BUMBLEFOOT: Have any of you eliminated it strictly with anti-biotics?

[humblehillsfarm]

I have a chicken that has bumblefoot and around the time I realized it, she came down with a respiratory infection. I packed her off to a (reportedly) well-known avian vet in the area. He said that antibiotics can help with bumblefoot. The antibiotics cured her of the respiratory infection, not the bumblefoot. So I took her to another vet who surgically removed it, but it came back. This chicken is four years old and I've ceased trying to treat it.

A week ago I discovered my favorite, sweetest chicken and best egg layer, who is only a year old, now has bumblefoot. I'm frustrated because I go to extraordinary lengths to keep the coop as clean as a chicken coop can be to practice good hygiene, and it still happens. So off to the vet we go, the avian vet, and he says that surgery can make bumblefoot worse so he wants to try antibiotics again.

I am simply curious if anyone in this community has treated bumblefoot only using antibiotics? I am simply not confident, nor hard enough, to do the surgery myself. But I'm too soft to put down an otherwise healthy chicken, my favorite at that. But I'm also too soft to not help her, so off to the vet! But the costs are just enormous. I am so upset and frustrated right now. I wan this to work!

 

[The Happster]

I don't believe it would work with just antibiotics....
There is a non surgical way you can do it apparently.
https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment-html/

My rooster had bumblefoot. I tried various things, but I couldn't have done surgery. I used to bandage his foot every day & bathe it with Epsom salts.
I gave up after a few months of that....
That was about two years ago. He still limps sometimes. But he seems very happy.

I really don't have much trust in the vets, when it comes to my birds. Most of them (around my area, anyway) don't treat chickens.

 

[Isaac 0]

I think that'd partially depend on the severity of the Bumble, for example, if it's just swelling with no core you may be able to get away with just using a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug like Meloxicam, in addition to that an antibiotic like enrofloxacin for a few days.

If it's pretty mild, a few days of soaking in an Epsom salt/Chlorhexidine, then gently teasing the core out without too much effort, then bandaging might be sufficient.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I think that'd partially depend on the severity of the Bumble, for example, if it's just swelling with no core you may be able to get away with just using a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug like Meloxicam, in addition to that an antibiotic like enrofloxacin for a few days.

If it's pretty mild, a few days of soaking in an Epsom salt/Chlorhexidine, then gently teasing the core out without too much effort, then bandaging might be sufficient.

The vet picked the scab off and said he thought it was small enough but it certainly won’t hurt to try soaking it too. He said sometimes surgery can make it worse so who knows.

 

[Isaac 0]

The vet picked the scab off and said he thought it was small enough but it certainly won’t hurt to try soaking it too. He said sometimes surgery can make it worse so who knows.

Yeah, if you were to remove the core and immediately set the chicken back out in bacteria-ridden environment, of course, it's going to become worse or re-infected. The bandage should be done after surgery and should be taken off every 72 hours as to apply an antibacterial ointment until the wound has totally healed.

I'm no vet, so maybe he knows something I don't.

 

[Danif123]

I have gotten rid of it without preforming the surgery but I did catch it early. The infection didn't look too big but at that point she was already limping. I soaked my chicken's feet in a bath of warm water and epsom salt for about 20 to 30 minutes twice a day. After the epsom salt I used iodine scrub mixed with warm water and soaked for another 15 to 20. After this I sprayed blu-kote on her feet. It took about a week or a week and a half. Its been a couple months now and it hasn't come back, I'm not going to lie it was a little time consuming but I don't know if I could just cut a chickens foot open either. I also bleached all roosts and made sure they where smooth so hopefully it won't happen again.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I have gotten rid of it without preforming the surgery but I did catch it early. The infection didn't look too big but at that point she was already limping. I soaked my chicken's feet in a bath of warm water and epsom salt for about 20 to 30 minutes twice a day. After the epsom salt I used iodine scrub mixed with warm water and soaked for another 15 to 20. After this I sprayed blu-kote on her feet. It took about a week or a week and a half. Its been a couple months now and it hasn't come back, I'm not going to lie it was a little time consuming but I don't know if I could just cut a chickens foot open either. I also bleached all roosts and made sure they where smooth so hopefully it won't happen again.

Unfortunately I have a chicken with horrendously chronic bumblefoot so bleaching wouldn't do much to stop the spread. When she had surgery I spent weeks changing bandages daily and it was awful. I work 11 hour days, which is also awful, so time is precious, but so is my newest bird with bumblefoot. I caught it early so hopefully a good soak will help.

 

[Danif123]

Unfortunately I have a chicken with horrendously chronic bumblefoot so bleaching wouldn't do much to stop the spread. When she had surgery I spent weeks changing bandages daily and it was awful. I work 11 hour days, which is also awful, so time is precious, but so is my newest bird with bumblefoot. I caught it early so hopefully a good soak will help.

I actually never even wrapped it idk if that helped or not but I thought letting it breathe would be better plus she was a bantam and those feet are so tiny.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I actually never even wrapped it idk if that helped or not but I thought letting it breathe would be better plus she was a bantam and those feet are so tiny.

I had to wrap it because it was surgically removed by a different (non avian) vet, and it did in fact get much worse afterwards. The vet that said it gets worse specializes in avian birds.

The antibiotics improved the bumblefoot radically but did not eliminate it. I saw a post on here about trying Tricide-Neo, an external antibiotic used to treat fish scale infections. I ordered that and started treatment on both birds yesterday. I hope to provide an update with positive news! I couldn't find the original post though.

 

[specklesmom]

How did the Tricide-Neo work?