Bumblefoot question

[LuckyDucksInn]

My peking is 1 year old and has bumblefoot on both feet. I have been soaking her feet in epsom salts since March 2nd and then spraying it with Vetericyn Plus. On March 5th after her 20 min. foot bath I looked at the scab thing and saw that it loosened enough to pull it off and a gristily looking thing came out with it...it bled a little bit and then I sprayed it with the Vetericyn but I didn't know what else to do after that since I was by myself at the time and Vicki the duck was not fully cooperating with the process. The areas on her foot are still swollen but she is walking better. As of March 11th after soaking her foot again and with my husbands help this time, I tried to squeeze out what was inside but didn't get much out other than a little blood. I massaged it and squeezed multiple times but nothing really emerged. She has been acting normal and swimming and socializing with the others. The area is very hard...Not sure what to do at this point? Did it solidify inside or do I need to do something else? I have read and watched many of the videos people have posted about this ...Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated...thanks

 

[Happy Quack]

Some of my gals have had bumblefoot too. On one the vet gave me an oral antibiotic and that cleared it right up. Then on another duck I cut her pad open and pulled the core out. Then I bandaged her foot for three days. The bandage got changed everyday. She healed really fast. She was also put in a cage so she would get her foot gross.Do be carful around bumblefoot as it is a nasty strain of styph.

 

[LuckyDucksInn]

So you cut in to the bottom portion of her foot? What did you use to cut and remove the core? Was it hard? So in other words even though the spot is very hard it still has to be removed? I just don't want to make things worse.

 

[Happy Quack]

I had used a very sharp knife. In my case it was not hard to do at all. I got to it before it got a lot of the hard crusty stuff on it. Once the core was gone it healed very fast. If you are unsure you should call a vet and see if they can give you and antibiotic for it. That worked very well for me to. Just make sure your vet knows it is a duck as some antibiotics are not safe for ducks. There is a 30 day egg/meat withdrawal time with the antibiotics.

 

[Amiga]

If at all possible, I would go with less invasive methods, though surgery sometimes works out just fine.

A good duck vet is best.

But f.y.i., the infection in a bumble in ducks is generally very thick and semi-solid, from what I have read. So it cannot really be squeezed out.

The clear iodine method works pretty well, I am told.

Following the soak, dry the foot and apply two or three drops of clear (clear, clear, not brown) iodine to the bumble. Wait five or six days, then soak the foot again. Usually a scab forms and can then be pulled off gently. If it won't come off gently, reapply clear iodine, wait a few more days, and try again.

@Miss Lydia has used this.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If at all possible, I would go with less invasive methods, though surgery sometimes works out just fine.

A good duck vet is best.

But f.y.i., the infection in a bumble in ducks is generally very thick and semi-solid, from what I have read. So it cannot really be squeezed out.

The clear iodine method works pretty well, I am told.

Following the soak, dry the foot and apply two or three drops of clear (clear, clear, not brown) iodine to the bumble. Wait five or six days, then soak the foot again. Usually a scab forms and can then be pulled off gently. If it won't come off gently, reapply clear iodine, wait a few more days, and try again.

@Miss Lydia has used this.

This method works the best I have tried. I have not had to cut thankfully.I usually soak every three days after initial treatment and use the iodine after soaking usually by 3rd soaking and iodine treatment I can begin to gently remove the scab. I always read Not to squeeze the bumble because you can cause the bacteria to move back up into the wound. So once I get the scab off either the bumble comes out with scab removal or I use sterile tweezers to remove because pus in poultry is solid. A few times after removing the scab there was nothing but a hole. So I would pack with triple antibiotic ointment [non pain relief] and either wrap or just keep the foot as clean as possible.

 

[Happy Quack]

Oral antibiotic work very well also . The vet can give you some.

 

[Krazyquilts]

I've been having very good luck with scraping the bumblefoot area out with a pair of very sharp tweezers (sterilized before and after) and spraying it with Blu-Kote. I had used the Vetericyn at first but it didn't seem to be doing anything so I ordered clear iodine as the excellent Amiga and Miss Lydia as well as Blu-Kote because my local feed supplier recommended it. The Blu-Kote arrived first so that's what I used and it really seems to be clearing the bumblefoot right up!

Now everybody gets a weekly foot-check and if I even suspect a ducky foot looks a bit odd, it gets a spray of Blu-Kote, just in case. If you're going to use it, buy plastic gloves. It can be messy!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I've been having very good luck with scraping the bumblefoot area out with a pair of very sharp tweezers (sterilized before and after) and spraying it with Blu-Kote. I had used the Vetericyn at first but it didn't seem to be doing anything so I ordered clear iodine as the excellent Amiga and Miss Lydia as well as Blu-Kote because my local feed supplier recommended it. The Blu-Kote arrived first so that's what I used and it really seems to be clearing the bumblefoot right up!

Now everybody gets a weekly foot-check and if I even suspect a ducky foot looks a bit odd, it gets a spray of Blu-Kote, just in case. If you're going to use it, buy plastic gloves. It can be messy!

I have Blue Kote towels and clothes.

 

[Krazyquilts]

Lol! So true! I have a gray polar fleece jacket that now has purple splotches on it. As far as getting it on my hands, I use fountain pens so my hands are quite often funky colors anyway but I've been trying to remember to wear gloves when cleaning and re-inking them too.