Can bumble foot cause paralysis symptoms?

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Songster
Aug 5, 2019
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British Columbia
Hello chicken lovers,

Once again another issue with one of my 2 year old hens... I noticed a couple of weeks ago one of my hens was losing energy, not interested in mealworms and kind of separating herself from my flock. Her comb also was turning a bit purplish, I figured heart problems.

This past Thursday I noticed her having issues walking, stumbly and off balance, I decided to take her into the house to keep a closer eye on her. By friday she barely was able to walk at all. I started giving her Vitamin B complex and Aspirin for her discolored comb. Now I was leaning towards Mereks desease...

Her comb looked better Saturday so I let her out a bit and she moved around a bit better, but balancing herself with her right wing of the ground falling to the right. I took her back in and gave her more aspirin, vitamin B complex, de-wormer and electrolytes, banana, scrambled egg and water. She eats and drinks fine!

Then today she is nearly paralyzed in her legs (wings work fine), I was talking to her in tears that I am sorry and that I will have to put her down. Tho I couldn't do it just yet after all this effort I put in already. I decided to bring her back in.

I noticed her left foot is a bit swollen and looks like bumble foot to me?... would this cause the issues she has walking, falling to her right side? She doesn't want to put any weight on her legs, even less on her right one (the one without bumble)

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Please I need help, thinking of bringing her to a vet tomorrow if I can't figure it out, hope i can get her fixed up again
 
You are on the right track. Purulent material in chickens,especially bumble foot is different from the way pus forms in a mammal. It presents as being solid cheese like chunks that you have to dig out of the area. It's unusual to get pus to 'drain' from a bumble foot. I've been able to express 'curds' of purulent material from an open Bumble but have never found a large amount of liquid infection in any one that I've done.

I've dealt with Bumble Foot. How I do it is soak like @penny1960 advised you, in hot epsom salt water, then go in to see if you can find the 'kernel' which is a hard lump of pus that will be in the middle of the swollen area. I have some hemostats and scalpels that I use to this part. Yes, it is icky and can be a bit bloody but the birds seem to tolerate it well. There are videos on youtube dealing with how to operate on bumble foot with the least bit of trauma to you or to your bird, LOL. I'm a retired nurse and frankly my hands shook the first time I dug into a bumble.

Trust me, it's a skill to have if you have chickens. Once I get the kernel and any 'chunks' of puss out of the wound, I flush it good with normal saline , pack the wound with triple antibiotic ointment without pain killer, apply a small gauze pad and then bandage with a strip of vet wrap.You can keep the bird isolated if you want to but mine have always wanted to go back to the flock and their favorite spot on the roost, no worse for the wear and without a bumble that they are having to walk on.

You may have to repeat the treatment to clear it up completely. And if you aren't comfortable doing it, a vet will gladly provide the service. As for the unsteadiness... could the infection and bumble foot cause that? Yes, if she is in enough pain. I guess it would just depend. I had a Welsummer hen who had a chronic bumble foot going on. I never could get it under control and finally gave up. She lived for 4+ years and is now residing in our freezer. It never slowed her down a bit. No limp, no nothing.

By the looks of the swelling I'd say infection is something that you are dealing with also which means she may need antibiotics. Something to consider.

Hope she gets to feeling better for you.
 

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