Foot infection***UPDATED WITH PICS***

[Egg_newton]

I went and picked up a 15 week old Orpington mix cockerel yesterday from a fellow BYC'er. Won't mention any names. I am terribly unhappy with the condition of this poor guy. He smelled horrible even tho the person that gave him to me had just given him a bath. His feathers were dripping wet, still filthy and he was shivering cold. I took him home gave him another warm bath and scrubbed all the poo out of his feathers. I noticed that he was missing quite a lot of feathers under his wings and belly.
But my biggest concern is his feet. It looked like he had some poo stuck to the top of his foot so my boyfriend held him while I was going to scrub it off. Well, when he picked him up I turned over his feet and they were green and black on the bottom with a few sores. I could see where the skin and scales were peeling away and could tell that it wasn't just stuff caked on the bottoms. The poor dear has trouble standing and walking. He stumbles a lot. I made sure that there wasn't any debis on them and sprayed them down with blu-kote. I held him wrapped in a towel until he stopped shivering. I can post pictures when I get home. What could it be?What else can I do for him? Should I put him on a broad spectum antibiotic?
So far this is my plan: I'm going to put him on some muti-vitamins, garlic, and feed him yogurt. Also dust him with DE and mix some in his food for internal and external parasites. Right now he is quarintined far away from my other chickens in case he has something contageious.

UPDATED
two and a half weeks later...This is him looking handsome soaking in the tub. We have had trouble with his crop too. So, I gave him a piece of bread and some crumble soaked in milk to eat while he is soaking. It was a lot smaller today. Will start him back on regular food tomorrow. I think just a little at a time so it doesn't get impacted again.

this is the before pic note the purple stuff is blukote and the black is the scab

this is after about two and a half weeks . The big scab had come off this foot two days ago. The other one is coming off but not all the way yet

 

[meriruka]

Poor guy.
Sounds like he was standing in fecal matter for a long time.
I have a hen rescued from a coyote trap w/ the same problem.

Here's what I did: Soaked her feet every day in antibacterial soap & water for 20 minutes & gently scrubbed. Took her to the vet who gave her antibiotics. I was instructed to coat the feet in plain Neosporin, cover the bottom of the feet with an anti-stick bandage pad, wrap with gauze up to the knee & tape with that 3M lightly sticky bandage tape. Changed bandages every other day.
This not only kept her feet clean, but gave her a cushion to walk on.
After two weeks, a lot of "junk" sloughed off and you could see pink around the scabs where it was healing. She only has one toe left on each foot now, but can certainly outrun me. The antibiotics are important, if the infection gets to the bone, there is nothing you can do.

 

[redhen]

It sounds like Bumble Foot..Do a search on here for it..Gumpsgirl just had a recent thread about this. Let me know if you cant find the thread..i'll try to help you..It would be in this forum. (Emergencies/diseases) Good luck! Poor little guy!

 

[purpletree23]

He sounds like he is in bad shape I would do what meriruka suggests. Yes it could be bumblefoot but I don't think the added stress and pain from the bumblefoot procedure would be good for him right now. Get him back to a healthy fellow and then reasses the feet. Good luck. Sounds like he will be very well taken care of now.

 

[kathyinmo]

Here are some links on Bumblefoot...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=209876&p=1

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=217732

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=196734

 

[Egg_newton]

I was afraid you were going to say bumblefoot.

It is the whole bottom of his foot and at least one toe on each foot.. It is all black and hard. After reading many other posts this looks to be a very severe case. I've only had chickens for about a month and a half. I'm not sure if I'm ready to go hacking off half of the bottom of his feet. I soaked them last night in epsom salt, coated them with triple antibiotic ointmint, and wrapped them. But from what I read that won't really help because the scab is so hard and the ointment won't penatrate. I also added duramycin-10 and garlic to his water. I have him seperated from the rest of the flock but I'm concerned about my cat and dogs. Can they get it from walking around his cage? Even with his feet wrapped? I want to save the little guy but I don't want to risk the rest of my animals getting sick.

 

[robin416]

Get the boy on some high calories and boost his protein. It sounds like he's going to need some serious building up if you're going to have to resort to antibiotics.

In the mean time put him on some vitamins to help boost his immune system.

 

[meriruka]

The ointment will penetrate after a while. I didn't think it would either, but it does. I think as long as your other pets don't have any close contact (meaning they are not walking around on the same area he is) with the chicken, they will be fine.

 

[I'M On Island Time]

I agree with the antibiotic ointment and bandaging. I found that using epsom salts really helps to soften up the dirt and junk to get out.

My old hen seemed to enjoy getting her 'pedicure' in epsom salts in the bathroom sink in the evening. I let her soak for about 15 minutes in hot water (as hot as I could hold my hand in it), and then would clean her feet out. She ended up with a hole in the bottom of each foot and it turned into a big bubble in the webbing. It never got infected, thank goodness. Not sure why she got it and nobody else ever did.

Can you see where the dirt is getting up into his foot? I used tweezers to gently pull out the dirt from the bottom of the foot. A large chunk came out that almost seemed like the 'seed' that started it all. Then I was left with a hole, but I filled in the hole with antibiotic ointment.

I was worried I would hurt her, but she never let out a peep. She seemed happy to get it out! It might help to have someone hold the bird while you work on the foot. Luckily, Snowbirdy is a very docile Brahma. Any of my other birds probably wouldn't tolerate the treatment and handling.

Good luck cleaning him up!

 

[Egg_newton]

I gave him his first shot of antibiotics last night. Ok my bf gave him the shot. I was too big of a chicken.

I have been soaking his feet in epsom salt water for 15 minutes and coating his feet with triple antibiotic ointment then wrapping them every other day. I have also been putting electrolite/vitamins in his water and I mixed some mealworms, tuna and yogurt with a handful of crumbles. I feed him that while his feet are soaking. It keeps him preoccupied so I don't have to wrestle with him to keep his feet in the pan. This is day four of treatment. We will see if the soaks are softening the scabs on his feet tonight.