Bumblefoot?

[Jlw0903]

Hey all! Pretty sure my Sweet Pea may have a mild case of bumblefoot? Just wanted an opinion! It doesn't feel any warmer than the rest of her foot. And it doesnt seem to bother her much even if i touch it. But it looks like a little swollen spot with an "open area" sort of like a blister. If its not black is it still bumblefoot? I have all the things i need to treat. Epsom salt. Vetreyin. Neisporin without pain relief. I plan to wrap it if it ever drys up here in southeastern Wisconsin!
Hiw long does a mild case take to clear up?
What have you found helpful int hese cases? Sorry the pic is blurry she wasnt a fan of us grabbing her leg

 

[SulkyBantam]

Yes looks like it. Pretty mild case but treat immediately!

 

[KaleIAm]

It's hard to tell for sure, but I'm leaning toward yes. I agree it is very mild. I have had ducks with mild bumbles (but a little worse than yours) and my vets recommended that I treat them.

I think the most important thing I've learned about bumblefoot is prevention. My ducks used to get bumblefoot regularly until I started keeping them on soft surfaces only. My vet recommended grass, hay, or straw only. Since then I've had not one bumble for years. Some members on here keep their ducks on other surfaces with no issues, but for my ducks it causes consistent issues. You may want to consider your hard surfaces, including substrates.

To hold a duck's foot still I put one hand firmly behind a joint much higher up on the leg.

 

[Jlw0903]

It's hard to tell for sure, but I'm leaning toward yes. I agree it is very mild. I have had ducks with mild bumbles (but a little worse than yours) and my vets recommended that I treat them.

I think the most important thing I've learned about bumblefoot is prevention. My ducks used to get bumblefoot regularly until I started keeping them on soft surfaces only. My vet recommended grass, hay, or straw only. Since then I've had not one bumble for years. Some members on here keep their ducks on other surfaces with no issues, but for my ducks it causes consistent issues. You may want to consider your hard surfaces, including substrates.

To hold a duck's foot still I put one hand firmly behind a joint much higher up on the leg.

So there was grass in their run area but ducks being ducks it has all turned to mud (or dirt when its dry) I do not free range them all day due to all the predators where I live.
I have areas in the run that i have straw down and their hut has pine shavings (i switched from straw to pine shavings because i felt that the straw may have lead to respiratory issues with one of my other girls) with it being fall i have thrown a ton of leaves in their run for them to lay on and rut through.

Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with hard packed ground in their run? If i rake it up would that help maybe? they have two 10x10 (or is it 10x13?) that are connected so putting straw down on the whole thing and cleaning in regularly would be very expensive and a huge pain.

 

[KaleIAm]

So there was grass in their run area but ducks being ducks it has all turned to mud (or dirt when its dry) I do not free range them all day due to all the predators where I live.
I have areas in the run that i have straw down and their hut has pine shavings (i switched from straw to pine shavings because i felt that the straw may have lead to respiratory issues with one of my other girls) with it being fall i have thrown a ton of leaves in their run for them to lay on and rut through.

Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with hard packed ground in their run? If i rake it up would that help maybe? they have two 10x10 (or is it 10x13?) that are connected so putting straw down on the whole thing and cleaning in regularly would be very expensive and a huge pain.

My vet was specific not to use pine shavings in my coop - for bumblefoot reasons. It is what I used to use. I thought it was cozy, but my vet told me that to smaller sensitive duck feet it was like standing on hard boards for hours. But I understand your concern about respiratory issues. I have to clean out the straw so frequently. If I had to choose between mild bumbles and respiratory illness I'd choose the bumbles.

We have a huge 30x30 aviary for what used to be 6 and is now 3 ducks. We divided it in 2. I keep the ducks in their front yard while the grass grows back in their backyard, and then rotate. I replant as needed, but I think grass seed likes to grow only in cool not cold or hot conditions. I only replant when the ducks are in their other yard. I don't know if you have enough space for this, but it has worked wonderfully for us. Rotating yards also helps keep the parasite load down.

Since straw molds so quickly putting it down outside where I assume the ducks would splash it with water likely wouldn't work optimally, anyway. Loosening the dirt seems like it would help. We haven't used that method, but it might be worth trying. I don't have a lot of upper body strength so I would likely have to use a shovel and then a rake if the ground is compacted.

Let me know how it goes.

 

[Jlw0903]

I never heard about the pine shavings and bumblefoot! It would make sense that that is what is mainly contributing to it since we only started the shavings a few months ago and i never noticed anything wrong with my babies before now (i noticed smaller spots on one of my other rouens girls too when i checked the other day.) I always heard it was better from the mostiure perspective.

Crap. Not sure what to do now... maybe i can have a layer of straw with a layer of shavings on top to absorb moisture or vice versa?

 

[KaleIAm]

I never heard about the pine shavings and bumblefoot! It would make sense that that is what is mainly contributing to it since we only started the shavings a few months ago and i never noticed anything wrong with my babies before now (i noticed smaller spots on one of my other rouens girls too when i checked the other day.) I always heard it was better from the mostiure perspective.

Crap. Not sure what to do now... maybe i can have a layer of straw with a layer of shavings on top to absorb moisture or vice versa?

Some experienced members say their flocks have no issues with wood shavings, but for my flock it was such a problem.

I definitely found shavings to last longer between changes and to be far easier to spot clean. I have a large room in a barn for my ducks, about 10x10. If I don't clean the straw out fully every weekend I'll find a moldy patch by the next weekend. I also take a pitch fork and remove the poopy straw in the corner where my ducks sleep about twice during the week. It is a lot of maintenance. If I keep up with it consistently I don't find musty spots.

I would imagine that wood shavings with straw or hay on top would be best, if you want to do a mix. But I've never tried that. I believe so because you would want the soft substrate on top, and you would want to remove it more often. My vet did tell me to fluff the straw or hay daily. She also told me to use 4-6 inches.

Another substrate she told me I could use was sand. But I was worried about my ducks eating it and getting impacted so I never tried it.

Here is a photo of my barn room. The stuffy is where my ducks sleep.

 

[Jlw0903]

Some experienced members say their flocks have no issues with wood shavings, but for my flock it was such a problem.

I definitely found shavings to last longer between changes and to be far easier to spot clean. I have a large room in a barn for my ducks, about 10x10. If I don't clean the straw out fully every weekend I'll find a moldy patch by the next weekend. I also take a pitch fork and remove the poopy straw in the corner where my ducks sleep about twice during the week. It is a lot of maintenance. If I keep up with it consistently I don't find musty spots.

I would imagine that wood shavings with straw or hay on top would be best, if you want to do a mix. But I've never tried that. I believe so because you would want the soft substrate on top, and you would want to remove it more often. My vet did tell me to fluff the straw or hay daily. She also told me to use 4-6 inches.

Another substrate she told me I could use was sand. But I was worried about my ducks eating it and getting impacted so I never tried it.

Here is a photo of my barn room. The stuffy is where my ducks sleep.
View attachment 2426377

Hey thanks a lot! I have about a 5x6 for my 6 duckies so a little less space. this is my first set of ducks so I am learning as I go. regardless of the bedding I change it every weekend. I find the shavings get gross less quickly but if it is too "hard" for my duckies then I am not sure what to do. my hut has a wooden floor (so nothing can dig in and get them) which may be different from most people who just pile on bedding onto the ground and do deep litter. perhaps if I did straw and spot cleaned or did a mix this would be best.
I spend so much time worrying about these things and I just don't know what would be best. I switched to pine because I thought the straw contributed to one of my ducks getting a fungal infection and now a different one has bumblefoot (and maybe a second one). I wasn't checking their feet until recently but none had any weird things going on so I am assuming they were fine before... unless the addition of the leaves (the only other difference recently) would have been the issue which I doubt since those are more "natural" and they LOVE laying in them. I will post pictures soon of their entire set up. maybe that will help. I just fret so much over them they are my whole world (them and my puppers that is)

 

[KaleIAm]

Hey thanks a lot! I have about a 5x6 for my 6 duckies so a little less space. this is my first set of ducks so I am learning as I go. regardless of the bedding I change it every weekend. I find the shavings get gross less quickly but if it is too "hard" for my duckies then I am not sure what to do. my hut has a wooden floor (so nothing can dig in and get them) which may be different from most people who just pile on bedding onto the ground and do deep litter. perhaps if I did straw and spot cleaned or did a mix this would be best.
I spend so much time worrying about these things and I just don't know what would be best. I switched to pine because I thought the straw contributed to one of my ducks getting a fungal infection and now a different one has bumblefoot (and maybe a second one). I wasn't checking their feet until recently but none had any weird things going on so I am assuming they were fine before... unless the addition of the leaves (the only other difference recently) would have been the issue which I doubt since those are more "natural" and they LOVE laying in them. I will post pictures soon of their entire set up. maybe that will help. I just fret so much over them they are my whole world (them and my puppers that is)

My pleasure. I adore ducks.

Somehow when I had six ducks in the same space, and used the same amount of straw I didn't need to clean it out more frequently. My barn room has linoleum for the flooring, and up the walls. My vet wanted me to be able to sanitize their area and that was impossible with wood. I didn't notice any health differences either way with sanitizing their room. It did bother me that we couldn't get their projectile horizontal poops off the wood walls though, and now we can. I'd really like to switch back to the wood shavings, since they are so much easier to spot clean.

For full transparency, I have had two of my six total ducks get aspergillosis - respiratory fungal infections. One of them started having symptoms while we were using wood shavings, before we switched to straw. Despite treatment she passed away from it. She had a necropsy and it was confirmed. My other duck got aspergillosis while using straw. Because I knew the signs I rushed her to the doctor immediately, got her on treatment, and she recovered quickly. We also live near Seattle, where it rains frequently and we are more likely to have aspergillosis living naturally in our yards. I wish I knew why two of my ducks got it. I pick up spilled food daily, and adhere to all of the husbandry recommendations.

You should definitely do whatever you think is best. <3

 

[Jlw0903]

My pleasure. I adore ducks.

Somehow when I had six ducks in the same space, and used the same amount of straw I didn't need to clean it out more frequently. My barn room has linoleum for the flooring, and up the walls. My vet wanted me to be able to sanitize their area and that was impossible with wood. I didn't notice any health differences either way with sanitizing their room. It did bother me that we couldn't get their projectile horizontal poops off the wood walls though, and now we can. I'd really like to switch back to the wood shavings, since they are so much easier to spot clean.

For full transparency, I have had two of my six total ducks get aspergillosis - respiratory fungal infections. One of them started having symptoms while we were using wood shavings, before we switched to straw. Despite treatment she passed away from it. She had a necropsy and it was confirmed. My other duck got aspergillosis while using straw. Because I knew the signs I rushed her to the doctor immediately, got her on treatment, and she recovered quickly. We also live near Seattle, where it rains frequently and we are more likely to have aspergillosis living naturally in our yards. I wish I knew why two of my ducks got it. I pick up spilled food daily, and adhere to all of the husbandry recommendations.

You should definitely do whatever you think is best. <3

Im sorry you lost one to aspergillus. My one had it and pulled through which is when i switched to pine. I guess ill gave to play around with different things and figure out what works best....