Bumblefoot surgery not walking

[tanchick]

Hi guys
Hoping someone with experience can help and calm my chicken loving nerves

One of my girls I discovered on Saturday limping. Checked her feet and it’s the dreaded bumblefoot. Been doing lots of research so have been Epsom salt bathing everyday twice a day, using Vetericyn, iodine, saline and a turmeric salve, until I felt the scabs were ready to come off.

One foot has 2 small scabs and the other has a larger scab. I managed to peel off 1 of the smaller scabs yesterday with success. Dressed it with gauze and today she was limping around as usual but then sat for most of the day not even coming over for food. The scab removed, didn’t bleed or have anything underneath to push out. I didn’t think removing it would bother her more, I assumed the bigger scab will be the one which causes her most stress.

Seeing she wasn’t even coming over for food, I knew I had to attack the bigger scab ASAP before it started causing more issues.

I’ve now removed the big scab which came off nicely with a hardened pus underneath. Tried to push to see if any loose pus would come out but she started bleeding slightly and curling her toes up so I stopped. Poor thing had her eyes closed the entire time and is clearly in a lot of pain. I’ve given her some metacam which I already had, but will be ringing vets tomorrow for Baytril.

I’d like some advice from someone who’s been through this. Did your hen also not walk for a while? I’m just panicking that she’s lost the ability to walk when in reality I’m hoping she’s just in pain and like anyone, doesn’t want to use her feet when in pain.

I’m in the U.K. and we don’t have OTC antibiotic creams or gels. I have colloidal silver arriving tomorrow to apply, along with some oregano poultry drink to hopefully help her on her healing journey.

Any advice and guidance is most welcome please

 

[Tmartin7711]

Hi there! I'm a little confused on what you are needing but everything I've read looks right. Epsom salt baths are the way to go. Keep her feet clean and dry when not soaking. When you remove the scabs you need to get the puss out of her foot too. It doesn't look like her feet are swelling up so you caught it pretty quickly. Here are some links

https://www.dineachook.com.au/blog/bumblefoot-symptoms-causes-prevention-and-treatment-for-chickens/

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/bumblefoot

https://www.chickensandmore.com/bumblefoot-in-chickens/

 

[tanchick]

Hi there! I'm a little confused on what you are needing but everything I've read looks right. Epsom salt baths are the way to go. Keep her feet clean and dry when not soaking. When you remove the scabs you need to get the puss out of her foot too. It doesn't look like her feet are swelling up so you caught it pretty quickly. Here are some links

https://www.dineachook.com.au/blog/bumblefoot-symptoms-causes-prevention-and-treatment-for-chickens/

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/bumblefoot

https://www.chickensandmore.com/bumblefoot-in-chickens/

Thanks for the reply. I Just needed reassurance she’ll be ok as she’s stopped walking since the first descabbing yesterday. If someone with experience could confirm that their hen was also out of action walking but healed up nicely after.

Her pad on the bigger bumble I removed today is definitely quite swollen, the swelling doesn’t show well in photo. I tried pushing on it to see if any loose pus would come out but it was just trying to bleed so I didn’t push further.

 

[Rockettes]

Hello. We are experiencing the exact same issue with one of our hens. We removed the scan and kernel inside her foot. Then put antibiotic cream on it and wrapped it. She has not been walking around since we did this. She has been eating and drinking so we are hoping that is a good sign. It is very worrying. Like you, I assume she may be feeling sore and just not wanting to put pressure on it.