BUMBLEFOOT! Please help...

[californiachick74]

Hi my BYC friends Im hoping someone out here can help me. I have a chicken with bumblefoot. The one foot is pretty advanced already. Over the weekend I received a post from a BYC friend on here and we pulled the plug/scab and tried to drain it. We then cleaned it as well. Though the swelling didnt really go down much at that moment I think the little bit we did do helped. I actually took her to the vet this morning hoping the vet would drain it more and clean it out but he gave me some BS line about it looking cancerous. I told him it was Bumblefoot but he wouldnt listen and tried to get me to dump a bunch of $$$ into her with blood tests and x-rays etc. PLEASE! Im not an idiot. So I came home with him gib=ving her 1 antibotic shot and some antibotic to put on the wound..I couldnt even affored for him to re-wrap it for me...that was another $60.00. So Ive been researching here and it sounds like she needs to be taking oral antibotics as well. Can someone tell me how I can get these oral antibotics without a prescription? THANK YOU and Im hoping someone out here can help me!!!

 

[Attack Chicken]

To upload a pic click on uploads at the top. by MY Page, Profile etc. Then upload it and copy and paste the image. Is their spots on her foot?

 

[californiachick74]

no not spots...just swollen. I saw another post somewhere else talking about "bubble foot" could it be this...sort looks like a "bubble foot" the cysts are soft like they are filled with liquid/puss..if it is "bubble foot" what is it and how does this hapen and how do I cure her of it?

 

[Attack Chicken]

It does look like bumblefoot. What I did is soak here feet in warm water mixed with epsion salt for about 5 minutes.Then take her out and try and peel the scab off(wear gloves) Pop the bumble and squeeze all the puss out. After its all out flush the wound out with water then fill it with neosporin and wrap up the foot in gauze and wrap then in vet tape.. Then I put baby socks over the gauze to keep out dirt. Repeat this process everyday till it's cleared up. Bumblefoot is very common. It can caused by a bruise or minor cut to the pad. It is a staph infection so wear gloves when you clean it out. Goodluck keep us posted. I got done with 2 cases of bumblefoot about 2 months ago.

 

[californiachick74]

Thanks so much for the info...Im starting to realize chickens arent as easy as I thought they would be

 

[Attack Chicken]

Every chicken owner will get it one day or another. Its probably more common then the cold us humans get. Believe me, I started freaking out and didn't know what to do when my leghorn pullet got it. But now I've learned about it and check everyday on my chickens foot just incase there's a scratch.

 

[smom1976]

what happened to the pics they were just up??

 

[californiachick74]

Ok we were outside trying to take care of this issue. We pulled the scab off the large cyst. The scab was really really deep! We actually had to use a small pair of needle nosed plyers. But we were unable to drain it! We squezed and squeezed but only blood came out of it. The other cysts dont even have scabs on them...what do I do there?Too bad attack chicken didnt live here in So. California! Im thinking of taking her to the Vet...any other ideas to give me..I really dont want to spend a fortune on this chicken. Im pretty strapped financially right now and I'd rather feed my family than vet my chicken...PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[Attack Chicken]

Mine only drained blood aswell. I was expecting puss but didn't get any. Just put neosporin and wrap it up. As for the other foot you might have to accually cut open the foot. If you can(I couldn't do it to my own chicken) get a scalpul(bad spelling) and cut into the foot and try and drain the other one. I'd keep her in a crate so she doesn't have to walk around much after this.

 

[californiachick74]

I think Im just gonna suck it up and take her to the vet! I almost passed out watching my husband dig the scab off of her...it was so deep! We actually didnt get much drained. We stopped becuase we were expecting puss not blood! We have her neo'd up and bandaged too...I just couldnt stomach it anymore nor could my hubby!