What does post bumble foot surgery tissue look like?

[Nomoreducks]

This is my first experience with bumble foot. Two pekins had what looked like bumble foot. For 6 days we soaked in epsom salt for 10-30 min, applied iodine and vertericyn, added triple antibiotic followed by vet wrap. Also, they are isolated in the garage in a small pen to reduce the need for too much walking. On day 6 I pulled, with tweezers, the black scabs. One ducks scabs were fairly flat and the other ducks scabs were more cauliflower like but both came off fairly easily from the healthy tissue surrounding. When I looked underneath there was no sign of any hard kernel or any thing that was visibly easy to pull out. It was all soft tissue. You will see from the pictures that there was some white marbling throughout the tissue. I tried to pick some off with tweezers but very little came off. It is a very thin layer of something. I’m trying to find out if what I was looking at is infection or if it supposed to be normal tissue. The first two pics are the cauliflower like scabs and the second are the smoother scabs. Then you can see the flatter scabs that were more swollen have more white marbling. Not sure where to go from here.

 

[Spiase20]

2 of my ducks tend to get bumblefoot every summer. It's very hot and humid during the summers and I actively have to spray their mats with vinegar and clean twice a day to keep bacteria off.

As for the bumble foot situation, I learned through many visits to avian specialists and dealing with my ducks having it, is that sometimes it isn't as simple as just removing the scab. Sometimes the infection can be puss like or deep. And can attach/reach the bone, which makes it harder to treat. Also that there are various types of infections and sometimes an antibiotic that worked last time, won't be effective on the next infection. The key is to have all the infected tissue removed, and if not, then it probably will keep coming back.

Also that pressure on the healing area can cause it to come back as well. The technique that worked for me the best so far with the quickest recovery is to soak daily, put silver cream prescribed by the vet on the area, cut out a pad from pool noodles into the shape of the foot and wrap it with vet wrap. The pool noodle pad cushions the area and also keeps the wound drier. For stubborn or a little more advance cases, antibiotics are needed along with this treatment.

Hope this helps!

 

[Nomoreducks]

I feel your pain. I read your post to my husband and he said it sounds like I wrote it. In fact my most recent post here was titled "I need a pep talk". I've had my first ducks for 2.5 years, and just added three babies this past August. That's a challenge right now in integrating the two groups. I love the duckling phase, but have had so many issues with my ducks overall. I've learned a lot here on BYC about dealing with their needs, but the learning curve keeps going. When I was contemplating whether to get ducks or chickens I read a few books and read the claim that ducks are hardier and don't get sick as much. I beg to differ! And my avian vet really doesn't seem to be in the know about ducks, so I feel like I'm just as well off to try to figure things out on my own. I'm a bit at the place where I want to give them all the happiest and most natural life possible, in the safest way I can, but I'm not going to spend thousands running to the vet with them, because I can't and it doesn't seem to make a huge difference. I love them and spend hours and hours taking care of their needs, but there's a limit to what I can do, and I need to keep perspective. I too would love to be just at a maintenance-only phase, and I guess I get that sporadically, or I wouldn't have taken on my new babies in August. A little bit though I was a worried some of my big girls were having reproductive issues and might not last long, so I was hoping to keep the flock a good size . Once you get through this bumble you will feel much better - it's hard because it's such a daily worry and effort. We love our ducks, but I'm pretty sure my husband gets a little tired of how often I angst over them, though he's a patient listener. It can be an emotional drain sometimes, but I do think you'll eventually get to a place where things are more settled and you're feeling better!

Hi CoriM- How have you been? How have the ducklings been coming along? I hope issues have been at bay. We currently have 22 duck eggs in the incubator….I know right?? 5 days till first pip! We are re-homing three adult ducks to make way for 2 babies and sell the rest. Trying to keep things from getting out of control. You know what I’m talking about! I haven’t cried over morning coffee in a long time.

 

[CoriM]

Yes, this looks familiar. After you pulled the scabs did you pack with triple antibiotic ointment, not the kind with pain reliever, and put a gauze pad on and bandage? I would leave that bandage for a couple days without messing. When my pekin had bumblefoot I just left her with the other ducks but didn't let her swim for a couple of days and kept the bandage dry - so no free-ranging. Everyone's set-up is different, so I can't speak specifically as to what you should do. After it scabs over I think you should put a fresh bandage on each day after she gets a chance to swim and reevaluate at the end of the week. I have a pekin who got a big scab exactly like your 3rd picture and I bandaged her almost every day for almost 9 months - ugh. As soon as the scab almost went away, it would rage forth again. She had been to the vet and I knew it wasn't an active infection, but the foot pad was enlarged and I'm not sure what all was going on. Over this summer I have left the bandage off and the scab has almost disappeared and the pad shrinking. This has been a full year. I'm sorry you're going through this - I hope it goes faster for you and your ducks, it probably will!

 

[Nomoreducks]

Yes, this looks familiar. After you pulled the scabs did you pack with triple antibiotic ointment, not the kind with pain reliever, and put a gauze pad on and bandage? I would leave that bandage for a couple days without messing. When my pekin had bumblefoot I just left her with the other ducks but didn't let her swim for a couple of days and kept the bandage dry - so no free-ranging. Everyone's set-up is different, so I can't speak specifically as to what you should do. After it scabs over I think you should put a fresh bandage on each day after she gets a chance to swim and reevaluate at the end of the week. I have a pekin who got a big scab exactly like your 3rd picture and I bandaged her almost every day for almost 9 months - ugh. As soon as the scab almost went away, it would rage forth again. She had been to the vet and I knew it wasn't an active infection, but the foot pad was enlarged and I'm not sure what all was going on. Over this summer I have left the bandage off and the scab has almost disappeared and the pad shrinking. This has been a full year. I'm sorry you're going through this - I hope it goes faster for you and your ducks, it probably will!

Thank you for your support. I’m glad to hear what I’ve seen is something observed by someone else. Yes, I have been packing with bacitracin or triple antibiotic. Took your advice and left the bandages alone for 2 days. Going to let them both swim today and bandage again. Hopefully the swelling will go down soon. I’m going to keep them in the garage until my pekin with the cauliflower like scab stops limping. She won’t hardly put weight on her right foot but to me it’s not hot or swollen. If things don’t improve Ill take to the vet. I’ll also keep an update for the record.

 

[Nomoreducks]

9 months is a long time but your persistence paid off- that’s amazing! We still have bumble 6 weeks later. After the initial scab peeling, fresh skin grew back on both feet for both ducks and we maintained the wraps for a week or so and then let them breath. Shortly afterward the scabs in 3 of the 4 feet started coming back. So we began dipping in tricide neo and that seemed to make the scabs smaller. We dipped for 11 days and now we are back to vetricyn spray, iodine, triple antibiotic with gauze and vet wrap. I will say our other ducks with minor scabs responded really well with the tricide dips. Those scabs were gone in about a week. I think we will have to pull scabs on the pekins again if this doesn’t go away soon. I’ll keep updating. *The pics are of the latest scabs that came back.

 

[Nomoreducks]

Ditto on all accounts!! I feel like we are living similar duck mamma lives. And the same goes for my husband- lol, he thinks I obsess over our ducks way too much but I feel like I have too to keep them healthy and happy. This venture started out as my 7 year old pets and I was totally on board albeit clueless. We ended up with one girl and three drake ducklings from our local brooder so I kept getting more girls to balance the ratio. After getting so many issues we recently gave away 4 to lighten the load when I have to treat them for an issue. But I’m still feeling burnt out. Oh and I found out out I am allergic to duck eggs!! Aahahhh! So like yourself I was going to start a post on all these issues I’ve experienced to see if I could get some emotional support. This website is a life saver seeing us duck owners have to be self reliant and good researchers. So happy you and I have met! I’ll be thinking of you (my duck warrior pal) next time I cry over my morning coffee while trying to get my kids to school and my ducks are sucking up all my attention. Anytime you need a pep talk you can always message me!! Thanks again for your kind and reassuring words.

 

[CoriM]

Hi CoriM- How have you been? How have the ducklings been coming along? I hope issues have been at bay. We currently have 22 duck eggs in the incubator….I know right?? 5 days till first pip! We are re-homing three adult ducks to make way for 2 babies and sell the rest. Trying to keep things from getting out of control. You know what I’m talking about! I haven’t cried over morning coffee in a long time.

Oh wow, you're so brave! Please post pictures when they hatch! I'm glad things are going smoother and you're not crying over your coffee anymore - woohoo!!! Glad your pekins seem fine - I have read a thread on here before by someone saying their birds basically live with bumble and are just fine. I guess as long as they're not limping and it's not getting worse!

I don't have any bumble right now, so I'm very thankful for that! I have a couple of rough patches on one girl that I've been doing the iodine on, but that's about it.

Of the three ducklings I had last fall I only have one left. I ordered all females but two turned out to be males, and I did not keep them due to the chaos they were causing this spring. The female of the bunch fits in great with the older girls, and the hatchery sent me replacements in March, so I'll have some closer to her age. The new babies are all female - they are close to 8 weeks and about to get moved outside. Working on assimilating them with the older girls, which would be going smoother if not for one little stinker who chases them, and my pekin in charge, who stood her ground with the last set of babies, now is afraid and runs away thanks to the damage done by my drakes. This is definitely my last set of babies, so I've enjoyed them a lot!

Thanks for updating us - it's good to hear from you !

 

[CoriM]

Also, on the last photo it looks like a cut closer to the toe - I would try to apply ointment to that and cover it with the bandage as well so it doesn't turn into something worse.

 

[Nomoreducks]

Yes, this looks familiar. After you pulled the scabs did you pack with triple antibiotic ointment, not the kind with pain reliever, and put a gauze pad on and bandage? I would leave that bandage for a couple days without messing. When my pekin had bumblefoot I just left her with the other ducks but didn't let her swim for a couple of days and kept the bandage dry - so no free-ranging. Everyone's set-up is different, so I can't speak specifically as to what you should do. After it scabs over I think you should put a fresh bandage on each day after she gets a chance to swim and reevaluate at the end of the week. I have a pekin who got a big scab exactly like your 3rd picture and I bandaged her almost every day for almost 9 months - ugh. As soon as the scab almost went away, it would rage forth again. She had been to the vet and I knew it wasn't an active infection, but the foot pad was enlarged and I'm not sure what all was going on. Over this summer I have left the bandage off and the scab has almost disappeared and the pad shrinking. This has been a full year. I'm sorry you're going through this - I hope it goes faster for you and your ducks, it probably will!