Wood duck with bumblefoot, now feathers not waterproofing?

[jlesz]

Hi everyone. I work at a wildlife rehab facility and we have a juvenile female wood duck in our care. She developed bumblefoot this week and is now on a round of medications, and is doing epsom salt soaks twice a day. She also had a fever yesterday. After her first salt soak yesterday, we noticed her feathers are not waterproofing and she appears waterlogged. Could the salt be affecting her feathers waterproofing? Any ideas on how to combat this, or advice for treating bumblefoot in general? Thanks in advance!

 

[hugitnotnugget]

Hi everyone. I work at a wildlife rehab facility and we have a juvenile female wood duck in our care. She developed bumblefoot this week and is now on a round of medications, and is doing epsom salt soaks twice a day. She also had a fever yesterday. After her first salt soak yesterday, we noticed her feathers are not waterproofing and she appears waterlogged. Could the salt be affecting her feathers waterproofing? Any ideas on how to combat this, or advice for treating bumblefoot in general? Thanks in advance!

I’m not sure if the salt is doing it but if the duck isn’t feeling well she might not be preening enough to get the oil everywhere to make them waterproof. It also could be a problem with her oil production but I would bet she just isn’t preening. To get under her belly for preening she has to stand and I’m sure that hurts her right now. We’ve had a couple bumble foots and we soaked them in epsom salt followed by a soak in diluted chlorine. Sounds bad but my vet described how it exactly works and it seemed to help. We also scrubbed the skin between washes to help open it up to the solution. We had a antibiotic drop for the foot and a oral antibiotic for them. Seems like a lot but they did get better. The spots never disappeared but they weren’t limping and went on to act themselves. The rooster who had it the worst went on for another 4 years without it coming back. Good luck and thank you for caring for her and everyone else!

 

[Isaac 0]

Could you post a picture of the Bumblefoot and her?

 

[jlesz]

Could you post a picture of the Bumblefoot and her?

 

[Weeg]

Try this, seems to be early Bumblefoot so you can use vetrycin to treat it.
First, I would clean her foot, and see if you can get a better look. I have been treating my chickens for bumble foot for the last month and have seen great results. The first thing I would do is soak the foot for a good 10-20 minuets in an epsom salt bath, than find a way to flip her on her back. I would suggest putting a towel over her head and holding her wings to flip her. This calms my chickens but have never done it with a duck so you might need two people. ounce she is on her back, you should try and remove the plug. The plug is the black scab on her foot. Try and wiggle the plug and see if it will move at all. If it seems to be coming free from the foot, than continue two soak her in 5-10 minuet intervals to loosen it. Some times this works to remove the plug quickly. There should be no blood.

If the plug doesn't want to come out, that is fine. I would than, apply Vetrycin on top of the plug, cover it in a bit of cotton ball, or cotton pad, and wrap it in vet wrap, preferably no chew. Continue to check your ducks foot every other day, eventually the vetrycin will loosen the plug and you can remove it. If the plug does come out there will be a hole in your ducks pad, either squirt Vetrycin or Neosporin in the hole, than wrap tightly with vet wrap, and secure with a piece of duck tape.
PS. You do not need to soak her foot ever time. If you are applying Vetrycin to the plug than each time, see if it is any looser, you should see improvement. If the plug is removed, than each time check for a scab that might form. Pick it off and reapply Vetrycin or Neosporin. If you don't have Vetrycin, you can purchase it from amazon in two day shipping. You will need it if you do not get he plug out.
Hope this helps, and good luck,
Avery

 

[jlesz]

I’m not sure if the salt is doing it but if the duck isn’t feeling well she might not be preening enough to get the oil everywhere to make them waterproof. It also could be a problem with her oil production but I would bet she just isn’t preening. To get under her belly for preening she has to stand and I’m sure that hurts her right now. We’ve had a couple bumble foots and we soaked them in epsom salt followed by a soak in diluted chlorine. Sounds bad but my vet described how it exactly works and it seemed to help. We also scrubbed the skin between washes to help open it up to the solution. We had a antibiotic drop for the foot and a oral antibiotic for them. Seems like a lot but they did get better. The spots never disappeared but they weren’t limping and went on to act themselves. The rooster who had it the worst went on for another 4 years without it coming back. Good luck and thank you for caring for her and everyone else!

Thank you for your response, that was really helpful! Anything I can do to help her waterproofing? I read that dawn dish soap baths can help so I just did that, but not sure what else to do. Thank you!

 

[hugitnotnugget]

Thank you for your response, that was really helpful! Anything I can do to help her waterproofing? I read that dawn dish soap baths can help so I just did that, but not sure what else to do. Thank you!

Glad I could help! probably would be best to have her keep out of the water more because the oil will be given time to build up. But its hard because of her hurt foot she would probably want to be in the water off it for comfort. I heard that blow drying after the dawn bath helps fluff up the feathers which can make it easier to preen them all. Sometimes ducks also just need to go through a molt to help get their waterproofing back. She might just need some time. I know it’s hard when it’s a wild animal and you want them to get back out there as soon as possible.

 

[Weeg]

Hey, Id also like to add that I know It can be hard to figure out how to wrap a duck foot, this was a great video, I just made a few adjustments, watch the video first tho, before reading the adjustments. Don't put the Gause around her foot just spread out a cotton ball soaked with Vetrycin on her whole pad. Then take the plastic bag and secure it around her ankle above the due claw, and tape it off, take the rest of the bag that will make a tail from were you tightened it to tape it off, and wrap it around the due claw, and tape that down as well. I will make more sense if you watch the video first.

 

[jlesz]

Glad I could help! probably would be best to have her keep out of the water more because the oil will be given time to build up. But its hard because of her hurt foot she would probably want to be in the water off it for comfort. I heard that blow drying after the dawn bath helps fluff up the feathers which can make it easier to preen them all. Sometimes ducks also just need to go through a molt to help get their waterproofing back. She might just need some time. I know it’s hard when it’s a wild animal and you want them to get back out there as soon as possible.

Yeah, I am struggling with which to treat first. I want her to swim to help her foot, but I also want to keep her dry to help with waterproofing. Poor girl thank you so much for your help!

 

[Weeg]

Ya, no problem. Keep ya posted, and feel free to ask any more questions here. You might be able to fill a frisbe with water, just enough for her to splash in, but not to get really wet? I don’t know for sure but I bet she will be just fine with you taking care of her!