Damaged feet

[Duckmomica]

Hello, I have two pekin ducks and I’ve discussed this before but it’s gotten worse. My ducks both originally were limping and had small black spots forming on their feet. People told me it was a beginning to bumble foot and how to treat it. For months I did the same exact thing every day and nothing changed other than the fact that they stopped limping. Once they stop limping I slowly stopped giving them treatment and they have been completely fine since then. Today I recently checked up on their feet and they look damaged. Neither of my ducks are limping and it doesn’t seem like they’re in pain when I touch them. I do have a lot of rocks and gravel around my backyard and the ducks are slightly overweight so that is my prediction as to why their feet look like this but I want to check in with everyone else. Before I would put The ducks in a bath with Epson salt and then put Neosporin on their feet and then would proceed to put socks on their feet which would get changed every day. This was always a two person effort and took a lot of time. I know I won’t be able to do this again so I would appreciate some other recommendations to treating their feet. I would also like to add that I tried picking the black spots off of the feet because I thought they were scabs and it didn’t come off.

 

[KaleIAm]

I'm sorry you are having trouble with your ducks' feet. Unfortunately, it looks like bumblefoot, to me.

What kind of substrate do you keep them on? Before I switched to soft surfaces under my ducks' feet my pekin especially was experiencing case after case of bumblefoot. Since switching she hasn't had one bumble for years.

 

[Duckmomica]

I'm sorry you are having trouble with your ducks' feet. Unfortunately, it looks like bumblefoot, to me.

What kind of substrate do you keep them on? Before I switched to soft surfaces under my ducks' feet my pekin especially was experiencing case after case of bumblefoot. Since switching she hasn't had one bumble for years.

They normally walk around my yard all day which is just grass and in their coop it’s dirt because nothing grows in it.

 

[KaleIAm]

They normally walk around my yard all day which is just grass and in their coop it’s dirt because nothing grows in it.

The grass sounds great, that's nice and soft. The dirt could get compacted and have rocks in it.

When I asked my vet why my flock was getting bumblefoot she told me to keep their aviary grass and their coop simulated grass - so straw or hay. She told me to use 4-6 inches. She told me to remove all patio stones, gravel, and boards from their environment. I didn't believe her, but I did it anyway and it worked.

I wonder if you put a thick layer of bedding in their coop, and removed everything hard from your backyard maybe you would have similar results?

I did treat my pekin until her bumbles went away. I followed my vets instructions, though, and they were different than the soaking method usually recommended here. Maybe both methods work just as well, I'm unaware.

 

[Duckmomica]

The grass sounds great, that's nice and soft. The dirt could get compacted and have rocks in it.

When I asked my vet why my flock was getting bumblefoot she told me to keep their aviary grass and their coop simulated grass - so straw or hay. She told me to use 4-6 inches. She told me to remove all patio stones, gravel, and boards from their environment. I didn't believe her, but I did it anyway and it worked.

I wonder if you put a thick layer of bedding in their coop, and removed everything hard from your backyard maybe you would have similar results?

I did treat my pekin until her bumbles went away. I followed my vets instructions, though, and they were different than the soaking method usually recommended here. Maybe both methods work just as well, I'm unaware.

I will try and put down some more straw in their coop but I can’t put as much as you did unfortunately. As for the rocks, I might be able to block off the area where the rocks are. What method did you use because I can’t keep soaking their feet everyday and then putting neosporin and socks. I plan on getting theracyn and duck shoes but until then I need to treat it with something else.

 

[KaleIAm]

I will try and put down some more straw in their coop but I can’t put as much as you did unfortunately. As for the rocks, I might be able to block off the area where the rocks are. What method did you use because I can’t keep soaking their feet everyday and then putting neosporin and socks. I plan on getting theracyn and duck shoes but until then I need to treat it with something else.

My vet had me wash my duck's sores with chlorhexidine (an antibacterial) soap diluted with water. They provided it to me, I have seen it OTC at pharmacies. I rinsed the soap off well, patted dry, and put SSD cream (my vet also prescribed it, but I bought more on Amazon) on the sores. Then I put her in neoprene duck boots.

A couple times they had me put her on antibiotics. They often had me give her metacam for pain and inflammation. They never cut into her bumbles or had me pick off scabs.

When washing her feet I made a makeshift surgical drape by cutting a small hole in a plastic garbage bag. I lay my duck on my lap. My duck cooperated, but you could towel burrito yours if needed. I closed her foot and fed it into the hole so that only her leg and foot were sticking out. Then I could wash her foot with soap without washing off her waterproofing oils. I did the washing outside over a bowl and brought a pitcher of fresh water to pour over her foot.

I found the boots to work well, but my duck splashed drinking water in them and then her feet would stay wet all day. So I ended up only leaving boots on her at night.

My duck had only mild bumblefoot compared to what I have seen photos of here. A little less severe than the ones you posted, with less wounds at once and only one foot at a time. Perhaps if my duck had more severe symptoms my vet would have recommended a different treatment.

The entire process took me about 5-10 minutes daily.