in I can’t get a grip on it still but it is closer to the surface

It no longer feels hot and she is not limping as bad, still not laying everyday like she was but she is getting around a lot better

Swelling hasn’t gone down but no redness has appeared, the skin around it is still white like it’s stretched because of the kernel of the bumblefoot…there is that tiny hole that is slowly getting a little bigger as it’s moving to the surface so I’m hoping we will be able to remove with tweezer in a few days then I will use the silver honey because it worked very well on other wounds I’ve used it on for my other animals along with Neosporin

 

[Imjusttrying]

update!!!

Epsom salt poultice for the win!!! It took about a week to maybe 9 days but I went by the instructions on the jar that said to leave for 36-48 hours and then check it

First time I applied I only left it for 24 hours because I wasn’t sure how it would react to her but the following day she wasn’t limping as much so I then soaked her and started doing the poultice for 48 hours, soak in Epsom salt, and then reapply the poultice for another 48 hours

Yesterday after her soak it popped right out with a little bit of squeezing! We didn’t need to cut it or even use tweezers (couldn’t get a good grip with the tweezers anyways)

It bled for a second after initial removal so I flushed it with banixx and it basically stopped bleeding after that

It did leave a gaping hole which I read to pack with neosporin (no pain relief). So I packed it with neosporin, put some silver honey around the edges and then bandages with gauze and bootie to keep it dry. Immediately when I put her back in her coop she was walking without a limp and seemed very lively so I’m hoping for a speedy recovery