chicken with bumblefoot? now breathing heavy

[nicoleb875]

I have a 2-3 yr old chicken who I found sitting on the floor of the coop at tuck in time which was VERY unusual and immediately put me on alert. I picked her up and was checking for injuries and noticed the bottom of her left foot was very swollen and obviously painful. there wasn't the tell-tale "bumble" to dig out but there was what looked like a really small one..this was around a week ago. I took her in I put her foot in warm epsom saltwater to soak 20 mins and I got the tiny hard black thing I figured had to be an early bumblefoot but now i'm wondering if it is. it definately had pus either way and after several days of soaking and bandaging its almost back to normal size but shes still not moving around any more than strictly nessicary though she is eating and drinking. tonight I noticed that she seems to be breathing a bit heavy and i'm getting pretty worried about her....I have a goose the same age and they are the best of friends and i'm not only concerned for my chicken's sake but my goose too...I know she would miss her friend terribly. Anyone have a suggestion on something I could try? this is the first time any of my chickens have ever gotten sick other than pasty butt or a injured toenail. thanks in advance!

 

[ChickenLoverTrin]

I've done some research for you and I saw that giving her a vitamin supplement will help with the heavy breathing, and make sure that you are keeping her in a ventilated habitat. Tbh, I have no idea what to do with her foot or if the breathing was caused by it. Hope she gets better soon xxx

 

[nicoleb875]

I've done some research for you and I saw that giving her a vitamin supplement will help with the heavy breathing, and make sure that you are keeping her in a ventilated habitat. Tbh, I have no idea what to do with her foot or if the breathing was caused by it. Hope she gets better soon xxx

is there a specific one I should get? I have some nutri-drench I tried. and failed...to get into her earlier after her foot soak. I always thought cats were hard to give meds....chickens or atleast THIS chicken is worse naturally it WOULD be the stubborn red-headed chicken that would give me fits...

 

[ChickenLoverTrin]

Tbh, I'm not sure, maybe you could give her some Vitamin D? I'm so sorry I don't know!

 

[Lillith37]

The bumblefoot and the breathing are not necessarily related. It's good you are getting on top of the bumblefoot. Check her crop to see if it is empty in the morning and if you can get a picture of her poop that would be helpful. Does your hen lay eggs and when did she last lay? Does her comb look normal?

 

[nicoleb875]

shes near the end of molting so she isn't laying eggs right now neither is my older hen who is acting perfectly normal. the last time I got an egg from them was probably about a month ago. we had some seriously hot weather which had me taking them ice and fans every day. the coop itsself has fans mounted on the celing to help move the air and there is plenty of ventilation as theres chicken wire "windows" on 3 out of 4 sides of the coop. all my hens stopped laying during the heat and then they and the goose went into molting..the 2 little silky hens didn't do a hard molt and already one of them is back to laying again the other silky has egg issues and doesn't lay consistantly but both are both acting as they should to the point of giving me major attitude half sized hens seems = double the sass...the under the weather hen has been eating infact her crop was good and full which was an improvement from the last time I soaked her foot. as far as I can tell her poops are normal too there hasn't been any that look off in the slightest. i've considered taking her to the vets but my dad fell at work and isn't cleared to drive yet and even if he could i'm not sure my normal vet will treat chickens though I intend to ask. I don't drive as I get really bad migraines almost daily and I don't feel safe trying it knowing one can hit me in and go from 0-60 in a split second to the point I have to close my eyes or lose my lunch...if at all possible i'd rather just care for her at home but I don't want to lose her either

 

[nicoleb875]

her comb is the same color it usually is a nice red

 

[Lillith37]

Could she be panting because of the heat and perhaps the stress of bumblefoot treatment? Especially if she is moulting, being handled is probably no fun at all.

Is she making any gurgling, wheezing or sneezing noises? Any discharge or bubbles around her eyes and nose?

If you can feel her abdomen between her keel bone and her vent, does it feel normal or distended? Any swelling or tautness, is it hard or squishy etc. You can feel your other hens for comparison.

 

[nicoleb875]

its more than possible she's stressed I know during the foot soaking a few times she got off balance in my arms and went into flapping fits...thank God chicken wings don't have the impact goose wings do or i'd be black n blue. thankfully its nowhere near as hot as it had been. she isn't gurgling or sneezing...a few times she has made almost what sounds like a mix of breathing and chicken talk she did it for a few breaths then stopped and she looked rather comfy and like she was so comfy she was dosing off so maybe that was chicken for ahhhh this feels nice and i'm over reacting. theres no other sign she might be sick her eyes are bright her comb is the same red it always is she holds her head up normally but occasionally opens her mouth to breathe a few times then closes it and shifts her weight to balance on her feet better as she sits. I am not sure on the squishy/hard/comparison between her and my oldest hen I will have to compare them in the morning assuming tweet (the healthy one) will allow it she isn't big on being picked up. chick chick as far as I can tell does not have any snot or bubbles or any sort of discharge from her nose or eyes.

 

[DLA]

From what you said about no discharge or wheezing and comb being normal color and she's eating and emptying her crop, normal poop - if she were my hen I'd keep treating the bumblefoot and just keep an eye on her. Give her a check while you have her soaking for the bumble that there are no other issues like mites or lice (around the vent and under the wings are good places to look). Between the molting and the bumble, could be just the extra stress on her system. Some nutri-drench or similar and maybe some scrambled egg once in a while might help her.