Bumblefoot, Surgery and Follow Up - NY area Vet Recommendation

[Hiyaherc]

Hello,
Personally I agree with you.
But please go to the BYC site for bumblefoot https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=bumblefoot
there are many threads started for bumblefoot. Some new info. I will reread them also.
Thanks.
mg

Thank you again MG, I will continue to research. It was hard to find a vet who was even willing to treat chickens in my area which does not help. Best regards, Martha

 

[mg15]

Keeping the wound clean and ointment on a wound is not dangerous. Sounds logical.
mg

 

[Hiyaherc]

Keeping the wound clean and ointment on a wound is not dangerous. Sounds logical.
mg

Dear MG, I hope I find you well. Below are two pics I shot of Connie's foot this afternoon while we were administering her antibiotic and as I was taking off her bandage to clean it and reapply a new bandage. Unfortunately, even with the bandage, she somehow still gets dirt in there (I did not clean the foot thoroughly yet in this pic). I guess it is good sign

that she is scratching away with it. What do you think? I also reviewed a lot of threads last night and this morning on the subject. Did not see anything yet that it should not be covered. I did note some said at least a minimum of 5 to 10 days (depending on the stage of the bumblefoot) or at least until the scab formed. There were cases however, that were for weeks if not months. I did note that in the event of a future bumblefoot problem, a lot people recommended the Tricide Neo powder. Will need to look into putting together another chicken emergency supply list and order it. I will also need to do regular foot checks. I feel awful that I did not see it sooner. I am out there everyday with the girls.....sometimes too long.....I check for bugs, injuries and the like, but missed this. Luckily none of the other girls have it. Connie is a heavy breed and likes to nest up high in a nesting box. Her jump back down to the coop floor most likely contributed to it. I added a couple of more inches of pine shavings, since I have added the shavings sometimes I can't get in the door if they are in there doing their chicken thing, because they pile it up my the door. I also saw suggestions of using sand rather than pine shavings or straw. Well Connie is now my new number one snuggle buddy. All she wants to do is sit in my lap and tuck her head under my arm. Maybe I am giving her some extra greens.....she loves her greens. Thanks again MG! Best regards, Martha

 

[mg15]

Martha as you can see Almost Red has two bumblefeet. The bumble has come back and on the fatty foot also.
There is a picture of her dirty big foot. And the rest are after 30 minutes soaking. The black scab is the one from last fall that was almost gone. It is there looking about the same as when I found it in the fall maybe a little bigger.
I am going to soak her feet each nite now and then wrap which I did tonite. I so wish she did not have this condition of her feet. I did try to dig a little on the scabby one but there was too much blood. I quit that. I am not so sure I want to do a full deal excision on her feet. I am going to keep the soaking and bandaging protocol and see how far I can with that for now. I did ask the chicken vet we have to remove it and he said it would just come back and I could keep doing what I am doing. So there, what can I say.
I think Connie's foot looks improved, don't you. She is on an injectable antibiotic and this will be interesting if it clears the bumble and her foot returns to normal. If Connie's foot does return to a normal foot. I would like to try the medicine on Almost Red.

Awaiting any updates.

I see I forgot to take Almost Red's picture. I will tomorrow and post. Actually, Almost Red has had barely ANY feathers on her back underneath where the fluffy butt is supposed to be for a coming up to almost a year now. But this spring for some reason all of her feathers are coming back in. The whole of winter she had bare skin on the top of her back and abdomen and where her fluffy butt is. She looks so good now. I was getting very used to her looking scalped that she looks like her self again.!
Regards mg.

 

[Hiyaherc]

Martha as you can see Almost Red has two bumblefeet. The bumble has come back and on the fatty foot also.
There is a picture of her dirty big foot. And the rest are after 30 minutes soaking. The black scab is the one from last fall that was almost gone. It is there looking about the same as when I found it in the fall maybe a little bigger.
I am going to soak her feet each nite now and then wrap which I did tonite. I so wish she did not have this condition of her feet. I did try to dig a little on the scabby one but there was too much blood. I quit that. I am not so sure I want to do a full deal excision on her feet. I am going to keep the soaking and bandaging protocol and see how far I can with that for now. I did ask the chicken vet we have to remove it and he said it would just come back and I could keep doing what I am doing. So there, what can I say.
I think Connie's foot looks improved, don't you. She is on an injectable antibiotic and this will be interesting if it clears the bumble and her foot returns to normal. If Connie's foot does return to a normal foot. I would like to try the medicine on Almost Red.

Awaiting any updates.

I see I forgot to take Almost Red's picture. I will tomorrow and post. Actually, Almost Red has had barely ANY feathers on her back underneath where the fluffy butt is supposed to be for a coming up to almost a year now. But this spring for some reason all of her feathers are coming back in. The whole of winter she had bare skin on the top of her back and abdomen and where her fluffy butt is. She looks so good now. I was getting very used to her looking scalped that she looks like her self again.!
Regards mg.

Dear MG I hope you and Almost Red are doing well. My thoughts and prayers are with the both of you. I look forward to seeing your post of Almost Red's picture. Your case appears a little more severe then mine. I noted that when we began soaking Connie's foot in the Epsom Salt baths for her right foot, I did not realize that there was another less severe, only in about a stage 2, on her other foot. With the soaks, that one seemed to just disappear, we had the swelling, but did have what appeared to be a small newly forming scab that just seemed to disappear.

I know exactly how you feel about the surgery to try and remove the bumblefoot. I thought I could easily do it since it was my Connie and I did not want her to be in any pain. Mt husband and I both worked on her together, I first started, but we switched over to him. It seemed to take forever (nearly 2 hours with multiple breaks), and we ended up stopping.

Your photos 8 through 11 appear to have the scab pulling away with a part of the core maybe. When our scab pulled away, which it basically did by itself, there was an attachment to it. You also seem to have the same appearance underneath in the circular indention part. Is it possible, that this particular foot may be developing its own callus scab over the scab that is hanging back. The vet said that she had a callus on her foot. Not to digress, but we reached out to a couple of vets. One in particular tried to convince me otherwise over the phone that it was not treatable, but advised that I wanted to try, he just jacked up his price to $550.00, plus examination, meds and the like to dissuade me from trying to treat her. I am running out to take care of the girls and Ms. Connie, but look forward to speaking with you further. Best regards, Martha

 

[mg15]

Hi Martha,
Almost Red is walking around fine I made sure, but I did notice she was not as "out there" like she is normally. After soaking I will not make the wrapping as bundled. She was a bit out of step, she is head school mistress here and this made her feel funny I am sure. It is not so bad in the winter when they do not go out for grazing and foraging.
How is Connie? Does the bumble look better today or the same?

Regards,
mg

 

[Hiyaherc]

Hi Martha,
Almost Red is walking around fine I made sure, but I did notice she was not as "out there" like she is normally. After soaking I will not make the wrapping as bundled. She was a bit out of step, she is head school mistress here and this made her feel funny I am sure. It is not so bad in the winter when they do not go out for grazing and foraging.
How is Connie? Does the bumble look better today or the same?

Regards,
mg

Hi Martha,
Almost Red is walking around fine I made sure, but I did notice she was not as "out there" like she is normally. After soaking I will not make the wrapping as bundled. She was a bit out of step, she is head school mistress here and this made her feel funny I am sure. It is not so bad in the winter when they do not go out for grazing and foraging.
How is Connie? Does the bumble look better today or the same?

Regards,
mg

Dear MG,

Almost Red is beautiful! Nice bandaging job! Connie is doing well. She is getting around normally without any limping. The second foot which appeared to have one developing, after a couple of soaks in the Epsom Salt seemed to just disappear and the red that was also present is gone.

Her foot with the more severe case does not appear to have any infection. The foot is still "hot". You can still see some redness and swelling from the top of the foot through her toes....it looks slightly better. Last night was the 3rd injection for the antibiotic, two more to go. The injectable was more for fighting the staph infection. The bottom appears to be the same as the last pics posted. At least yesterday she did not get any dirt in it. Still bandaging and applying Vetricyn VF and Neosporin. All she wants to do is sit on my lap and be petted now.

 

[Hiyaherc]

HI MG,

I wanted to see how you and Almost Red were doing? How is her feet coming along? Connie's last day of injectable antibiotic was last night. The top of her foot is still slightly swollen, but no redness. The bottom of her foot is slowing forming a hard scab around the outer edges of the ring. I am still cleaning her at night, Vetricyn VF, and topical antibiotic and re-bandaging. I am heading out to get my gal now so I can do her feet. She likes to be pampered now. I hope you are enjoying your weekend. Best regards, Martha

 

[mg15]

HI MG,

I wanted to see how you and Almost Red were doing? How is her feet coming along? Connie's last day of injectable antibiotic was last night. The top of her foot is still slightly swollen, but no redness. The bottom of her foot is slowing forming a hard scab around the outer edges of the ring. I am still cleaning her at night, Vetricyn VF, and topical antibiotic and re-bandaging. I am heading out to get my gal now so I can do her feet. She likes to be pampered now. I hope you are enjoying your weekend. Best regards, Martha

Hi there,
I have not changed Almost Red foot wrap since I put it on. The rain here is everyday sloppy mud, so what good would it do to clean her feet and then let her out in the mud. ugghhh,
Tomorrow Sunday only 30% chance of rain. So I am going to change it out Sunday. I am very interested to see what the bumble looks like. I will take pictures of her soak.
What does Connie's scab look like? Is it black like they are when discovered? Very interested in knowing how her scab looks.
There is so much rain here, we have to garden and plant around the showers. Still alot to go, I supposed that is a gift because it is really hard work and we are old. And than the good Lord for the rain at that! Especially a spring planting, I have not had to use a hose for water yet!
The weeds are going good....learned the name of one today Henbit, it is everywhere. And all the bunnies like our yard because they can eat anything. We do have the vegetables with fencing around the plots.
I have one girl who will sit on my lap that is from outside.
I have a Japanese Bantam who is our house chicken. She has her bird cage and wears a little tiny diaper I ordered from someone on BYC.
Regards for Now and talk later.
Mary Grace.

 

[Hiyaherc]

Dear MG,
I hope I find you well and look forward to your update on Almost Red. Connie's foot has not "scabbed" over. It has been slowly filling in from the outer edges inward. More of a callus. Last night when I changed her bandage the hole appeared to be shrinking in size and filling in. Not a puffy scab like when we first saw that she had the bumblefoot. However, she still has some swelling on the top of her toe between her web which can still be seen. Tonight I will soak her and re-bandage her again. Even though I bandage her foot, she still manages to get dirt inside the dressing. Another good foot soak is in order for tonight.

Right now we did another expansion in the field so that we could grow watermelons, pumpkins and butternut squash for the ladies. It has been hard work. We have had no rain here for weeks. The ground is hard as a rock and we are above normal temps. I m a human rototiller. I pushed forward yesterday to finish the grunt work and look forward to planting seeds today and trying to calculate when I will put in my seedlings. We have some unsettled weather coming our way with the potential for severe thunderstorms. Everything here must be fenced with more fencing. Lots of deer who come to the back door and the hedge hogs who are fans of kale and brussell sprouts.

Keep me posted on Almost Red and your garden. I was able to over winter kale, collards, and some pak choi which I have been feeding the girls. They go crazy for their greens. Going to cut them some breakfast. Talk with you soon, Martha