Bumblefoot newbie - I have questions.

[danepup]

Hi everyone,

I have read a lot of forums, the chicken health book, and watched a variety of YouTube videos. My girl Margaret got bumblefoot. I caught it last week, and took her to the vet for her procedure since I was out of my depth with that. Livestock vet, so my list of questions didn't really get answered. I was told to leave her vet wrap on for five days, take it off, and put her back in the coop. Today is Day 5. She's been in the bathroom, in a dog crate, living like a diva. Tonight I took off the vet wrap which she soaked blood through the day I brought her home. I had to soak her feet to get the gauze off. She has two "wet" holes in her feet - definitely not healed. One started bleeding again when I finally got the hardened gauze out of the hole.

Having watched a lot of videos, I'd purchased all the things, so I soaked her feet (only five minutes to get the gauze off - I should probably soak longer, but she was kind of over it at that point), sprayed the gauze with vetricyn, put neosporin on the gauze, and horribly wrapped her feet in vet wrap. I'll get better at it. I plan to change her gauze every two days, but I know she's bored to tears. I don't feel conformable to put her back out in the coop since she's wobbly on her feet and her wounds are still so deep/fresh. Plus, I read she shouldn't be perching right now and it's super hot out (90+ degrees here in Iowa). At least in the house, she's got some air conditioning and a little fan on her so she doesn't get too hot, especially with her feet bandaged.

Is there anything I should be doing differently? I sometimes leave her crate door open so she can stomp around the bathroom. The last time I did that, I found her perching on top of it. I left a radio on for her so she'd have something to listen to. I "think" she's eating and drinking. She likes the fruit and veggie salads I give her and the meal worms. She has fresh food and regular chicken food as well.

Since I'm new to this, I don't want to screw it up. I know the protocol is soak, gauze, antibiotic, wrap and that this can take awhile. When do I reintegrate her? The vet gave me no other information. I'd hoped to see the procedure, but he just whisked her into the back and brought her back ten minutes later all wrapped up (and gushing blood). He said nothing about antibiotics, changing wraps, or anything other than to change my mulch out for something softer - which I did over the weekend (switched to deep sand after reading many, many forums)....my other girls are loving their chicken beach.

Any ideas or validation to stay the course would be welcomed. I want to make sure she'll be okay if has to spend another week in the house. Thank you.

Alissa

 

[rosemarythyme]

Any before and after photos? Only curious about "before" because I want to see how bad it was vs. what it currently looks like after some healing.

Your current treatment plan sounds fine - I usually do daily soaks but I have more time on my hands than a lot of folks. I do leave my birds out after bumblefoot treatment, because as a general rule the vet wrap should do enough to protect their feet even if they're bleeding into it, but without seeing how severe the damage is it's hard to say what was "best" in your case.

She'll likely need to get reintegrated with the flock so hope there's a plan for that.

 

[coach723]

I don't separate unless they are not acting normally and may make themselves a target for others. They are usually less stressed with the flock. If they are difficult to catch for treating or re wrapping, get them before the sun comes up, or after dark, when they are roosting. I change bandages daily at first, to make sure everything is looking ok, and then gradually go longer. It all depends on how the foot is looking. I do not always soak, again it depends on the foot. I will sometimes just clean it up by flushing everything out well. Judgement call based on what you are seeing. And length of healing can be weeks or even months, every foot is different. I keep applying ointment until its well and truly healed up, and I keep the foot bandaged until it's completely healed. If gauze is sticking, switch to telfa (nonstick) pads or use a hydrocolloidal bandage (made for draining wounds). I almost always use hydrocolloidal bandages for bumblefoot, they help maintain the moistness in the wound and help protect the wound as well. They stick to the skin around it but not to the wound so are easy to remove. I get Duoderm bandages on Amazon, you can cut them to size so the box lasts quite a while.