Thanks guys, you're both absolutely correct. building again today and tomorrow, if Im lucky...these birds are outa here!
If you paint the iodine on and let it dry. the body is already absorbing it. Iodine is something that every living creature needs in one form or another. If allowed to dry and the small amount you'd be painting on their bumbles isn't going to hurt them at all. How much water does your pool hold? If you had 100 ducks being treated this way and all you had was a large kiddie pool...yeah, that might be an issue, lol.
The idea of doing it at night is a good one and what I normally do. This way there is maximum absorbtion over night. The 30 mins to an hour would work as well probably. Just slower. I have a couple that are outside still with their flock mates. They've been snatched and painted and then turned loose again. The only difference I am seeing is the black scab, when taken off, isn't as thick with stuff as the ones who are inside with me. This just means it will take a little longer to heal and get it gone.
When I do this, I let them be for 2-3 days after the painting. Inside ducks or outside, doesn't matter. Once the iodine soaks into the tissue, it is going to kill any infection it can reach, hence the thick black scab. You will need to continue with the painting until the whole thing is gone. Sometimes the birds will pull them off themselves and all you'll find is nice clean skin where the bumble was, other times you'll pull the scab and find nothing beneath it except flat normal skin. Awesome huh?
The antibiotic suggested to Pet Duck was as Miss Lydia and Amiga have said. Where there was heat in the leg and the bumble seemed to be more of an internal thing with out the normal brown scab, I was concerned that it was turning septic and would start affecting the internal body parts and blood. Not cool. Normally, you wouldn't need it because they are a surface infection. Yeah they're in the skin, but if we had a infected splinter we wouldn't run for an antibiotic, we treat it other ways first. Same with these. I hope this helps. I started another thread with these ideas and directions but haven't had the time to finish putting more up on it. I do have something else I am going to be trying as soon as I get these chickens out! I need to try it first before I'll share, as I am not sure just how well it will work and what it might do. Not being a jerk, just don't want to give out bad information that could cause harm to anyones' birds.
