Has anyone had any success with antibiotics for bumblefoot?

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Hey everyone. So, I dont often hear about antibiotics given to a chicken to treat bumblefoot. I saw a few threads here about it but none seemed to end in a resolution about whether it worked or not. I think I've seen one or two people in other threads say they tried it but it didn't work too well or something.

Anyone have any luck?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Generally antibiotics (oral) are not needed to treat Bumblefoot. It's an infection of the foot and most of the time once the scab and core/kernel (infection) is removed, the foot heals fine.

Are you having problems?

Depending on what's going on, soaking in Tricide Neo daily would be an appropriate treatment as well. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treating-bumblefoot-with-tricide-neo.513183/post-6526194

 

[Goosebaby]

If the infection gets worse you may need to treat antibiotics like amoxicillin which can be used for staph infections, which is what bumblefoot is.

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Generally antibiotics (oral) are not needed to treat Bumblefoot. It's an infection of the foot and most of the time once the scab and core/kernel (infection) is removed, the foot heals fine.

Are you having problems?

Depending on what's going on, soaking in Tricide Neo daily would be an appropriate treatment as well. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treating-bumblefoot-with-tricide-neo.513183/post-6526194

Well I have a hen with bumblefoot on both feet. This is the second time she's had it, so I've been doing what I did last time: remove the scab, soak in tricide-neo, bandage, repeat. It was going well but I went camping and didn't treat her for 4 days, which I figured would be fine. One of her feet looks good, the other when I unbandaged it it looked red and a little inflamed. But after letting it soak it looked more back to normal. Then the next time I did it it looked red and inflamed again then it subsided after soaking. I think it might just be a little irritated from the bandaging but I wanted to hear about antibiotics just in case. I can remove the scab by pulling it off but I reach my limit when it comes to cutting into an animal without anesthesia, so IF the infection has gone deeper I want to look at a less invasive way for dealing with it.

 

[Jacquej57]

I am a vet tech and worked with a wildlife rehabber. We used preparation H on eagles/hawks who had bumblefoot. Along with oral antibiotics. Just passing that on.....

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

I am a vet tech and worked with a wildlife rehabber. We used preparation H on eagles/hawks who had bumblefoot. Along with oral antibiotics. Just passing that on.....

Interesting. What oral antibiotics did you use?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Well I have a hen with bumblefoot on both feet. This is the second time she's had it, so I've been doing what I did last time: remove the scab, soak in tricide-neo, bandage, repeat. It was going well but I went camping and didn't treat her for 4 days, which I figured would be fine. One of her feet looks good, the other when I unbandaged it it looked red and a little inflamed. But after letting it soak it looked more back to normal. Then the next time I did it it looked red and inflamed again then it subsided after soaking. I think it might just be a little irritated from the bandaging but I wanted to hear about antibiotics just in case. I can remove the scab by pulling it off but I reach my limit when it comes to cutting into an animal without anesthesia, so IF the infection has gone deeper I want to look at a less invasive way for dealing with it.

Photos?

Looks better, then you bandage it, looks worse....
Is bandaging too tight or getting wet?

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Photos?

Looks better, then you bandage it, looks worse....
Is bandaging too tight or getting wet?

I only have a before picture:


I'm sure I'm not wrapping it too tight. When I unwrap it it isn't wet or damp, though there is a good amount of dirt that's somehow getting under the vetwrap and under the taped down gauze. I don't remember that happening last time so I don't know what I'm doing different to allow for that. I'm trying to wrap her feet better, and I think I'll try using more tape for the gauze or something to seal the wound better.

My thinking is, the dirt is causing irritation since it was wrapped for 4 days straight and the dirt was just sitting in there. However, if the infection is actually getting worse, and bandaging better doesn't help, then I would see about giving her antibiotics if nothing else worked. When I first saw it I pulled off her scab and it did not seem to have gotten worse, so I am concerned that if it is infection that it's underneath healed tissue. If that makes sense. So that's why I'm asking about antibiotics, just to have a game plan after I find out which one is the problem.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

I am a vet tech and worked with a wildlife rehabber. We used preparation H on eagles/hawks who had bumblefoot. Along with oral antibiotics. Just passing that on.....

Actually, I just read about that treatment.
Scroll to the middle of the page, the first part is about a different issue.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topic...logy-and-pharmaceutical-science/preparation-h

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I only have a before picture:


I'm sure I'm not wrapping it too tight. When I unwrap it it isn't wet or damp, though there is a good amount of dirt that's somehow getting under the vetwrap and under the taped down gauze. I don't remember that happening last time so I don't know what I'm doing different to allow for that. I'm trying to wrap her feet better, and I think I'll try using more tape for the gauze or something to seal the wound better.

My thinking is, the dirt is causing irritation since it was wrapped for 4 days straight and the dirt was just sitting in there. However, if the infection is actually getting worse, and bandaging better doesn't help, then I would see about giving her antibiotics if nothing else worked. When I first saw it I pulled off her scab and it did not seem to have gotten worse, so I am concerned that if it is infection that it's underneath healed tissue. If that makes sense. So that's why I'm asking about antibiotics, just to have a game plan after I find out which one is the problem.

When you change the wrapping tomorrow, get some photos.