Venus the (now) lame duck Is there a way to make her less attractive?

[Miss Lydia]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Im taking notes and trying my best. she does have some hard callous like spots on the bottom of her foot but it doesnt look bad really. Im dousing the whole foot with peroxide & Neosporin after her compress and soak just in case its a bumble type issue.
She sits around all day unless I put her in the warm tub. I locked up the drakes & leave her in her kennel with the door open. She did go out to the middle of the lawn & sit there under the tree visiting with her friends for a bit after her morning treatment yesterday. But then I have to chase her down to treat her or put her away for the night...not that she hops away very fast, but I think it hurts her.
I am sorry I havent replied all weekend. I Got unexpected company. Vet is not an option for various reasons. Headed to the feed store for meds now. The swelling is no better. It is hard to tend a duck when company is in the house ;-) Im coming down with a nasty summer cold myself so this is getting more unpleasant by the day.

Peroxide is okay for initially cleaning a wound but it can hurt new tissue so don't use the peroxide repeatedly. The colorless iodine Amiga mentioned is really a good way to treat. Chasing her is only going to aggravate the problem so keeping her in a small pen like Ren2014 is a better way to help her and treat her no running down. Hope you and her feel better real soon.

 

[julia305]

Hi how is Venus doing?

I hope you are feeling better too

 

[LadyIsadora]

She is still alive, Thanks for asking. I cant tell you how much your continued support helps. I just want to give up sometimes. There is so much to do this time of year, and treating her is time consuming. It does not seem to be helping. But not treating certainly wont help. I keep trying different things to help her. Nothing seems to help too much, it looks worse to me.
Thanks for the heads up about the peroxide, I stopped doing that and went to Witch Hazel instead. Baths have fresh Comfrey leaves in it, the Epsom salt soak has steeped Comfrey leaves. And still using Neosporin though I dont see open sores.
She was always a bit haggard looking and the last one to clean up after noodling. I just thought it was because those drakes were muddling her feathers up. The ones on her neck seem to be filling in again. Now it looks like she has lost all of her oils. Her feathers look stringy and bare. The flight feathers are just like little sticks. not feathery. She floats much lower in the water than the other ducks. And when she gets out she looks waterlogged. I let her out on the main pond with her girls today and the differences were obvious.
I would have to build a new run for her to have her own pool in there, but Im trying to work that out now. 1/2 of the day I put the drakes up & open her gate so her GF can come visit. They do, and they finish her breakfast for her. sometimes she wanders into the middle of the yard to visit and sits there. Today she did a fair amount of wandering around after her pond soak and did some foraging. I think the cool grass may feel better to her than the heat treatments.
Yesterday I didn't get her put up before the drakes snuck past me & out of their pen. They were on her so fast! as soon as I grabbed one by the neck and put him back the other one was right on her. Flies dont find poop that fast! What is it about her that is so desirable? Well needless to say there was a bit of stress getting her secured again and it could not have been good for her leg.

I have been having a hard time finding anything that has been recommended here. The only antibiotic I could find at the feed store is Oxytetracycline HCI it says it is a broad spectrum antibiotic. used for cows, sheep, pigs & Turkeys & Chickens. I have not started her on it as I need to measure the dosage in mg and I didn't think I had a scale that would do that. Today my DH says, "why not use the one we have for measuring gun powder?" DUH! So I will dig that out and see what we can do there. It says to add it to her water, but she isn't drinking that much. Isn't is just going to go to waste? How will I know if she is getting enough? And it has vitamins in it. I don't think I should combine the Vitamins and the Medicine. Any thoughts on that??
In fact I put all of the ducks on supplemental vitamins.
I am still trying to locate T-relief and clear Iodine. New info says Wallmart has it, I don't know if that is online or at the store. I couldn't find it before. DH is going in tomorrow to look.
She hasn't laid an egg in 4 days. not really surprised. I know she is stressed. Do I have to worry about her becoming egg bound now?
So...What now? Do I continue what Im doing & medicate her with this stuff?
Your help, advise and support mean so much. THANKS!

 

[jducour]

I'm afraid I don't have as much experience as others that have been helping you - but I wanted to say bless you for trying so hard. I know it matters, and I know she appreciates it. I have seen clear iodine at Walmart, it was in the first aid isle on the bottom shelf by the rubbing alcohol.

 

[LadyIsadora]

Thank You. It does get discouraging. I could not find it at any Walmart and On-line it said that it could not be picked up at the store. So DH did some searching and found CVS across town that had Both T-Relief and the Iodine! so Yeah!
I now have 3 ducks waddling sideways. So all of them got treatments last night. Instead of the compress, I soaked three ducks one right after the other in the Epsom salt solution with the steeped Comfrey leaves, then tossed them in the warm comfrey bath. then they all got Iodine and T relief.
DH was able to help me in this process, really I don't know how you all do this. they do not stay stay still and soak at all. Venus has become quite the biter. I have started covering their heads with towels, that seems to help for a bit.
I have noticed a lot of bumble issues in the forum threads this last week. Maybe we are just noticing more. I know Watching Venus go through this has made me more observant. Now I am treating the 3
Elvira looks like bumble foot on the bottom, but there is also a sore on the top, is that normal? Its pretty fat.
One of them has callouses but it does not look like bumble foot, she got treated anyway...maybe that will teach her not to play limp.
and one of them is Venus big baseball foot.

 

[jducour]

What is the ground like that your ducks walk on most? Is it hard packed dirt or rocks? I've noticed that out of the 6 adult ducks I've adopted, it really matters what they walk on. My two Runners were adopted together. They live on hard packed dirt, and only had access to shallow water. They had large bumbles and callouses, and had poor feather quality. My two Pekins were adopted together. They walked on half dirt and half grass, and they have large callouses, but no bumbles. My two Welsh Harlequins that were adopted together were raised on lush grass, and a deep pool. They had no bumbles and good feather quality. All 6 of these ducks were hatched the same month, and came from these three different environments. My two duck I have raised walk only on grass and my garden. They have no callouses and no bumbles. The two Runners I adopted three months ago have improved so much! Most of the bumbles are gone, and the large callouses have gone down too. If you don't address why they are getting bumbles first, you will be looking forward to constant treatment.

 

[LadyIsadora]

There is a little of everything actually...and then some. They live in a dirt floor run well topped with straw, turned at least weakly, sometimes daily. this turns out into their part of the back yard or off toward the pond. in the back yard it is bordered by flower beds are fenced off with a bit of short lattice fencing that contains various flowers and many tomatoes they reach over and steal nibbles regularly. The main part of their back yard is (center) grass & weeds. 1/2 & 1/2 bordered, There is a corner unfenced that is a bit of dense wooded type area, mostly plum trees, and one wicked beautiful cedar tree (major source of nasty, icky stickery stuff) they forage under there occasionally. The other direction from the run door is the path to their pond, not real smooth, hand made cobble type stones, then sandstone steps up to their pond. The pond sits under a large pine tree. I know there are several pitfalls to their tender webs, from the brutality of the cedar tree droppings to the nasty cones and needles of the pine tree, not to mention the terrain between. Not exactly a padded room kind of yard. I'm not surprised they got a sliver or two really.

Im glad your ducks have done so well! Congratulations on your adoptive babies improvement.
I am looking forward to constant treatment or confining them further. It is true. I'm not sure what I can/ am willing to change. some changes are easier than others. ;-) I dont have acreage here, just doing the best I can with what I have.

 

[jducour]

I understand, and I wish you luck! I know how much work it can all be, and not all change is possible. I have had to block off half my yard because we are having drainage issues. Parts of the lawn are staying very wet with all this moisture we've received, and they're aerating it all for us a little too much. I may keep it fenced off for the winter, because they like to come poop on our patio, and since we're turning the outside water off soon, hosing it off won't be possible. They are also wreaking havoc on my pond, which hasn't clogged significantly once in 15 years, and since adding ducks, it is clogging really bad at least twice a month. They are a lot of work, these adorable little critters!

 

[LadyIsadora]

I finally brokedown and started her on the antibiotic Oxytetracycline......I cant stand to see her pain anymore ant the homeopathic stuff is not putting a dent in her condition.


Wish us luck.

 

[jducour]

I finally brokedown and started her on the antibiotic Oxytetracycline......I cant stand to see her pain anymore ant the homeopathic stuff is not putting a dent in her condition.


Wish us luck.

Poor thing - you've given it a good effort! Let us know how she is doing in a few days!