Bumblefoot and overmating

[HennyPenny44]

I’ve posted on here recently about my bumblefoot ordeal. Basically, I’ve been dealing with bumblefoot with 5 out of 6 ducks in the last couple of months, 1 drake and 4 hens. “Miss Limpy” had it the worst so I’d done surgery twice on her foot to drain the abscess and take out the pus, and put her on oral antibiotics for 5 days. She was doing better. The swelling seemed to be going down but her foot looks quite swollen again though not as hard. The scab remaining is a little yellow dot on the underside of the swollen area. So I started up the antibiotics again today. And my drake, Nibbles, seems to favor her because the back of her head is raw and she developed foamy eye which I’m now treating.

My drake has been put in isolation in a crate until I figure out what to do with him. He has 5 girls to himself but that’s not enough apparently and he’s even gone after one of my chickens a couple of times which I stopped right away. I was told that I should get rid of muddy areas in the run to prevent bumblefoot so I put my ducks out on grass and have been treating milder cases of bumblefoot by spraying with Bannix twice a day which seems to be helping. But Miss Limpy is on oral antibiotics a second time like I said and Nibbles’ sister and best pal, Tabitha, has bumblefoot on each foot pad which I treated by removing the scabs and then the pus. The scabs left behind now are yellow but the swelling hasn’t gone down really. Do yellow scabs indicate healing or could that be bumblefoot?

My question is, could it be my overzealous Welsh Harlequin drake who is causing all this bumblefoot in part? He likes to stand on top of my girls’ backs like a surfboard for a while and pull on the feathers on the backs of their heads before he even attempts to mate. I caught him recently doing that near the water bucket and casually taking a sip as he stands on his victim. I don’t know how I’m going to manage separating him and for how long I should separate him. I can’t keep him alone in a cage forever. But the bumblefoot is getting out of control and if he’s the culprit, I will need to let him go. Any ideas?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Do you have any Blue kote? One of my Runners had a sore place on her head from the drake I put Blue kote on which turns the feathers purple and helps heal and they have not messed with her in a week. I have applied it 2x if you decide to get some I like the dauber the best I dab it on a paper towel before using because the dauber is so saturated it will run. Also it will stain anything it gets on so be careful but it is worth having. As for the bumbles gosh my drakes use their females as surfboards and chase them around and they don’t get bumble foot. I can’t say it’s your drake some ducks especially heavier breeds just tend to get it more. Can you post pictures of the bumbles so we can see what you’re talking about?Banixx is great stuff are you wrapping the feet after treatment and keeping them out of water.

 

[HennyPenny44]

I have something called Hen Healer which is blue. I just sprayed Banixx on her head but can do the Hen Healer instead. I was wrapping feet during and after bumblefoot removal but once new scabs formed, I stopped. It’s hard finding time to wrap 3 duck feet and then putting plastic bags on them every day on top of other bird chores.

This is Miss Limpy, my more severe case, a couple of weeks after antibiotics and almost a month after surgery.


This is Tabitha after bumblefoot removal. The larger looking bumble had a long stringy thing attached to the scab that I removed. The smaller one just had a scab I removed. I tried drawing salve to get more pus out but nothing more came out so I stopped and wrapped her feet until new scabs formed.

 

[CoriM]

Here is what I suggest: separate that particular female with another girl and force your drake to choose from the other ones - while monitoring to make sure they are not over-mated. Use terramycin around her eye until it heals and let the back of her head heal before you allow her to be with the drake. I now use the epsom salt poultice when I have a bumble that I need to cut into and it works really well. After you do your best to pull the scab and get out any gunk that looks like infection, use the triple antibiotic ointment the first time and then slather on the epsom salt poultice, gauze pad, and bandage. Keep dry at least 24 hours, then replace once a day and reapply the epsom salt poultice. If it is scabbed over it's okay to give them a couple hours to swim in clean water and run around free, then re-bandage. Do this until the swelling becomes soft. Then you can treat the way I treat small scabs that I'm worried might become infected, which is getting a small child's toothbrush and scrubbing the spots with colorless iodine, then keeping them out of the water for half hour afterwards. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001OE3L8...1_4&amp=&crid=3JY254WXWU5C0&amp=&sprefix=epso

 

[HennyPenny44]

Here is what I suggest: separate that particular female with another girl and force your drake to choose from the other ones - while monitoring to make sure they are not over-mated. Use terramycin around her eye until it heals and let the back of her head heal before you allow her to be with the drake. I now use the epsom salt poultice when I have a bumble that I need to cut into and it works really well. After you do your best to pull the scab and get out any gunk that looks like infection, use the triple antibiotic ointment the first time and then slather on the epsom salt poultice, gauze pad, and bandage. Keep dry at least 24 hours, then replace once a day and reapply the epsom salt poultice. If it is scabbed over it's okay to give them a couple hours to swim in clean water and run around free, then re-bandage. Do this until the swelling becomes soft. Then you can treat the way I treat small scabs that I'm worried might become infected, which is getting a small child's toothbrush and scrubbing the spots with colorless iodine, then keeping them out of the water for half hour afterwards. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001OE3L8...1_4&amp=&crid=3JY254WXWU5C0&amp=&sprefix=epso

Thanks for all the advice. I will try to follow it. Are you saying my girls’ feet have infection? Because I already did that entire process a few weeks ago. I used Epsom salt soak to soften the scabs, removed those, used drawing salve to draw the infections out further and sugardine after the removal…with bandages and triple antibiotic each time. The photos are the end result. I’m not sure how healing bumbles look like.

 

[CoriM]

I know it's hard to tell. To me, the light brown scabs and a feeling of softness under them indicate it's on the mend. If the swelling still is hard, I think you still have infection in there - which it looked like in one of your photos - but only you can be the judge.

 

[HennyPenny44]

I know it's hard to tell. To me, the light brown scabs and a feeling of softness under them indicate it's on the mend. If the swelling still is hard, I think you still have infection in there - which it looked like in one of your photos - but only you can be the judge.

Ok, that clarifies things, thank you. The first girl…it’s been a very stubborn case which is why I’m doing a second round of antibiotics now. She’s also broody now, as if bumblefoot and foamy eye weren't enough issues for her.

 

[Miss Lydia]

At least being broody means she is resting more and will hopefully give the bumble more time to heal. Just make sure she comes out and eats and drinks. If anything like my Muscovy I can take all eggs away and they will still brood once that hormone kicks in.

 

[CoriM]

I'm not sure that oral antibiotics will help at this point and may be taking a toll on her body. The less you can give the better.

 

[HennyPenny44]

I'm not sure that oral antibiotics will help at this point and may be taking a toll on her body. The less you can give the better.

Not sure what to do though. The swelling isn't going down. What would you suggest then?