Recurring bumblefoot— help!

[MollyHSmith]

One of my ducks has a recurring case of bumblefoot. She previously had it in January of this year— I soaked her feet twice a day in Epsom salts but the scabs never came off & I decided to not pry them out. I ended up switching from Epsom salts to chlorhexidine and it helped SO MUCH— she was able to walk again & live normally fairly quickly. To be honest, I was in my first trimester of pregnancy and ended up getting too nauseous to continue treatment, so since she was functional & seemed to be feeling better, we just went back to normal life for a while and everything seemed okay.

I noticed she started limping again this week, so I’ve started back up on foot soaks in warm water with chlorhexidine & wrapping with vet wrap. The one thing I’ve added to the routine this time is Prid’s drawing salve to see if that will help loosen the scabs. I also have some antibiotic fish flakes on hand if it seems like she needs medication. Poor girl has multiple scabs on each foot. She’s my lightest weighing duck (Khaki Campbell) and none of my other birds have had any issues.

I’m posting photos of each foot & would love advice if you have any! I’m two weeks away from my pregnancy due date, lol, so I’m hoping it can be resolved before I have a baby

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Hi! I'm assuming that bumblefoot in ducks is similar to bumblefoot in chickens l, so I'll tell you what I did with my (chicken) hen Vicky who had bumblefoot..
I don't believe the scab and core will come out on its own after the foot soak. The soak is just meant to loosen the scab enough so that you can remove it. You do have to go in and try to wiggle it out of there, it should be attached to the core which I believe to be like a bacterial build up kind of thing..it can appear as stringy bits or as a solid chunk...again, I'm not sure if bumblefoot looks the same in ducks as it does chickens. I really recommend reading The Chicken Chick's article about bumblefoot, I can't attach a link cuz I'm on my phone..once u r done with treatment go ahead and put a square of gauze on the affected area, then wrap securely with vetwrap/athletic tape which you can get at Walmart in the human first aid section. Best of luck to you...also, go check your duck coop (sorry I don't know what its called) for any sharp objects such as splintered wood. Chances are that she got it while waddling outside.