One of our three ducks has bumblefoot, which is an awful sore (looks like a blister) on the bottom of their foot. We are trying to treat it naturally at home before having to visit a vet for more invasive procedures and medicines. Every day, we take her out of her coop and put her in a private bath (a large tub we used to use to chill our wort during the brewing process) to soak her foot in warm water and Epsom salts. In order to keep her foot soaking there for 15-20 minutes and prevent her from jumping out which she has totally tried to do, I have to get in close, lean over the bucket, and put my hands over her (not touching her though, because she really doesn't like that). It is not the most comfortable position, but I don't have a huge, awful, and probably painful sore on my foot, so I suck it up and deal with it.
I want to clarify that none of what I have just written is at all delightful; what has been delightful is spending quality time with her. Midna is our duck who is entirely black- feathers, bill, webbed feet, etc, but in the sun, her feathers have this gorgeous green sheen to them. She is a Cayuga duck, a breed of domestic duck that was introduced to the Finger Lakes region of New York State in about 1840, and is named for the Cayuga people of that area. We originally purchased two Cayuga ducklings, but Midna's sister died in my arms at only a few days old (potentially from a niacin deficiency or a reaction from temperature fluctuations after her first bath or something called "Sudden Death Syndrome). Midna is now like the black sheep of the duck family, as our other two ducks are Khaki Campbells, and are not black but khaki colored. Once we were down to three ducklings, we renamed them from Star Wars characters (which my husband always objected to, but I loved, because they were born on May 4, 2020, which is Star Wars Day-- May the Fourth be with you!) to Zelda princesses (I do love the symbolism of the 3 ducks and the "Triforce", the ultimate source of power in The Legend of Zelda series, represented by three triangles, Power, Wisdom, and Courage). The Khakis are named Zelda and Zora (technically the Princess of Zora is named Ruto, but I liked the name Zora better and I especially liked the alliteration of the Zs). Midna is the Twilight Princess, thus the perfect name for our Black Cayuga.
So while I am uncomfortably leaning over Midna in her bath, I watch her watching things. One of my favorite things that poultry do is tilt their head to look at you (or whatever else they are looking at), because their eyes are located on either side of their head. When an airplane or hawk or vulture flew by, Midna would immediately tilt her head to look up at it. Occasionally, she checked me out by tilting her head at me. When my husband walked by, she tilted her head at him. She has a low, almost bass sounding, quack, very much unlike her khaki sisters, and even though this whole situation must be incredibly disconcerting for her, she quacks very infrequently (again, very much unlike her khaki sisters who quack all--the--time). Yesterday I put my hands on her a few times (my hands were freezing) and her body was warm and fluffy and delightful. I could feel her racing heartbeat and her lungs expanding with air. And she didn't seem to mind my touch too much. She is a beautiful creature, and as awful as this situation is, I am trying to find the delight in it by admiring her creatureliness.
After the bath, I dry off her foot, apply the "blue stuff" (that's what we call it because it is a thick blue paste; it's actually called "Hen Healer" and provides a protective, moisturizing layer to help the heal the wound), and then wrap the wound with gauze (which is very difficult because she has a webbed foot). She seems to walk on her "cast" just fine, and keep it on for the most part (I was amazing the other day when I removed her bandage and it was clean and dry!)
Hopefully, we'll start to see the wound getting smaller and healing itself so we don't have to submit her to surgery and antibiotics. It may take a few weeks for this "natural" healing, which just means more quality time with my Midna.
With delight (and hope!),
♥Jamie
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