Bumblefoot or something else?

[Heidi65]

Well, my friend did her best while I was gone, and when I came home Buffy was still going strong, but her foot was still very swollen and hot when I unwrapped it. I did surgery again today and pulled out a huge amount of chunky white gunk. I hope I got it all, but it was so deep, and I'm a bit worried there is still some infection in her back toe. There was luckily no sign of the infection having spread to the rest of her body.

She has been resting in the coop all day. I think she is in quite a lot of pain, but she has eaten and had a good drink, so I'm optimistic.

She has a lot of feathering on her feet which I have had to pinch a bit in order to wrap her foot securely. Will this be a problem for her?

I'm glad it was care of. Sadly I've had to do surgery on one of my girls twice because you think you get it all and you don't. The last time I did I told hubby *if* I didn't get it that time she would be going to the vet as I refused to open her foot up a third time.

It was a little worrying how big a cavity there was in her foot when I was done, but I know she's a tough little thing!

It is amazing how much gunk you can get out how big a hole can be left in their little foot and I agree whole heartedly, chickens are very tough little things!

 

[cowboysgirlfrnd]

Well, I thought she was doing pretty well, but I'm still quite worried for her. She has been out free ranging with the others and gets around just fine, but I noticed she has been less active in the last day or two. When I checked her foot today, it was swollen and hot again, and I ended up opening up her foot for what is now the third time. There was more infection. I tried to get all of it, but there was a lot more blood this time and it was hard to see what was her foot healing up and what was infection. I'm not sure I even did get it all this time.

There was a mass that looked like it could have been infection, but it had quite a different texture, much more fibrous and less chunky. I left it in the end, as I didn't want to yank out her foot tissue. She also has very watery poop, and I'm not sure what that means for her.

I'll check it again in a couple of days. Does there come a point where you should stop operating and call it a day? I can't afford the vet, so if this is going to be an ongoing issue for her, I'd rather end her suffering sooner than later.

 

[Shezadandy]

I wonder if having her out and about isn't aggravating the situation- but I don't know what your capacity for isolating her is. We kept ours in a crate for a good 3 full days, and then brought her a friend in a contained, dry, clean area for a week to limit her movement, waiting until the tissue healed over before going back out.

 

[cowboysgirlfrnd]

It's a thought. I was originally just so pleased to see her looking so bright I didn't think that it might be part of the problem. I've isolated her in a dog cage. Today she had made it out across the yard to the house with the other hens, but she looked miserable. She wasn't interested in food, water or even scratch when I confined her, but that might be the stress of me picking her up (my hens are not tame!). I'll keep checking her today.

I'm still struggling to find any sort of guidelines about when to stop chasing the infection. Should I trying to find antibiotics? I'm at a bit of a loss.

 

[cowboysgirlfrnd]

Still very watery poop. I have given her flock raiser to eat and she is eating. I think I broke her "thumb" toe when I did the last bumblefoot surgery as the swelling in that toe is now worse than ever and she is keeping her weight off it.

What else can I do??

 

[Shezadandy]

I would try private messaging Miss Lydia or MrsBachBach for alternative ideas with current pictures of your hen's foot/toe situation as it is today.

I would also see if you can come up with a foot cushion with a hole cut under the infected area, as linked in my first post above so gravity has a chance to do its thing, and at the very least takes the pressure off the bad area. While it's still open and tender, I would wrap the foot packed with Neosporin or other antibiotic cream so it is covered and protected, and then apply the cushion if appropriate.

She's bound to be upset at being confined, but given that the condition is deteriorating and the infection is alive and well, having her restricted and in a clean environment will help. If she's eating, hopefully her digestive tract calms down- yogurt, Probios, or sav-a-chick probiotics (very cost effective) can help with that. Not all in combination, depending on what you've got on hand or have access to.

As for antibiotics, I would address that with the above folks- I used aspirin for pain relief but didn't end up needing to go down the antibiotics route.

Also you might try adding your current situation with current pictures of the problem on the thread that I think Heidi65 mentioned in her first post to get more eyes on the problem as it's gotten worse.