bumblefoot? help asap please..

[Rhiannon24]

1 of our bantam hens (crystal) has not been able to stand/walk for about 2 weeks now (15 days since we first
noticed her limping)..she has a swollen place on her upper leg (at first i thought it was an infected ingrown feather)
and a couple days later another one started between/on top of her toes..after 10 days of antibiotics not
helping mom took her to the vet and they of course put her on 2 more meds.. a pain killer/anti inflamatory and
antibiotic.. (3 days ago) the vet didnt actually say it was bumble foot until mom asked if thats what it was
then she said yes and they are going to do surgery next tuesday to wait for the inflammation to go down..which
is VERY weird because every thing we have read online says to do the surgery AS SOON as you see the bumblefoot
and get the kernel/puss out of it or it will be fatal)..
yesterday she would not eat or drink much at all and this morning she finally drank some but didnt have the
strength to eat..so i made her scrambled egg and she inhaled some of that but after a few bites she just
slumped over and layed there.. she cant/wont even sit up now so she is obviously getting worse!! mom called the
vet and they still say wait till tuesday but i dont think crystal will make it that long..she is so so weak and
seems to have given up..i have watched some youtube videos of regular (non vet) farm ppl doing this surgery on
their chickens and it seems fairly simple but i dont think i could do it by myself.. can bumblefoot start on
the leg and go to the foot? or could this be some thing else totally different i wonder?? there is no scab that
is classic with bumblefoot but there have been cases of bumblefoot with no scabs..ugh

 

[Eggcessive]

The leg looks like it has been injured, but there are some diseases such as Mareks that can cause lesions on the legs and other body parts. The swelling between the toes looks pretty much like bumblefoot, but again it may be something else. Can you show a picture of her foot pad? I'm not an expert on skin issues, but here are a couple of links with pictures or videos:
http://www.poultrydisease.ir/Atlases/avian-atlas/search/lesion/357.html
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/07/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning.html

 

[Rhiannon24]

KayTee replied to this thread on May 29, 12:35 pm
What most people refer to as bumblefoot is a scab and lump on the bottom of the foot - caused when the chicken gets a scratch on the foot and then an infection gets in there. Although severe cases of bumblefoot can be fatal, many chickens live with it for months or years.

Your chicken definitely looks like she has an infection in her leg / foot, but it's not what most would consider a classic case of bumblefoot. Whatever you do, don't try the surgery yourself - standard bumblefoot surgery isn't easy, but with the infection on the leg it is a lot more complicated

How are you giving your chicken the antibiotics - in water or in feed? If she isn't eating or drinking much then she may not be getting as much medicine as she needs.

What antibiotic has your vet given you - type, strength, dosage etc? If you give us the information maybe we can help you find a way to make certain she is getting the full amount.

 

[Eggcessive]

This is what bumblefoot typically looks like on the foot pad. The swelling your hen has between the toes on top can be bumblefoot, but other conditions such as mycoplasma synovitis (MS) and other problems such as Mareks listed above can look like that without the dark spot on the foot pad. Is the swelling on the foot between toes hard or soft?

 

[Rhiannon24]

sorry i am very new to this site just joined yesterday lol..i accidently posted this twice then accidently deleted the wrong one!! but now i seem to have just 1 post and i re posted the 2nd answer/reply so now we are all on the same page i think!!


shortly after i posted this yesterday i went to check on her and noticed she had tiny white bugs on her head..ended up finding out she was covered in mites!!!! yuck!! so i bathed her in dawn and used sevin dust 5% and she is a bit stronger this morning PTL!! I think she was anemic from the mites..causing her weakness!! she can sit up now a bit and ate/drank a little this morning but still cant and has no desire to try to walk or stand up..i guess because of the bumblefoot or what ever kind of infection etc that is going on..

The pads of her feet both look completly normal..no sore/scabs etc

i looked up the mareks disease and that scares me!! i am praying that isnt what she has!! for a few months though her pecking has been 'off' she will try to grab a seed or worm etc and she misses..after a few tries she ends up getting it but its weird..she didnt use to have that problem!! and she has green watery stool..but i figured that is from the meds (i hope) ans she has been breathing hard off and on..but i think all the chickens do that some times..it looks like panting like what a dog does..figured it was stress related..


She gets her meds all straight from the syringe so she gets the full correct amount each time..

The 1st one (i got from a vet who did not actually see crystal just saw pictures of her leg/foot) she was on it for about 9-10 days
Cephalexin
no idea what the dosage or strength is of that..the vet just gave me a bottle of capsules and said to dissolve 1 capsule in a bit of water (we did about 1ml so .2-.3 ml each time) and give that to her 4 times a day..so 1/4 of a capsule each time..


The 2nd vet (one who actually saw crystal) gave these 3 things -

#1 - Medcam (for pain/immflamation) 0.05 ml/cc once a day

#2 - smz-tmp ped. susp 16 oz = Combined with a Sulfa med: SMZ/TMP (Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole or Co-Trimoxazole) Combined with Sulfonamides to enhance effectiveness.
to treat E. Coli and/or Klebsiella Pneumonia 0.5ml twice a day

#3 - silver sulfadiazine burn cream (which we have not put on her because we dont even know what they vet gave it to us for!?) she does not have a scab or open wound to put it on..


i added a few drops of vitam B to her water yesterday also

 

[Rhiannon24]

ok so my dad said it was soft but i just went over to see her and felt it and it is soft just from the swelling but it feels like there is some thing hard/firm in side of it..

 

[Eggcessive]

You can try to lance the swollen area, and squeeze in all directions to see if you can get anything out of the wound, such as a solid plug of pus.

 

[MINDANAO DAVE]

Hello, The leg looks more like and infection from a foreign object that has traversed down to the foot and the infection is spreading to the foot. You really need to check her leg and look for a foreign object. If you find something just easily remove it and was the area with Betadine solution. Then check it frequently to see if you got it all. Also the mites could very well have been the problem with the weakness. Good Luck

 

[Rhiannon24]

Well it is looking more and more like mareks disease she perked up a bit yesterday but this morning she refuses to drink and barely ate a few bites of food.. for a few months now as i said b4 she seems to have trouble pecking at the food and getting it the first try..her pupils keep getting big and small..almost like pulsing its weird.. i wonder if she is able to see at all or not..
praying so hard that it is NOT mareks because we dont want to lose her and/or the whole flock!! so far she is the only one showing any ill signs..i wonder if it is mareks how long it would take for other chickens to start showing signs?? if she isnt any better tomorow i will probably take her to the vet and have him put her to sleep..its not fair to allow her to suffer like this..and she is suffering and not getting any better only worse..*sighs*

 

[Oliver Douglas]

You are being a responsible pet owner. No animal should suffer as you have described here. If indeed she is blind, it won't be long before the rest of the flock will use her for a punching bag....that's just the way chickens are. Wish it wasn't so, but it's the nature of the beast. If she is incurable, and miserable, she should go in peace. Good luck.