Swelling On Duck's Toe ~ PICTURE ~ URGENT

[MzRodna]

There is no open wound...on the bottom there is a scab, should I take it off & see if I can get something out?

 

[Amiga]

I think I would soak the foot and see if the scab comes off easily.

I think that is what Haunted55 did.

 

[Haunted55]

Yes she did and she also didn't try to do this every 2 days. Did you get the decolorized iodine? Look, more isn't better with this, I'm sorry, but it just isn't. If you had to have stitches from a med. Doctor, do they tell you to clean and change the bandage every couple of days? No they don't, they want the body to heal and constant fiddling with things isn't going to do it. As soon as you put the iodine on, it is being drawn in and killing infection and the body, if allowed, will push this to the skin surface.

If me, I would pull the scab after soaking, just as Amiga said. I use an X-Acto knife blade to lift a corner and then use tweezers to pull it off. Everything sterilized! I then check inside the wound and pull out any pus I can readily get to. You can try gently squeezing and I would also look/feel really well to see if there is something still in there. After this I would again soak the foot in warm water or in my case put the duck back into the tub so it can swim around for a half hour or so. Then I would take it out, dry the foot and put the colorless iodine on, dry it and put her back in a crate or with the rest of the flock.

You cannot speed this up unless you want to get into actual cutting of the skin and digging into the wound. The only other option beyond the cutting, would be a Vet and having them do it for you.

 

[MzRodna]

Thanks...I'll quit being in a panic! I've been putting the clear iodine on (it's actually been about every 2-1/2 days). I have a 5' kiddie pool just for Lucy. I'll let her swim today and then look at the scab & see if I can get to it. I just feel bad when I see her standing and not putting weight on that foot.....(ok, maybe a bit over-protective ).

 

[Amiga]

I can understand overprotective. We want to do the best thing. Keep us posted.

 

[Haunted55]

Over protective? Can we tawlk here? Lol! I am bad about it as well. The reason I know the amount of time needed is by trial and error. A duck or goose having more 'skin' than scales needs at least 3 days in between treatments for it to show it's working. A longer time like 4-5 days is even better. A chicken on the other hand needs to be done every 3-4 days to make it work. The scales on their feet make it a bit more interesting for the iodine to be absorbed.

One thing I have learned, if you were to do this every 5-6 days, the scab is going to get bigger at first because the iodine is killing the infection and the body is pushing it out. Looks horrible but it shows it's doing it's job. Also makes it a lot easier to pick out more of the pus, although to be honest, there really wasn't all that much this way and what there was was stuck to the back of the scab. After a couple to three weeks, the scab is going to start getting smaller again until one day you are going to peel it off and see healed or healing 'skin' behind it. All you need to do is keep checking for 'heat' in the leg as you're doing this treatment. If that should happen and you start thinking this may have gone systemic, give Duramycin-10 for 7-10 days at the dosing of 1/2 tbls. per gallon of water. Would it make this part of it go faster? Not really. What you are dealing with now is a contained infection, kinda like a splinter. You wouldn't take an antibiotic for that because by the time it got to the skin in sufficient strength to do anything, the splinter is gone and the body is already healing it. The only time you would is if the wound went septic on you. Same with your bird. Not the best anology, maybe, but the best I can think of right now, lol.

 

[MallardOnni127]

It's probably bumble foot. I'm sorry I don't have much experience with this sorta thing

 

[Amiga]

So, PetDuck, how is Quackers' foot?