Another bumble foot question

[wireman24]

Hello
I have been dealing with a bad case of bumble foot for about a week
I have had to open the foot twice already to remove infection.
The last time we scraped and dug out every trace of infection that we could find.
We had to cut open the top and the bottom of the foot. When we flushed it out with the iodine it went in one side and out the other. We then packed with neosporene and wraped the foot. We then started her on Pen G penicillin.

It's been five days since we started the Pen G and the foot is still swollen and there is a little bit of drainage coming from the wound.
She also does not want to put any wait on this foot.
Do you think we will need to cut it back open or do you think the Pen G will do the trick?

Also how many days can she safely be on Pen G?
If we need to cut it back open do we continue on with the Pen G or would that be too long since she has already been on it for five days?

Other than this she seems healthy she is eating and drinking and is very alert.

I am getting discouraged so any suggestions would be great.

Thanks

 

[HEChicken]

That's a tough one. Bumblefoot is tough. Period.

All I can do is share my experience. I have a speckled sussex who developed a bumble that caused a large, visible swelling on her foot. I did surgery and, like you, scraped out every bit of infection I could find. I then packed it with triple antibiotic, wrapped in vet wrap and returned her to the flock. Two days later I changed the bandage. Unwrapping it, I really hoped to see reduced swelling, so I was sorely disappointed to see the amount of swelling unchanged. I continued to change out the dressing every other day until the wound had closed over.

Over the next few weeks and months, her foot continued to look just as swollen as it had prior to the surgery. I decided not to put her through any more. Surgery is stressful on them, and she seemed otherwise healthy and happy. She was even still laying regularly! She had a pronounced limp but nevertheless, was usually the first to run (aka hobble) to me when I took out treats and always got her fair share of them.

Then one day I noticed she wasn't limping any more. Not at all. How strange, I thought. So I took a closer look and discovered the reason why. Despite my best efforts, I had apparently NOT removed all of the infection and it had continued to work its way up through her foot and was coming out the top. She wasn't limping because the bottom of her foot didn't hurt any more.

I decided to do one more surgery after all. Here she is while soaking in epsom salts prior to surgery:

After soaking for 20 minutes (it must feel good as she always enjoyed her epsom salts bath. I could set her to soak and then walk away to get the rest of the supplies I'd need, and she would just stand there in the kitchen sink, never moving), I picked off the scab and removed this:

Once again, I packed it with triple antibiotic and wrapped it in vet wrap. This was about 3 months ago. Her foot has now healed and she walks without any limp at all.

I can't advise you on what to do - but I can advise to weigh carefully putting your hen through another surgery so soon. It may be better to take a "wait and see" attitude instead, and re-evaluate down the road.

 

[Michael Apple]

Scrolling half way down the page of this site, you will see extensive information about treating Bumble foot :
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

What is rarely mentioned about causes of Bumble foot is that moisture plays a large part in a bird's foot health. Litter and floor conditions in the coop that are too wet begin to erode the skin on the foot pad, which can lead to inflammation (bumblefoot) and lameness. The layer of skin on the foot pad becomes thin, making it more susceptible to puncture and infection from thorns, slivers, etc. Moisture created by the birds along with water spillage if not managed can create lameness in a flock. Heavier breeds jumping off roosts to floor areas not well padded with shavings can create problems too. More litter and lowering roosts helps prevent this problem.

 

[wireman24]

The problem is not my coop or setup.
The problem started before I got her.
I bought a half dozen chickens from a farmer and this one had bumble foot.
I did not notice until a week later when i seen her limping.