[nic99]

Kenny, one of my Indian runner drakes started limping yesterday. I have thoroughly checked his leg and the only thing I can find that might be wrong is 3 tiny callous like bumps on the bottom of his foot. He also has some black speckedly bits peppered around on both of his feet, howerver the total coverage of these is a very small area and i'm not sure if these are just his natural markings???. I was hoping to get a photo but discovered that holding the duck and using the camera at the same is not possible. It does not look inflamed at all. I am suspecting a very mild case of bumblefoot, although am not totally sure. I have booked a vets appointment for this afternoon to hopefully pick up some antibiotics to treat it before it spreads further however, whilst doing my research into bumblefoot have read that many antibiotics are toxic to ducks. I do not predict that the vet is going to be particularly savvy on duck care so was hoping to go armed with some knowledge about what can and can't be used to treat it. Any ideas?

[funkyfish]

Hello! Yes many antibiotics are harmful to poultry- one has an egg and meat withdrawal of forever!! (Baytril) as it is toxic to people! Most non poultry savvy vets will give this to birds. Try contacting a poultry savvy vet. Www.chickenhousevet.co.uk is very vey good. She's in Devon but may be able to offer advice.

I think penicillin based antibiotics are ok for ducks- the same ones you give to dogs/cats. But there are special ones for birds I think. Don't give your duck any meds until you have researched the drug first- Wang mess you are given should come with a data sheet, which will say if it's not safe for poultry.

Hope this helps!!

[Hopewell]

Hello! Yes many antibiotics are harmful to poultry- one has an egg and meat withdrawal of forever!! (Baytril) as it is toxic to people!

I am not aware that there is any evidence that Baytril is toxic to people. In fact Baytril is metabolised in the body to an active form that is the same as a different drug that is actually regularly prescribed for people, so that would suggest that Baytril is far from being toxic to people. There are also versions of Baytril licensed for meat producing animals with fairly short withdrawal periods. However I am not aware of any form of Baytril licensed for poultry and that is probably for the simple fact that no work has been done to establish a withdrawal period or that the powers that be have not set a minimum acceptable level for the drug in eggs or poultry meat. (If there is no minimum level established then obviously it is impossible to say how long it takes before that level is reached ie the withdrawal period.)  Although the reason for having withdrawal periods is to prevent the drug being consumed by us humans, to prevent it causing rare allergic reactions and to reduce the liklihood of resistance developing to that drug. If resistance does develop when a similar drug is used to treat an infection in us humans it then doesn't work.

Unfortunately bumblefoot can be difficult to treat, so I hope it isn't that and that he just has some sores on his foot.

[Sylvia]

Ducks are also prone to joint infections. Are his joints a bit warm? In my experience, if this is the case they are better off culled as this, also, is difficult to treat

[nic99]

He is on a 5 day course of baytril and had an injection of metacam. The vet pretty much had no idea what is wrong, so just gave him the bog standard treatment for mystery cases. Gonna give him a chance and see if the baytril makes a difference, as he is a rather lovely duck and super tame. The limp does seem less extreme and he is keeping up with the others a bit better, so hopefully he is improving. Could not feel any particularly warm parts on the leg and there is no swelling.