very swollen ankle and foot, bumblefoot, gout, sprain?

[jbeyer]

There is a wild Pekin duck that lives on a canal near me that has developed a very swollen ankle and middle toe. The swelling has worsened. The first photo is from 10 days ago, the second photo was from today. She is walking on it quite tenderly, and doesn't use that leg much or at all when swimming.

If she were a domesticated duck, I would have brought her to the vet when it first appeared, but she's basically wild, and I think that scooping her up could cause a lot of stress.

If anyone can assist in helping to understand what it might be, and whether getting her to the vet is the right thing, I'd really appreciate it.

Can bumblefoot spread to the ankle as in the photos below?
I've run across a few mentions of waterfowl getting gout from a high protein diet. Is this likely?
Would a sprain or break show swelling like this?

Thanks in advance!

10 days ago:

today:

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be an injury, but bumblefoot can indeed spread to the joints. If you can look at her foot pad and toes for scabs. She may take weeks to recover from a sprain. For a joint infection from bumblefoot, she would need some strong antibiotics and warm soaks to her foot. Bumblefoot infection many times needs surgery to remove the infection. However, if it has spread to the joint, it may not respond. Injury would be my first thought from the picture. Rest can really hlep injuries and sprains.

 

[jbeyer]

Eggcessive, thank you so much for your response and assistance!

If it were an injury or sprain, do you have a sense of how long it would take to heal? We are coming up on two weeks now.

If it is bumblefoot, I certainly understand that surgery and antibiotics are the best treatment. If she was our pet, I would have done this immediately. We're trying to weigh the stress of picking up her up from the wild, taking her to a vet, and then having her live indoors with us for a period of time, vs allowing natural healing. While not recommended for pets, can the duck's immune system typically handle a bad case of bumblefoot?

Thanks again!

 

[Eggcessive]

Sprains can take 5-6 weeks to heal. If it is a joint infection, it can spread, and that would be hard to treat. If you ever see the bottom of her foot pad, I would snap a picture.
You also may want to post on the duck forum for more duck people opinions.

 

[jbeyer]

Eggcessive, thank you so much for your response and assistance!

If it were an injury or sprain, do you have a sense of how long it would take to heal? We are coming up on two weeks now.

If it is bumblefoot, I certainly understand that surgery and antibiotics are the best treatment. If she was our pet, I would have done this immediately. We're trying to weigh the stress of picking up her up from the wild, taking her to a vet, and then having her live indoors with us for a period of time, vs allowing natural healing. While not recommended for pets, can the duck's immune system typically handle a bad case of bumblefoot?

Thanks again!

Eggcessive, thank you again!

Here are the best photos that I have of the bottom of her foot:

 

[jbeyer]

Here are some better photos that I took just now. The ankle did feel warm to the touch, but I'm not accustomed to handling ducks, so I don't have a good reference.