Double Bumblefoot Surgery - How long to Segregate?

[RedDrgn]

We noticed our BA occasionally standing on one foot today, which we've never seen her do. So I caught her and checked her feet, and sure enough, bumblefoot...on BOTH feet.

Her left foot (the one she kept raising) was much worse than the right (which was just starting and very small). So my DH and I got to apply what we've learned here about it, cleaned and cut out all of the gunk and then bandaged up both feet as good as we could (band-aids and packaging tape).


Of course, once she realized that she COULD stand and move her feet, she immediately started picking at the bandages.

We currently have her in a large cat carrier with food and water and we're planning on keeping her there overnight. Should we also keep her there through tomorrow? The next day? How long?

We'll be checking the wounds and re-bandaging her feet tomorrow afternoon when my DH and I get home from work.

 

[klmclain1]

You need to keep her in a dry clean place for afew days. You'll need to soak her feet in epsom salts and warm water if you have it, daily and re-dress her wounds. You MAY have to go back in and do more surgery after a day or so - it's pretty common to have to do so. I let my girl out about 3 days after her last surgery, but continued to soak her foot and change her bandages every day for a few more days, then every other day for another week. I didn't do the soaking any more after about 5 days.

 

[RedDrgn]

Can do and thanks!

Fortunately, her feet weren't that bad. Neither was anywhere near as bad or large as what any of the standard tutorials for treating bumblefoot were like. Upon removing the scab and cleaning out the one, only a small "dent" in her foot pad remained; no real hole to speak of. Her other foot actually did have some puss and a rubbery plug (all of which was removed), and did leave a hole, albeit a small one. I use a Qtip to scrub both wounds out thoroughly with peroxide prior to packing with Neosporin.

We had no epsom salts, but I will be picking some up tomorrow in case soaking is needed. For now, her bandages are band-aids (cut in half), crossed over the wounds and then secured (but not too tightly) with packaging tape. She hasn't pecked through any of it yet, but I wouldn't put it past her. So I'll inspect, clean (if necessary) and redress the wounds tomorrow afternoon and see where we're at. I'm hoping that means a pretty quick recovery with no relapses.

I don't want to have her separate from the flock any longer than we really need to so we can avoid any major pecking order upheaval. I just don't trust the rest of the flock not to pick at the bandages, too, and there's no way she'll keep her feet clean if she's outside (that'd be some kind of chicken sin).

 

[dawg53]

Her feet should be healed in about 4-5 days. I'd check her feet in 2 days, clean it as necessary and check for any swelling and/or redness. Clean it with iodine, repack with neosporin and put a gauze over it. Use duct tape strips and wrap as you would any other wrapping material. Duct tape cant be picked off and it will keep the wounds free from dirt and debris, dry as well. You'll need scissors to cut through it two days later, it should be completely healed by then.

 

[welasharon]

I did surgery on one of mine and used that vet wrap stuff (actually it was the people version cut in half lengthwise) and it stayed on each time really well. It stuck to itself and she couldn't pick it off.

 

[sharol]

When I battled this just under a year ago, I didn't separate Lily (an EE) from her coopmates. I used vet wrap around her feet (between toes and under the foot). She couldn't get it off, and gave up pretty quickly when there were more interesting things to do. AFter the surgery, I would take her in the house twice a day and soak her feet for 7 minutes in tri-cide neo, then dose with neosporin and rewrap for the day. I'd put her out with the other girls when I let them out of the run for a while, and no one seemed to notice or care. I did use gree vet wrap (on green legs). I wouldn't recommend a bright color. At night I did it just before roosting and put her up on the roost. I didn't have any problems with the bandages coming off at all.

By the time I had found the infection (baaaad chick mom) it was pretty involved on one foot with swelling up into the ankle and minorly involved on the other foot. I'm certain I didn't get it all, but she is still with me 10 months later. There are still small dark spots on her feet, but there isn't any swelling. I've been monitoring her feet every since, and she doesn't seem to be in any pain. She didn't molt with her "sisters" last winter, though, and I don't think she is completely healthy. She lays 3 or 4 eggs a week and is approaching 2 years old.

Good luck with your girl. It sounds like you have it together and caught it early. Have you found the source of the initial puncture? I had an exposed screw point at the very bottom of the pop door/ramp that I had missed. I had three chickens with varying stages of the infection, and the other two healed right up.

 

[RedDrgn]

Her feet should be healed in about 4-5 days. I'd check her feet in 2 days, clean it as necessary and check for any swelling and/or redness. Clean it with iodine, repack with neosporin and put a gauze over it. Use duct tape strips and wrap as you would any other wrapping material. Duct tape cant be picked off and it will keep the wounds free from dirt and debris, dry as well. You'll need scissors to cut through it two days later, it should be completely healed by then.

I'll be picking up some iodine today as well. If I can't find the vet wrap that everyone keeps referring to, I'll just switch to duct tape (less crinkly when she walks, I'd imagine). She was doing well this morning, though I didn't unwrap her feet at all. But she's eating, drinking, and wondering why in the heck she's in the garage.

I did surgery on one of mine and used that vet wrap stuff (actually it was the people version cut in half lengthwise) and it stayed on each time really well. It stuck to itself and she couldn't pick it off.

Where do you find this vet wrap goodness that is mentioned everywhere? It sounds like it was pretty much made for chickens feets.

When I battled this just under a year ago, I didn't separate Lily (an EE) from her coopmates. I used vet wrap around her feet (between toes and under the foot). She couldn't get it off, and gave up pretty quickly when there were more interesting things to do. AFter the surgery, I would take her in the house twice a day and soak her feet for 7 minutes in tri-cide neo, then dose with neosporin and rewrap for the day. I'd put her out with the other girls when I let them out of the run for a while, and no one seemed to notice or care. I did use gree vet wrap (on green legs). I wouldn't recommend a bright color. At night I did it just before roosting and put her up on the roost. I didn't have any problems with the bandages coming off at all.

By the time I had found the infection (baaaad chick mom) it was pretty involved on one foot with swelling up into the ankle and minorly involved on the other foot. I'm certain I didn't get it all, but she is still with me 10 months later. There are still small dark spots on her feet, but there isn't any swelling. I've been monitoring her feet every since, and she doesn't seem to be in any pain. She didn't molt with her "sisters" last winter, though, and I don't think she is completely healthy. She lays 3 or 4 eggs a week and is approaching 2 years old.

Good luck with your girl. It sounds like you have it together and caught it early. Have you found the source of the initial puncture? I had an exposed screw point at the very bottom of the pop door/ramp that I had missed. I had three chickens with varying stages of the infection, and the other two healed right up.

I'm glad to hear your girl is still around; she can't be too unhealthy or she wouldn't be laying for you. The way animals (especially avians) tend to hide any illness or discomfort they feel, it's not surprise something went so long before you found it. All birds are health ninjas, usually until it's really bad or too late.

So I guess my girl's a sissy!

After I caught her standing in the yard for the third time on one foot yesterday, I caught her and checked her and found what I found. Neither foot showed any swelling and the worst one was only slightly reddish around the edges. From the top down, you couldn't tell at all that she had any problems and if I hadn't read through everything I could on this forum about the most common diseases/injuries/pests, I probably would've passed both feet off as just having scabs...until it got worse.

There's no source of a puncture would that could be found in coop nor run. However, we let the girls free range as often as we can and several portions of our property are wooded. We also have a small stream that cuts our property in half. They go everywhere and the way they'll leap and run through the wooded portions sometimes, I'm surprised no one has sprained an ankle or done worse to their feet, yet. I've also got too large clumps of prickly pear cactus on the property that they used to get into all of the time (even OVER a fence we put up). Fortunately, our roo is smart enough to know better and since adding him, he keeps them away and doesn't give them time to work out flying over the fences any more.

Thanks everyone for all of your help so far!

 

[welasharon]

I found some wrap in the drug store. It's people stuff but it sticks to itself. It looks like what they use when they wrap a sprain but it sticks to itself. It says it on the box. I cut it in half lengthwise.

 

[ChurkLover]

You can get the vet wrap from any vet or you can find a cheaper, but equivalent version at Walmart stores or anywhere that would sell medical supplies. The one I use is Johnson and Johnson First Aid Hurt-Free Wrap 1" wide by 2.37 yards- it costs $2.97 at Walmart. It also comes in 2 inch wide, but the 1 inch fits much better between the chicken's toes. If I buy the 2 inch, I end up cutting it in half before using it. Good Luck...I am nursing a hen with bumblefoot myself right now!

 

[RedDrgn]

I found some wrap in the drug store. It's people stuff but it sticks to itself. It looks like what they use when they wrap a sprain but it sticks to itself. It says it on the box. I cut it in half lengthwise.

You can get the vet wrap from any vet or you can find a cheaper, but equivalent version at Walmart stores or anywhere that would sell medical supplies. The one I use is Johnson and Johnson First Aid Hurt-Free Wrap 1" wide by 2.37 yards- it costs $2.97 at Walmart. It also comes in 2 inch wide, but the 1 inch fits much better between the chicken's toes. If I buy the 2 inch, I end up cutting it in half before using it. Good Luck...I am nursing a hen with bumblefoot myself right now!

Awesome! I'll be popping into CVS over lunch and hopefully they'll have something like it (or similar) that I can use on her.

I thought chickens had scaled legs/feet to protect them in wooded lands, etc....why don't they have scales on the BOTTOMS of their feet, too?