The Duck Thread

[LadyIsadora]

I love these videos! Thank you both for sharing

We got snow here again. Yesterday went from 70 and breezy to 33 and snowy, and it's still coming down. My babies are currently living the life in their own spot in the tack shed with a warm light and plenty of hay bedding

DH says they're spoiled. Darn right!

Love all the videos, I have not learned to post my own yet.

This snow is not entertaining! We got about 8 inches In Kearns. I had to rake it off the pen roof so it would not collapse. My little 12 little peeps have to stay in the pen today with their heat lamps, and they are quite vocal about it. The 7 week pekins dont seem to mind it much though.

 

[ducklover31]

Someone please help! I have this duck that I noticed it limping about 5 days ago so earlier today I checked its foot and the bottom of its foot is swollen so I'm just assuming its bumblefoot but I'm not sure so how do I know its its too late to treat it? Any information would be greatly appreciated

 

[duck hatcher]

I had bumblefoot with one of my road island reds, not a duck, but pretty much the same thing. Can you take a picture of it? Anyways, if it is bumblefoot, you can either call an animal vet that takes chickens, or cut the foot open yourself, like I did. I looked up videos and there are different ways to cut it, so I'd look up videos first if you want to do it yourself. Also, you can use essential oils for the foot, I used it and it really helped. you can soak the foot in Epson salt an hour or two before you or a vet cut the foot. (both the oils and salt clean the infection.) Then you can get some soft gauze, get some Neosporin and PURE tea tree oil and mix it together, put it on the gauze, lay it around the foot with the toes out, then put some self-adhering wrap things around the foot. If you have other ducks or chickens, even, make sure the duck with the bumblefoot stays in a cage out of site from the other ones so it doesn't get picked on and for it to be out of site is for it not to be depressed 24/7. I would keep the duck in a cage until it stops limping almost completely. If you cut it, look up a video. You have to make sure all of the infection comes out. It kinda looks like a fat blob on cooked chicken, lol! anyways, you have to squeeze the swollen part for it to come out. you can also rub an ice cube on the foot to numb it a little, but I wouldn't give the chicken any numbing medicine, because most have an ingredient in it that can KILL them, so I really don't recommend it. Ice cubes work just fine. anyways, don't worry about blood coming out, it will do that no matter what. If you don't want to deal with a squirming duck, wrap it in a blanket, put it upside down in your lap, and put a towel over it's head and talk to it in a soothing voice so it won't freak out. I think you should do it yourself, since it's not too hard at all and it costs way less! Well, good luck on your duck, and any questions I'll answer, or anyone else!

 

[Amiga]

Someone please help! I have this duck that I noticed it limping about 5 days ago so earlier today I checked its foot and the bottom of its foot is swollen so I'm just assuming its bumblefoot but I'm not sure so how do I know its its too late to treat it? Any information would be greatly appreciated

With ducks I think cutting the foot is so risky that I recommend other treatments. Will be back in a few.

If it is bumblefoot, you do not have to cut the bumble if it is small, you just need to either put triple antibiotic ointment (no painkiller) on the foot twice a day until it clears, which can take 3 or 4 weeks, or follow this advice from Haunted55:

On July 1st, I found one of my Pekin ducks with what I would consider a bad case of Bumblefoot. Both feet were involved and I'm ashamed to say, the only way I found it was she was limping. One foot had 7 and the other had 3. I was able to grab her and bring her into the house and put her into a warm bath to clean and soak. Two water changes later and softened feet, all I had time to do was paint the bumbles with colorless iodine, grabbed the wrong stuff, and put her into a dog crate in my house until I could get everything ready to operate and get them gone. Did I mention the thought of this scared me half to death?

Sad to say it took 6 days before i was able to get everything together and someone to help out with the 'cure'. There really wasn't much to operate on, even though I was prepared to do just that. No matter how much squeezing or prodding or soaking, there just wasn't anything more to come out, it was all on the scabs that were covering the sores. The swelling was down from the 'marbles' I saw when I first found them. I poured betadine over the ones I had opened and painted the ones that I hadn't again with the iodine and put her back into her crate with clean bedding.

The bumbles have been dramatically reduced on the Pekin with just the iodine application and the smaller ones totally gone. The heels being the worst are still showing infection and need for more treatment. tomorrow, I will again give a bath and pull/cut out the scabbing and treat with straight iodine this time. These spots are now flat or as flat as they should be considering the part of the foot they are on. I will still touch up the places that had the spots before as well.

 

[duck hatcher]

I don't know TOO much about ducks and treatments with ducks, i'm more of a chicken person, and their treatments :/

 

[strue08]

Any one have any ideas on breeds for these little babies

Look like khakis

 

[strue08]

Okay duck people-I have a question of my own- we finally got a letter saying the avian flu quarantine is over after over a month (yay!) in celebration we are getting week old mallard ducklings-my question to you is can you sing sex the like chicks? (Makes have one row of feathers on wings, females have two rows)? We need two males and two females and there isn't too much room for mistake and i don't want to risk it with vent sexing them since I'm inexperienced in that field

 

[strue08]

Mine had

With ducks I think cutting the foot is so risky that I recommend other treatments. Will be back in a few.

If it is bumblefoot, you do not have to cut the bumble if it is small, you just need to either put triple antibiotic ointment (no painkiller) on the foot twice a day until it clears, which can take 3 or 4 weeks, or follow this advice from Haunted55:

On July 1st, I found one of my Pekin ducks with what I would consider a bad case of Bumblefoot. Both feet were involved and I'm ashamed to say, the only way I found it was she was limping. One foot had 7 and the other had 3. I was able to grab her and bring her into the house and put her into a warm bath to clean and soak. Two water changes later and softened feet, all I had time to do was paint the bumbles with colorless iodine, grabbed the wrong stuff, and put her into a dog crate in my house until I could get everything ready to operate and get them gone. Did I mention the thought of this scared me half to death?

Sad to say it took 6 days before i was able to get everything together and someone to help out with the 'cure'. There really wasn't much to operate on, even though I was prepared to do just that. No matter how much squeezing or prodding or soaking, there just wasn't anything more to come out, it was all on the scabs that were covering the sores. The swelling was down from the 'marbles' I saw when I first found them. I poured betadine over the ones I had opened and painted the ones that I hadn't again with the iodine and put her back into her crate with clean bedding.

The bumbles have been dramatically reduced on the Pekin with just the iodine application and the smaller ones totally gone. The heels being the worst are still showing infection and need for more treatment. tomorrow, I will again give a bath and pull/cut out the scabbing and treat with straight iodine this time. These spots are now flat or as flat as they should be considering the part of the foot they are on. I will still touch up the places that had the spots before as well.

one of mine had that! We did Epsom salt bathes daily and wrapped it, but we also made the mistake of trying to cut it open and the webbing of her foot fell off (she now swims in circles) but change the bedding-it's too harsh on its feet and salt bathes are going to be your friend

 

[needlessjunk]

Drakes mellow with age right? Right now Mr Rubble is a mating machine and the girls are starting to lose feathers on their backs. He will mate in the pool but mostly chases the girls and throws them on the ground and does his thing. Will he start to calm down? Right now he is around 6 months give or take. My smaller girls seem to be missing the most feathers but nothing is raw or red. I'm just keeping a close eye on it right now.

 

[RedIII]

Drakes mellow with age right? Right now Mr Rubble is a mating machine and the girls are starting to lose feathers on their backs. He will mate in the pool but mostly chases the girls and throws them on the ground and does his thing. Will he start to calm down? Right now he is around 6 months give or take. My smaller girls seem to be missing the most feathers but nothing is raw or red. I'm just keeping a close eye on it right now.

If drakes are like roosters, then I would guess yes, he will calm down with age. However, I'm not very knowledgable about ducks :/ If he get too rambunctious, you could always separate him for a bit to give the girls a break. Sometimes my roosters get out of hand and go to timeout.