BUMBLE FOOT AND OXYTETRACYCLINE

[CKN47]

I have a single chicken that we believe has bumble foot. We have had her on
oxytetracycline HCl for about 12 days. The directions suggest that we quit administering
in her water after 14 days. while she has improved, she is not all the way better. Is there a
downside to keeping her on this longer? If we cannot keep her on beyond 14 days, how long before
we can put her on it again?

Note: the chicken is a layer and we have been throwing out the eggs. We will not slaughter any
chickens at all ever if we can help it. We get our chicken in plastic at the grocery store.

I am unable to perform surgery or inject the feet. This seemed to be the best way to handle this issue. She has improved quite a bit.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

If she truly has bumble foot, you will have to remove the "bumble", which is essentially the infected tissues and pus. Chickens can do pretty well after this is removed depending on how deep the tissues affected are. Once the infection reaches tendon and bone, survival rate declines. If the infected tissue is not removed, it basically becomes a nidus for continued infection.

I would not keep her on antibiotics past the recommend time. There are other antibiotics available for poultry, but bumble foot can usually be treated locally rather than systemically. You do have to be careful about drugs used, as not all are labeled for poultry. Your best bet for questions about poultry drugs is calling your animal health diagnostic center for your state (for example, there's a poultry vet who works at the health center for New York State that people call for questions like this.)

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Do you have any pictures of the pad? While antibiotics are not the best avenue for bumblefoot, Oxytetracycline is not the best drug for soft tissue infections. You might switch over to Doxycycline or Cephalexin. ( these can be put in water.) Iwould suggest Pennicillin, but if you are unable to give injections, the pill form is not all that effective. (Antibiotics are injected into the breast muscle)

Surgery is not that difficult to do and if you stick to digging out the dead an infected tissue, it causes little or no pain. I can walk you through it.

I have kept birds on antibiotics for very long periods of time. And while this is not always the best option, sometimes long term treatments are required in certain circumstances.

 

[CKN47]

I took Sarah off the antibiotic after 14 days. When I looked at her yesterday, she was no longer limping. She has very little stuff on her feet now. I am starting to think that she did not have bumble foot after all because those chickens usually don't get better according to all I have read and heard. I took pictures of her feet but can't figure out how to upload them. Thanks for you help in this question.

 

[casportpony]

I took Sarah off the antibiotic after 14 days. When I looked at her yesterday, she was no longer limping. She has very little stuff on her feet now. I am starting to think that she did not have bumble foot after all because those chickens usually don't get better according to all I have read and heard. I took pictures of her feet but can't figure out how to upload them. Thanks for you help in this question.

Welcome to BYC! Are you posting from a phone or a computer?

-Kathy

 

[CKN47]

From an IMAC computer.

 

[casportpony]

From an IMAC computer.

can you see this?

 

[CKN47]

yes. I pressed that.
I could not figure out how to get the picture on my computer to go on the BYC website.

 

[CKN47]

Thank you for the information. I think she may have been misdiagnosed because she is better and is no longer limping and her feet look pretty normal. I withdrew the antibiotics
at the time specified on the package. I am very happy to say that she is doing much better.