Possible bumblefoot?

[Rozenkruetz]

One of my ducks (a gold harlequin) was lightly limping, which has happened before and was fixed with some brewer's yeast, but this time it became worse and when I checked she had a black scab a little under a quarter of an inch on her foot, there was no swelling and the area wasn't warm. After reading many threads on BF I gave her a warm Epsom soak and peeled the scab off. There wasn't any puss (when squeezed a little blood came out) and I couldn't see anything in the wound so I put some Iodine on it, wrapped it up and contained her. Would this be early bumblefoot or is it just that she may have injured her foot somehow? I have some terra-vet 10 antibiotic that I can give her but I haven't found anything on dosing or if its used for BF. I would have taken a picture but she was already very displeased with this treatment and trying to operate a camera while holding her wasn't going to work, I'll try again later though. Any help would be appreciated.

On a positive note the other ducks go over and check on her frequently so she isn't too lonely.

 

[Fletch83]

Do you think you can post a picture? In my experience bumblefoot can be present without very much swelling when it first develops. The round, black bumblefoot scab on the bottom of the foot is the dead giveaway.

I'll share an old picture of bumblefoot on one of my hen's so you can compare:

 

[Rozenkruetz]

There is definitely a black scab, so i guess that means its bumblefoot was hoping it was something else... Oh well. So since there is no puss and I don't see anything in it would it still be necessary to operate or could I get away with applying antibiotic cream and continuing the epsom soak and iodine while she is kenneled?
Also I have read about preventing BF in chickens but how does one go about that when you have ducks and moisture is going to a constant? I have mine on gravel in the coop and free range during the day btw.

 

[Fletch83]

I have never had any luck with bumblefoot surgery to be honest, although others here have. Whenever I have tried to do it, I felt like I was making it worse. I have had limited luck with iodine & epsom soaks, and have also used chlorhexidine soaks with more success. It does take quite some time and a LOT of soaking. People here have also been able to treat bumblefoot using tricide neo soaks (if you Google it you will see that is is often used for fish) - it's worked for me in the past too.

Staph does like to live in warm & moist conditions so I guess there is little we can do about that kind of bacteria in our environments! Making sure that they are on soft footing in their coop and run, and having plenty of "padding" when jumping down from their roosts would prevent any lacerations or wounds on the feet to begin with.