Bumblefoot and natural treatment

[Allysha1990]

So I recently discovered a few of my flock have bumblefoot. I looked up how to treat it, however I found that most websites called for surgery and that looked too horrific for me to try
I am instead opting for a natural treatment involving some natural essential oils and a papaw ointment.
I first soaked the feet in a chamomile bath an then dried them
I am treating them with a mixture of Lavender, Tea Tree, and Chamomile oils, mixed into some Lucas' Papaw ointment (http://www.lucaspapaw.com.au/).
I will keep you posted on the progress, along with some pictures, and I must say my Dark Cornish rooster is taking it all gracefully (he even fell asleep while I was bathing his feet!)

 

[HEChicken]

Yes, a foot bath does seem to feel soothing to them when they have this infection. Keep in mind that bumblefoot is a staph infection, so natural treatments are unlikely to kill it.

I agree, that doing surgery on a bird without anesthesia is not pleasant, and I also hesitate to do it unless absolutely necessary. Over the years I've had a few hens with it and my policy is not to treat unless they start to have issues. I.e., as long as they are laying, overall healthy, not limping, and seem happy, I let it go. But once their health starts to decline, I feel the options are surgery or a slow, lingering death from staph - not a pleasant way to go.

I have a hen with a recurrent bumble issue. I did surgery in April and thought I had removed it all but the swelling and pronounced limp did not go down in the weeks following. Several months later the limp went away and I discovered the reason. Some of the infection was left in after all, and it had continued to grow and to migrate to the top of her foot. She stopped limping because the infection was no longer in the sole of her foot. Here is what she looked like at this point:

That was in her epsom salts "pre-surgery" bath. She loves those baths and will stand there in the kitchen sink while I bustle around gathering the rest of the supplies I need. After soaking for 20 minutes or so, I was able to quite easily remove the plug you see at the top and pull out this:

Honestly, at no point during this, did the hen seem the slightest bit traumatized. After I'd removed this large piece of infection, I filled the hole with triple antibiotic, wrapped it in vet wrap, and carried her outside, setting her down in the grass. Her head immediately dipped to peck at something on the ground and she was off - foraging as though nothing unusual had happened. She wore her bandage until the wound had healed sufficiently that I wasn't concerned about bacteria re-entering through it, and has since carried on quite happily since, with no trace of a limp.

 

[Allysha1990]

Here are all the pictures of Mr Rex's foot treatment today. I am spending a lot of time with him, as you can see he has a LOT of bumbles on each foot. I don't think they are bad enough to warrant attempting to dig around into his foot though, so for now I am going to stick with this.
I did some research and there have been multiple cases of essential oils curing infections, so I figured why not give it a go. I also don't really want to use antibiotics unless I absolutely have to, as I may end up eating him one day (although I doubt it lol).

 

[Allysha1990]

Also, you can see both my boyfriend and Mr Rex fell asleep while I was working on his feet lol!

 

[dawg53]

That doesnt look like bumblefoot; no redness, no swelling...looks like burns which can be caused by wet or damp litter, possibly by ammonia from excess urine from feces in litter. However, I'm leaning more towards a vitamin or mineral deficiency, possibly biotin or pantogentic (sp) acid deficiency. I recommend that you purchase Avian Super Pack. Jefferslivestock.com carries it:
http://www.jefferspet.com/avian-super-pack/camid/LIV/cp/AB-P1/
Dosage is 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water for 5 days. You can give it to all your birds if you wish. Make a fresh batch daily. No withdrawal. Hopefully it'll heal up soon if that's what it is.

 

[Allysha1990]

That doesnt look like bumblefoot; no redness, no swelling...looks like burns which can be caused by wet or damp litter, possibly by ammonia from excess urine from feces in litter. However, I'm leaning more towards a vitamin or mineral deficiency, possibly biotin or pantogentic (sp) acid deficiency. I recommend that you purchase Avian Super Pack. Jefferslivestock.com carries it:
http://www.jefferspet.com/avian-super-pack/camid/LIV/cp/AB-P1/
Dosage is 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water for 5 days. You can give it to all your birds if you wish. Make a fresh batch daily. No withdrawal. Hopefully it'll heal up soon if that's what it is.

Hi, I should have added that I have already been doing this for a few days now and it has gotten a lot smaller and less inflamed. I don't think it would be from bad litter, as I clean out my hen house every 2 weeks with fresh straw, their floor is always clean and there is no smell at all from ammonia or feces.
I assumed that it was bumbles after looking at lots of pictures and reading on it. I also assumed he probably got it from fighting with my other rooster.
I am not too sure on other issues that they could get. As for a vitamin deficiency, wouldn't all my birds get it as they all eat the same food?

 

[electrifyniall]

I know this is an old thread but I would like to try this method! I have put on lucas paw paw, tea tree and chamomile oil on a gauze and put it on my rooster's foot and bandaged it up. Could you tell me how much you put on his foot? And if your roo's better now

 

[haileebucket]

My baby duck has bumble foot does this work I'm a new duck mom so i don't really know what to do he's a week old

Update on my baby's bumble foot he broke a nail which is what caused it and we soaked in epson salt and and pulled out the scab that had dried up white stuff attached it looked kind of like a huge blackhead scab then I ordered vetericyn but while I waited for that to come in the mail I put a little bit of colloidal silver gel with a little bit of lavender oil mixed in it on it. It's almost all the way healed

He's waking on it fine and no longer drags it behind him I'll keep you up on his recovery

 

[Amiga]

My baby duck has bumble foot does this work I'm a new duck mom so i don't really know what to do he's a week old


Update on my baby's bumble foot he broke a nail which is what caused it and we soaked in epson salt and and pulled out the scab that had dried up white stuff attached it looked kind of like a huge blackhead scab then I ordered vetericyn but while I waited for that to come in the mail I put a little bit of colloidal silver gel with a little bit of lavender oil mixed in it on it. It's almost all the way healed
He's waking on it fine and no longer drags it behind him I'll keep you up on his recovery

This is terrific information, thank you @haileebucket (c:

I hope to "meet" you over on the Duck Forum! How's the little one today?

 

[haileebucket]

He's great I'll keep you all updated I use the coloidal silver for myself and my dogs and it works great