Bumblefoot

[SeaderHausFarm]

I'm mostly opposed because I have no help. I feel like I'm not prepared enough or able to do it safely. My birds are SO squirmy. Just soaking their feet for 5 minutes a day is a hassle. I have been looking into it, I just don't think it would be fair to the bird if I screwed up.

I also thought about the antibiotic route, but was not sure where to obtain them. I have no local avian vet and I haven't found a feed store that sells them yet.

A couple of ideas...first, I do think you could order antibiotics for animals online without any problem. Maybe even through Amazon but also through somewhere like Hoegger Goat Supply. Also, do you live anywhere near an extension office? Maybe someone at the extension office would know of a 4H kiddo who could help or could tell you who the Poultry person (superintendent) is and they could help.

I will have to say that there was more blood than I anticipated when I did the surgery but everything went fine and it seems to be healing nicely. We wrapped the hen in a towel with just her beak out so she could still breath but so that she was sort of swaddled and she hardly moved.

Do you have a neighbor who might be willing to help?...just some thoughts.

 

[Amiga]

I'm mostly opposed because I have no help. I feel like I'm not prepared enough or able to do it safely. My birds are SO squirmy. Just soaking their feet for 5 minutes a day is a hassle. I have been looking into it, I just don't think it would be fair to the bird if I screwed up.

I also thought about the antibiotic route, but was not sure where to obtain them. I have no local avian vet and I haven't found a feed store that sells them yet.

Ducks (I am a duck person) also get bumblefoot and most of the time surgery is not needed. I know of someone who just uses Epsom salt soaks to get the bumble out (the kernel starts to move out of the foot, and it can be pulled the rest of the way out, at a certain point, using tweezers). Then there is the system of soaking the foot either in Epsom salt solution or just lukewarm water for a while, then dabbing a couple of drops of clear (not brown, clear) iodine on the lump. After several days, another foot soak, and similar to the Epsom salt method, in many cases the scab and the kernel (the infected lump) come out with nice healthy pink flesh underneath. If not, reapply iodine, and wait again. No wrapping of the foot is needed. I know of someone who has used this on her chicken and it worked for her.

 

[TomandBarbara]

We are currently treating one of our girls for bumblefoot.
There was no limping but she did have a lump between her toes like a bubble.
Hubby and I researched as much as we could and decided to soak her foeet in epsom salts bath then Lance her foot...remove the scab and clear the kernel. .
All went well but instead of a hard lump so many people had mentioned there was a lot of liquid pus! I mean a lot!!
Still we cleaned and dressed her foot every day for 2 weeks the lump disappeared but within 2 days of removing the wraps the pads were back!

This time we have decided not to cut her feet anymore and instead apply a poultice of iodine and sugar on a corn pad and wrap her feet.
A week later one of the pads has gone...
We are still persevering with her other foot.but she is eating drinking laying and walking normally..even though she does have bright yellow 'vetrap boots' on!

 

[Raquel1]

Hi, been reading on this bumblefoot issue. I have a hen that had this huge tumor like thing with the scab, we removed it, and out popped this black/greenish hard chunk. Put her on penicillin, vet thought it was a good idea. The bump is coming back. Someone told me it could be an encapsulated cyst. Anyone have advice? thought the picture uploaded, tried 3 times, but I'm not seeing it, very new to this stuff so bare with me. The thing that came out was rock hard and about the size of a grape.

 

[Amiga]

@Raquel1 that sounds like the description I have read for a number of advanced bumblefoot cases. Could it be there is something still in there? The penicillin is a good idea, though you may talk to the vet to see if it is as good for reaching the extremities as something like Duramycin. That said, the big concern is to keep the infection from going systemic (sepsis). So, I have no qualms about the penicillin. Then there's always the resistance issue, but there we are.

If it were me…. I would do Epsom salt soaks followed with a couple of drops of clear - clear - iodine. Then I'd wait a few days, and do that again. Epsom salt is said to draw things out - I have used it myself for a tiny tiny splinter that I could not get out of my heel. I made an E.s. poultice and wore that for a while. I told folks I had bumblefoot.

That's what I can come up with for the moment. Prayers for you and the hen.

 

[egghead@1265]

Bumble Foot! We did surgery once on a hen, with success, but wow, your stories on here are impressive!

For antibiotics, we were able to get them from a nearby Fleet Farm, which would be much less expensive than going to most vets, at least for us. Often web MD has meds for animals and they even have approximate amounts to administer to them based on the size of your animal.

We have given injections to our hens based on the recommendations of web MD and the animal in need based on weight and issue.

good luck!

 

[Raquel1]

We cleaned that baby out really good, but I suppose something could still be in there. I will give our vet a call again, and do the soaks. Our vet recommended just keeping it dry and clean, apparently that's not working.

 

[enola]

Bumble foot is caused by a staph infection. Does penicillin treat staph infections? When I operated on my rooster, I also got a horrible hunk of crap out of his foot. But, I never used any antibiotics. Just soaked his foot in betadine and kept him in a cage with a wire bottom to keep him out of the dirt.

 

[Amiga]

There are maybe a dozen different ways I have read to treat bumblefoot. With ducks, because they are in wet, muddy environments, cutting the feet is something I don't like to do. And there are times that the infection can get into the joint, or into the bloodstream, requiring the use of antibiotics. In our flock, I have caught it early, and not had to deal with the concern about systemic infection.

 

[Raquel1]

Husband opened it up last night and I saw the white..........so we decided to just let her rest and this morning we pulled it out. I hope we got all of it,thought I was gonna pass out standing there. The vet thought it may be attached to her joint and probably little hope if so. I'm hoping his guess is wrong and we got it.Getting a better med for her today yet and hopefully this is the end of it. Now if I can upload what came out of the foot..........