Yes Neosporin is an antibiotic and fine. I don't know your house rooms or family member situation so I will share only what works for us and has been a blessing as our vet taught us. It helps to have a 2nd person help in holding a hen while you treat a foot. We finally figured what works for us after reading or watching bumlefoot videos from other owners. Some people don't have a 2nd person so towel wrapping a hen is useful. Even a child can be helpful as a 2nd person. I didnt mean to write a novel about something so simple but I had tons of ??? when our 1st case of bumblefoot scared the devil out of us! Now we know what to look for and what to do thx to a great vet!
Our first bumblefoot case was a Dominique hen w/bumblefoot on both foot pads.
We never wanted chickens in our house but we are used to it now. Anything that helps them heal properly is our aim. Don't want a hen walking around in the kitchen? then invest in a roomy dog crate. We've had ours for 13 yrs now.
The wraps don't have to be thick ~ just enough to keep the cottonball over the wound if the hen is indoors recuperating.
Because we had chickens for 8 yrs before anyone had bumblefoot it panicked us 1st time we found a hen that had it on both feet. We rushed her to our vet like scared parents and the vet's ofc did surgery on both feet and explained how to apply the antibacterial med & what wrap to get. We soaked in Epsom salts daily & changed the bandages daily. We tried to let her back outside but the wraps got so filthy, came loose in mud or water & got way too dirty. In my mind a surgery wound should not be exposed to getting re-injured or filthy so after the first day out we brought her back in the house to soak her feet clean in warm Epsom salts water. (All we had was a large shallow cook pot we never used & today is still our foot soak pot)!
My DH helped me keep the hen in the soak pot for 20-30 mins. The soak cleans the wound before applying the vet med on a cotton ball placed over the wound before wrapping the feet w/gauze ribbon between toes and taping the ends to her legs. She walked around the tiled kitchen floor (poop cleanup easier) w/ 2 bandaged feet and we put her in a 4'x4' dog crate in the den every night. If we had to leave the house we put her in the crate w/food/water till we got home. 2 or 3 weeks later her surgery wound developed a healing scab that eventually came off in a warm Epsom soak. I would pull on the edges of the healing scab after each daily soak to coax it along a little bit till one day the healing scab either comes off in the water soak or on the cotton ball that was over the wound. The time varies on how many days or weeks of healing it takes. After the healing scab falls off we cottonball bandage w/ ointment w/tape for 2-3 more days w/ no foot soaks and then let the hen go another 2-3 days with no bandages to make sure the skin is toughened up normal enough to go outdoors permanently.
The vet figured injury might be happening on the coop perch and that we should use burlap or something soft to cushion the coop perch. We used 3" wide stretchy Ace bandage to wrap around the perch to cushion chicken feet.
Our clumsy bumblefoot foot bandaging improved over the years but we learned as we went along. Another Dominique hen developed bumblefoot a month after the 1st hen & we rushed HER to the vet thinking we had to go thru another surgery! The vet said it would take patience but we could treat the 2nd hen at home ourselves without surgery. If cutting can be avoided it's the best way for the hen. Some extreme infection may need surgery but if caught early it is treatable at home w/ care and patience.
The following year we lost the 2nd Dominique to heatstroke but our remaining 1st Dominique got bumblefoot again! WTH! We padded the perch, we checked for sharp objects on the ground constantly so why bumblefoot again?! We figured out why later!
Okay here we go again the next year w/ a hen w/ daily warm Epsom salt soaks for 20-30 mins, did absolutely NO cutting or scraping, dried off the chicken feet, applied triple antibiotic ointment to the cottonball & put it over the bumblefoot scab/crust and fastened the cottonball w/gauze tape over & between toes and used clear first aid tape to secure gauze ends to the top of chicken's legs. We kept this hen indoors to keep the bandages clean. The bandages get too filthy outdoors and come apart so we keep any recuperating hens indoors. A good spacious dog crate is a great investment & a must for sick, injured, or recuperating birds. Eventually the bumblefoot scabs loosen from the daily foot soaks while the ointment also works to keep the scab moist & protected as the bumblefoot scab works to slowly loosen away from the foot either coming off in pieces or in one piece on the cotton pad.
Each year the same 1st Dominique hen would get bumblefoot but the medical supplies we used got better. We got flat cotton makeup pads instead of using chubby cottonballs, we got Vet-Wrap on Amazon to keep in our chicken first aid kit instead of flimsy gauze ribbon, and we keep a supply of clear first aid tape to secure the Vet-Wrap to the top of chicken feet. We keep a couple tubes of triple antibiotic ointment on hand too. Basically those are all thats needed to begin the long but easy process of treating bumblefoot.
We started by soaking the hen's feet in warm Epson salts water for 20-30 mins. The water was warm & soothing & she would eventually relax so much I had to hold her from sitting in the water ~ sometimes she would sort of half-sit on the pot rim she was so snoozy. I think she liked the foot baths as each year went by. After the foot soak & drying her feet DH would hold her wings down while I put the ointment makeup pad over her wound & Vet-Wrapped between her toes & first-aid taped the Wrap to the top of her legs. Thats it ~ once a day treatment & the foot soaks & ointment work the bumblefoot scabs loose! After the bumblefoot scab comes off the treatments should continue until the healing scab forms & also falls off.
Both sides of the final healing scab that came off after one of the foot soaks
Then we Vet-Wrap for a couple days w/ ointment in case tender skin needs toughening. Then no Vet-Wrap for another day or two to make sure all is healed, no redness, or limping & then release hen outdoors.
Depending on how stubborn the bumblefoot case is will determines how lengthy the process before the hen is ready to release outdoors. We choose our method of treatment cuz we catch bumblefoot early before any redness or pus forms.
One side note: When the hen's left foot only needed treatment we found the foot soaks a
& ointment made the scales fall off the hen's left spur a little bit every day and now her left spur is half the size of the right spur! Who knew?
We figured out what the Diminique was doing to get bumblefoot while no one else did. The Dom hen sits grabbing the rough paver stone border of our raised garden beds or sits on the narrow cedar sandbox border & that forms scabs on her footpads! The last couple years it was gratefully only one foot. DH checks her feet often to catch any scab early.
Rough paver stone border ~ she sits & snoozes on the rough border.
She sits on the sandbox cedar border too!
Our first bumblefoot case was a Dominique hen w/bumblefoot on both foot pads.
We never wanted chickens in our house but we are used to it now. Anything that helps them heal properly is our aim. Don't want a hen walking around in the kitchen? then invest in a roomy dog crate. We've had ours for 13 yrs now.
The wraps don't have to be thick ~ just enough to keep the cottonball over the wound if the hen is indoors recuperating.
Because we had chickens for 8 yrs before anyone had bumblefoot it panicked us 1st time we found a hen that had it on both feet. We rushed her to our vet like scared parents and the vet's ofc did surgery on both feet and explained how to apply the antibacterial med & what wrap to get. We soaked in Epsom salts daily & changed the bandages daily. We tried to let her back outside but the wraps got so filthy, came loose in mud or water & got way too dirty. In my mind a surgery wound should not be exposed to getting re-injured or filthy so after the first day out we brought her back in the house to soak her feet clean in warm Epsom salts water. (All we had was a large shallow cook pot we never used & today is still our foot soak pot)!
My DH helped me keep the hen in the soak pot for 20-30 mins. The soak cleans the wound before applying the vet med on a cotton ball placed over the wound before wrapping the feet w/gauze ribbon between toes and taping the ends to her legs. She walked around the tiled kitchen floor (poop cleanup easier) w/ 2 bandaged feet and we put her in a 4'x4' dog crate in the den every night. If we had to leave the house we put her in the crate w/food/water till we got home. 2 or 3 weeks later her surgery wound developed a healing scab that eventually came off in a warm Epsom soak. I would pull on the edges of the healing scab after each daily soak to coax it along a little bit till one day the healing scab either comes off in the water soak or on the cotton ball that was over the wound. The time varies on how many days or weeks of healing it takes. After the healing scab falls off we cottonball bandage w/ ointment w/tape for 2-3 more days w/ no foot soaks and then let the hen go another 2-3 days with no bandages to make sure the skin is toughened up normal enough to go outdoors permanently.
The vet figured injury might be happening on the coop perch and that we should use burlap or something soft to cushion the coop perch. We used 3" wide stretchy Ace bandage to wrap around the perch to cushion chicken feet.
Our clumsy bumblefoot foot bandaging improved over the years but we learned as we went along. Another Dominique hen developed bumblefoot a month after the 1st hen & we rushed HER to the vet thinking we had to go thru another surgery! The vet said it would take patience but we could treat the 2nd hen at home ourselves without surgery. If cutting can be avoided it's the best way for the hen. Some extreme infection may need surgery but if caught early it is treatable at home w/ care and patience.
The following year we lost the 2nd Dominique to heatstroke but our remaining 1st Dominique got bumblefoot again! WTH! We padded the perch, we checked for sharp objects on the ground constantly so why bumblefoot again?! We figured out why later!
Okay here we go again the next year w/ a hen w/ daily warm Epsom salt soaks for 20-30 mins, did absolutely NO cutting or scraping, dried off the chicken feet, applied triple antibiotic ointment to the cottonball & put it over the bumblefoot scab/crust and fastened the cottonball w/gauze tape over & between toes and used clear first aid tape to secure gauze ends to the top of chicken's legs. We kept this hen indoors to keep the bandages clean. The bandages get too filthy outdoors and come apart so we keep any recuperating hens indoors. A good spacious dog crate is a great investment & a must for sick, injured, or recuperating birds. Eventually the bumblefoot scabs loosen from the daily foot soaks while the ointment also works to keep the scab moist & protected as the bumblefoot scab works to slowly loosen away from the foot either coming off in pieces or in one piece on the cotton pad.
Each year the same 1st Dominique hen would get bumblefoot but the medical supplies we used got better. We got flat cotton makeup pads instead of using chubby cottonballs, we got Vet-Wrap on Amazon to keep in our chicken first aid kit instead of flimsy gauze ribbon, and we keep a supply of clear first aid tape to secure the Vet-Wrap to the top of chicken feet. We keep a couple tubes of triple antibiotic ointment on hand too. Basically those are all thats needed to begin the long but easy process of treating bumblefoot.
We started by soaking the hen's feet in warm Epson salts water for 20-30 mins. The water was warm & soothing & she would eventually relax so much I had to hold her from sitting in the water ~ sometimes she would sort of half-sit on the pot rim she was so snoozy. I think she liked the foot baths as each year went by. After the foot soak & drying her feet DH would hold her wings down while I put the ointment makeup pad over her wound & Vet-Wrapped between her toes & first-aid taped the Wrap to the top of her legs. Thats it ~ once a day treatment & the foot soaks & ointment work the bumblefoot scabs loose! After the bumblefoot scab comes off the treatments should continue until the healing scab forms & also falls off.
Both sides of the final healing scab that came off after one of the foot soaks
Then we Vet-Wrap for a couple days w/ ointment in case tender skin needs toughening. Then no Vet-Wrap for another day or two to make sure all is healed, no redness, or limping & then release hen outdoors.
Depending on how stubborn the bumblefoot case is will determines how lengthy the process before the hen is ready to release outdoors. We choose our method of treatment cuz we catch bumblefoot early before any redness or pus forms.
One side note: When the hen's left foot only needed treatment we found the foot soaks a
& ointment made the scales fall off the hen's left spur a little bit every day and now her left spur is half the size of the right spur! Who knew?
We figured out what the Diminique was doing to get bumblefoot while no one else did. The Dom hen sits grabbing the rough paver stone border of our raised garden beds or sits on the narrow cedar sandbox border & that forms scabs on her footpads! The last couple years it was gratefully only one foot. DH checks her feet often to catch any scab early.
Rough paver stone border ~ she sits & snoozes on the rough border.
She sits on the sandbox cedar border too!
