Bumblefoot Surgery

[welovechickens]

Is there anyone in the Round Rock, TX, area who might be able to do a bumblefoot surgery on my EE? She's got it in both feet. We've removed the scabs and soaked her feet in epsom salts water, applied antibiotic ointment and wrapped with gauze/vetrap. Her feet are slightly swollen, but no redness or hard things inside that I can feel.

My mom and I can't bring ourselves to cut on her...I'm afraid I would faint! Are there any proven non-surgical techniques we could try?

Thanks.

 

[peterlund]

Are your flick prone to bumblefoot? Both feet? Uncommon. Photos? How old is your hen?

 

[Picklehopper]

This may or may not be something of interest. A year or so ago we,(actually my son who is 15) had a chicken with bumblefoot. We, like you, couldnt cut on it. Did a little research and found out it is caused by a staph infection. We did the cleaning like you and decided to put "Smart Silver" on a cotton ball and wrapped it up. We also put it in her water. (All i know is that we had a friend who had a staph infection and when antibiotics didnt work, she took this and it stopped the infection) . I am not a doctor or vet but i sure couldnt afford one either. We felt this was our only option. Every time we gave her fresh water we put it in. She sat on a chair in our house for 3 days and didnt move from there. On the third day she hopped down and hobbled around the house. By day 4 she was back in the yard and her foot looked so much better. We were relieved no surgery. I don't know how long a chicken can live with bumble foot untreated and if you even have time to give this a try. Also this is not something I have ever heard anybody else has done except us. Best wishes, whatever you choose to do.

 

[coach723]

You can do nonsurgical treatment. Here is a link: https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment.html/?spref=pi
Important thing is to get all the infection out, and protect it while it heals. Best of luck.

 

[peterlund]

No response from the OP. Hmmm.

 

[welovechickens]

I apologize for my late reply. I couldn't get pictures until I had help this evening.

 

[welovechickens]

Emmy is 9 months. I found the large scab about a month ago. We removed it, but no pus seemed to be in the wound. I found the smaller scab earlier this week. I thought it was dirt stuck to her foot pad so I picked at it. The scab came loose and had lots of pus behind it. Never could detect any of those hard cores inside either foot, but I'm worried that it's there and just not very big yet.

 

[welovechickens]

Are your flick prone to bumblefoot? Both feet? Uncommon. Photos? How old is your hen?

Reply is down below.

 

[Holly31]

You can do nonsurgical treatment. Here is a link: https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment.html/?spref=pi
Important thing is to get all the infection out, and protect it while it heals. Best of luck.

Thank you for the link. I have 2 hens with this condition, both from the same source, and none of my others have it. One stopped standing the other day and this should do the trick. I don’t mind scalpel and sutures, but I haven’t access to adequate anesthesia. Thank you again!