Infected foot

[Nafalie]

Hi everyone! I just got home from picking up some chicks at my local feed store.

When I got home and inspected the chicks further I noticed that one of the bantams has some sort of infected toe.

I’m wondering if you folks can tell if this is bumblefoot or just some sort of weird toenail infection. (or, if there’s even a difference!) I’m new to the treatment of bumblefoot, so if anyone has any suggestions I’d be thrilled to hear.

Thank you so much!

Also if anyone has any thoughts on the breed of bantam this might be, feel

free to weigh in!

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Clean up the toe as it looks dirty. I have more info coming. I am searching for some info

 

[FarmerGirl101]

First of all welcome to BYC!! Feel free to ask me any questions that you may have.
Now let us get to the medical part.
Soak the foot in a warm bath with Epson salts. Use a brush to help get any dirt off. If you don't have the supplies then you should go put him/her back in the brooder. Also get a syringe as that is a great medical tool. If he stops eating or drinking then make him/her a mash with water and food then give some to him/her via syringe. All this info might be a bit excessive but it will come handy later on. Keep some Epson salts in storage as well as get some saline and non-medicated Neosporin. This is the full process: soak his/her foot in the warm bath and use a brush to get any dirt out. Wrap his/her foot in Vet wrap which you can get in the horse section of TSC. Put some Neosporin on and put a cotton pad to help prevent any dirt from coming in. Wrap the foot with Vet wrap all the way up so it does not fall out. Good luck and keep me updated!

 

[Nafalie]

OK, upon further inspection of the foot, and a soak in a warm foot bath with a little bit of antibacterial soap, it seems as though the toenail is totally black and ready to come off. It is only hanging on by a tiny bit of skin. It is hardly attached to her foot.

It’s hard to see in this picture but maybe it’ll give you a better visual.

The black part that you see in this picture is barely hanging on to the larger infected looking part of the toe. It’s nuch like when you lose your baby teeth and it’s just HARDLY attached to your gums.

What should I do here? After the warm foot bath and the use of a q-tip to cleanse the area, I put some neosporin on her toe and wrapped her up in a warm shirt of mine and put her back in the brooder. She immidately went to sleep.

I don’t have any sort of bandage on her toe at this time.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Could you please post a close up of the toe?

 

[FarmerGirl101]

also what colour is the skin around the toe? If the nail falls off then soak the foot in the warm water with Epson salts and put Neosporin on then put some cotton pads or balls on the toe. Wrap the foot completely and up the leg. If it starts to bleed then put some rubbing alcohol to help stop some bleeding.

 

[Chickens4Life101]

It looks like a toenail infection. We had a RIR hen with one so we took her to the vet and they had a prescription for it

 

[Nafalie]

Thank you so much for replying.

I popped on my macro lens and took some detail shots of her problem toenail.

Hopefully this helps!

I think I need to let her sleep for bit though she seems tuckered out at this point.

I guess I’m just not quite sure how to forge ahead.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

I would cut it off as it won't reattach. There will probably be some bleeding.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

How is he going?