Lame ducks

[Ulsta Dyook Wife]

Hi there,

I'm looking for some advice on what to do with ducks with sore feet. One of my ducks has had a sore foot for 5 days now. It is cracked, but does not look infected. I put some germoline on it to see if it might aid healing. Tonight I have noticed another duck seemed to be limping a bit, although have not been able to check her feet yet.

Their run (which they spend overnight in) is quite wet (under water) at the moment at one end, but drier at the other end. I would describe it as being soft peaty mud with yellow iris roots exposed. These are quite hard. I would not have thought this surface would have harmed their feet though. They have a house they go in to lay eggs, however refuse to stay in it now, preferring to spend the night out in the run.

They otherwise appear healthy and are ravenous, and are laying daily, although I don't know if they will continue to lay if they become immobilised as one of them pretty much is. They are 8 months old.

I have read that Betadine is good for cracks, and wondered if anyone had used it on ducks? I have seen it as a fine powder spray and wondered if it might be worth a try.

Thanks.

 

[Tim]

Ducks can often have cracked feet - usually from walking in muck / urates but unless they are very cracked / open I would first suspect worms.

The most common sign of worms in waterfowl is they go lame in one or both legs. Have they been wormed recently?

Tim

 

[Tim]

P.S. Mud will not help them - if they get too messy, they could get wet feather. They could do with fresh clean water to bathe in but also a mud free run to stand in - easy said than done in this weather!

If my run gets too muddy, I round my ducks up and put them in on fresh straw for the night so they can stay clean. They protest a little but get used to it :roll:

 

[Ulsta Dyook Wife]

Thanks for your reply.

I can actually see scrapes on the bottom of some of the ducks feet, so I'm thinking it must be to do with erosion of the soil and the exposed plant roots. We've put some more soil in, but in this weather its not done much.

I've never wormed ducks - how is this carried out?

The really poorly duck is now on antibiotics. The joint between her foot and leg swelled up alongside the cut bit, so I am hoping it will clear up. She's overnighting in an old rabbit hutch with plenty of straw, but yes doesn't think much of being seperated from the others and getting her medicine.

As for the others - it wouldn't matter how much nice fresh straw I put in their house, they prefer to sit outside in the muck, and get distressed if I lock them in the house, so I can't win! They are out all day so have plenty of fresh water as a stream runs by their house.

 

[Tim]

There's some info here on Worming Ducks.

To my knowledge, there are no licenced products to worm ducks so vets would prescribe something using their 'clinical judgement'.

Some people I know use Ivermectin, some Flubenvet, using the same dose given for Chickens and Geese.

 

[Anonymous]

Can ducks get bumblefoot?
What you describe sounds exactly like bumblefoot,which is an infection caused by a puncture,scrape or scratch which breaks the skin,allowing the infection in.

 

[Ulsta Dyook Wife]

Yes I'm pretty sure this was bumble foot, horrible sore with big black scab that finally came off, although it didn't resemble any photos I'd seen so I was never 100% sure. I got baytril for her and although she is so much better, she still has a pretty bad limp and her ankle has been left swollen. I'm concerned it may have given her arthritis, poor thing, she isn't even a year old yet. I'm getting a vet to take a look tomorrow, along with one that has a prolapse - what next! She is just a baby too, too young to be laying eggs I wonder.