DESPERATE for HELP - MAJOR foot problem *PICS*

[NewEnglandChick]

This poor little girl has had an issue with her toe for a few weeks. I first noticed it when she jumped off the roost one morning and had left a bloody spot on the roost. Her middle "toe" was swollen and the blood seemed to be coming from around her nail. I immediately separated her to keep an eye on it, but she seemed fine and wanted back in with everyone else.

I kept an eye on it and it seemed to scab up a little so I figured it would heal on its own. A few weeks later I noticed fresh blood again and immediately checked her foot. The whole foot was swollen, and it looked like the nailbed had become infected. After a couple days, the nail was completely gone and the entire foot was swollen. I don't have a "farm" vet (and the only one I know of would charge over $100 just to get to my house) so a friend that rescues all kinds of different animals was able to get me some antibiotics, as we thought it might be bumblefoot. After 5 days of antibiotics she seemed to be perkier, was going outside (even though she can't scratch because of the toe), and even managed to put a few lower ranking hens in place.

These pictures are from yesterday - you can see how swollen the toe/foot is and the missing nail with the black "scab" area.

Then today there was fresh blood again. When I let her out, another girl immediately came after her pecking at her foot and the blood. The "scab" was gone and the toe was bleeding again. I put some vet-grade antiseptic/ pre-op cleaner on her foot, but was unable to bandage her. I also have to clip her nails on that foot...since she can't scratch, the nails aren't wearing down on their own. She's separated, again, from everyone else. When I cleaned the toe, it looks like the skin on the toe is infected and there's just one giant open wound. I always thought that a scab meant self-healing, and that as long as her demeanor (eating okay, getting along okay, interested in going out, etc.) were fine that she'd heal up. She's still laying, and I would think egg production would be one of the first things to stop when the body is fighting a major infection.

I also noticed today that some of her chest feathers have been plucked out and she has dried blood on her chest. I'm thinking that if the scab came off and she was bleeding while roosting, that there was blood on her feathers which caused the other girls to pick at them...but (and this is how crazy I've become over this) I'm not sure if she has some sort of flesh eating bacteria that has spread to her chest?

Nobody in the rest of my flock is having any problems (believe me, I'm paranoid and check often). I don't want to put her down because other than the toe she seems to be doing okay.

Does this look familiar to anyone? Any suggestions? Is it a lost cause? Should there be other signs/ symptoms I need to look for?

 

[Lesa]

Don't think it was bumble foot- but not sure what it is. Hopefully, someone else will chime in. Good luck!

 

[kristen2678]

I don't really know but it does look horribly infected. Hopefully someone with experience will chime in with the proper course of antibiotics. Poor lady.

 

[NewEnglandChick]

Yes, I keep thinking infection. My plan is to clean with Betadine a couple times a day and hopefully it will help. That black scab came off this morning and now that whole area is red, raw tissue. When I picked her up to clean the area this morning it didn't seem to bother her when I put the antiseptic on - she didn't even flinch.

That's what I find so strange - it looks VERY painful, but it doesn't seem to bother her (other than she walks a bit awkwardly) and her personality has not changed one bit!

I'm also curious as to what the antibiotic did for 5 days...if it's an infection shouldn't it have cleared it up some? Is it just too far gone to fix?

 

[speckledhen]

She got something under her nail most likely. Had a rooster with a toe like that and this is how we fixed him up: All the dead stuff has to come off, be cleaned with betadine or other antiseptic, have antibiotic ointment and a bandage and be put somewhere she can't walk around, then she may need penicillin injections for a few days to kill the infection. Her nail may be under all that.

 

[ChooksChick]

She has Bumblefoot in the toenail, which really translates to being a staph infection in her toe- she needs to have her foot soaked in very warm salt water immediately, and you'll need to do some other things if you can't get her to a vet. Fill your tub to 2" deep with nice bath-hot temp water and 2 cups of Epsom Salts. Let her walk around in this for as long as the water is warm, gently wiping her feet occasionally to remove old dirt. Get them really clean.

Get some vet wrap- it's that stuff you can find in multiple colors for $2 a roll that looks like an Ace Bandage but it sticks to itself. You'll want to cut it into 1" strips and use antibiotic ointment on gauze, after soaking and cleaning her feet, wrap both feet WITHOUT TENSION, but well. You'll stop all scrapes and abrasions and she can heal without walking her wounds through poo. This way she can be out with her pals and yet not make her feet worse. Having well coated her wounds in antibiotic ointment, then wrapped them, you will have made a good environment for her feet to heal on their own, but you'll need to soak them regularly.

Get some Betadine (Povidone Iodine) and mix it 50% with water and spray her feet well with this prior to coating them with the antibiotic ointment every other re-wrap. Soak and re-wrap every other day.

Find TriCide Neo somewhere- it's a powdered fish antibiotic that you can get from Koi shops or online fish stores that specialize in Koi. It's not cheap, but it's well worth it to save her. This can be mixed in small batches to soak her feet and has a special penetrating quality that will get into the deeper tissues and fight the infection systemically, even though it's applied topically. It's the only thing I know of that can do this, and it's used by wildlife rescues on Bald Eagles all the time for this type of infection- that's how I found out about it. Use this to soak her feet and you'll cut her healing time in half.

The only other thing I would do would be to put her on Baytril, but it's only distributed by vets, and I'm not sure if you can get it. It's an oral antibiotic/bacteriostat and works very well on this sort of thing when combined with the other things as I've described them.

Good luck- I've seen worse get healed, but it takes persistent treatment.

 

[ChooksChick]

Also, the antibiotic may not have been the right kind- there are gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and different types of staph can be resistant to or unaffected by the antibiotic you used- give her some yogurt to boost her gut so she can bounce back from the one you gave her. The Tri-Cide Neo is appropriate for Bumblefoot. There's a thread about it on here somewhere where I was first introduced to it- something about 'non-surgical fix for Bumblefoot'...

A gal I know who does animal rehab uses it for the eagles, hawks and owls she gets in our area, and she confirmed it's good for that application.

 

[speckledhen]

http://www.worldpoultry.net/diseases/gangrenous-28necrotic29-dermatitis-d25.html#treatment


Treatment of gangrene in poultry (not saying its gangrenous yet, but same treatment):

Erythromycin, penicillin in the feed to treat signs. Chlortetracycine, oxytetracycline, copper sulphate can be added to the water to reduce morbidity.

Copper sulfate is a powder and easy to use, about 1/4 teaspoon in a gallon waterer. Works well for sour crop, too, I'm told.

 

[ChooksChick]

Quote:
Glorious! I didn't know that about sour crop!

 

[dawg53]

I recommend you use pencillin for this infection. Here's a link that explains what you need to do. Post #2. Scroll down to "Using Penicillin G Procaine for for Poultry."
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=352701