HELP! Bumblefoot on hen!

[janinepeters]

I successfully treated bumblefoot last year with TricideNeo and never pulled the scab off. Evidently the antibiotic(s) in that preparation can pass through the skin and into the abscess where it does it work killing bacteria. If you pull off the scab and don't keep it the foot clean and bandaged, you are probably allowing continual reinfection of the wound. If you don't pull the scab off, there is no opening which bacteria can penetrate, so no need to clean and dress it.

 

[welasharon]

I successfully treated bumblefoot last year with TricideNeo and never pulled the scab off.  Evidently the antibiotic(s) in that preparation can pass through the skin and into the abscess where it does it work killing bacteria.  If you pull off the scab and don't keep it the foot clean and bandaged, you are probably allowing continual reinfection of the wound.  If you don't pull the scab off, there is no opening which bacteria can penetrate, so no need to clean and dress it.

Janine I am about to give it another try. THat hen I told you about has had a relapse. I saw a red spot between her toes again this evening. I will start the soaks again tomorrow morning and I hope it will work this time!

 

[snowflake]

what is tricideNeo? I have a bumble foot chick, I am trying iodine and sugar,,,sounds crazy but some one on another thread had a very badly infected case and this worked well for her... does need bandaging though.

 

[welasharon]

Whichever you do needs bandaging. If this doesn't work I'll try the iodine poultice myself.

 

[janinepeters]

I think it needs to be bandaged only if you pull out the plug. If you don't pull it out, the wound is closed. TricideNeo works without pulling out the plug, at least in some cases. If you've already pulled the plug out, you will need to keep it clean and bandaged, however.

 

[TwoCrows]

Ok....here is my 2 cents worth on bumblefoot. I seem to have several cases going on all the time due to the lay of my land, the large breeds I keep and all other factors that seem to lead to puncture wounds to the feet pads.

First of all, there is no need to panic with bumblefoot. If caught early enough, before the bird is actually lame, it will heal and is not a life threatening situation. For the poster that had the vet that said you should have culled your birds because of bumblefoot, you need to drop that vet. Bumblefoot is not contagious nor can it spread.

Chickens get bumblefoot for many reasons. They may have stepped on a thorn, sharp rock or other object that pierced the skin on the pad, they can bruise their pads from jumping down off high roost bars, or just being a heavy breed of chicken, they can damage the pads on their feet. If the skin becomes pierced at all, there is now a hole into the interior of the body to which bacteria can enter. If you stood around in bare feet all day in mud, dirt, on rocks, poop and such, and you did not bandage your cuts or abrasions, you too would have infections to your feet as well.

Now, not every scab on the bottom of a chickens foot is necessarily infected and needs surgery or even soaking in anything. Unless it is definitely infected, you can keep the feet bandaged up until the wound heals and the scab falls off. Meanwhile you can apply neosporin, (without the pain killer), preparation h for any redness or swelling or simply wipe the pad with alcohol and keep wrapped. Soaking the foot in epsom salt or Tri-cide Neo, (this is better used when the wound is open after surgery). Sometimes doing this for a month or 2, and the would heals all together.

ALWAYS keep the bandage on until the scab falls off on its own. Dirt and bacteria WILL enter even the tiniest scabbed area that you think is healed.

If the scab on the bottom of the pad is soft or has a soft spot in the middle of it, or there is any pus, large swollen areas on the pad, then you may need to do the surgery. Many times my hens will have a tiny scab and red pads. But they are a heavy breed and come down hard on their pads. So this redness is not infection, but rather abrasion. So until their tiny scabs fall off, they remain in bandages.

Soaking the foot is always a good idea for infections, post and presurgery. It will NOT prevent you from having to do a surgery, and will not clear up a raging infection deep in the pad. It will only help heal a pad that is already on it's way to healing.

I have some hens constantly in bandages, some for post surgery and others that I do not want turning into bumblefoot. Keeping a tiny scab bandaged does wonders for prevention, just as you would keep a bandage on your own cuts till they healed. A chickens immune system works quite well when given the opportunity and in the case of bumbefoot, keeping it dry and clean can heal many pad issues and prevent you having to do surgery. They do heal eventually and you can ace the bandages further on down the line when the pads heal.

 

[hume1471]

i did think culling them for a foot infection was a bit extreme i told him it would not happen as they where bought for pets and not for the eggs the eggs are just a bonus.i think thats his way of dealing with poultry kill any sick ones glad im not a chicken under his care that would mean i would loose 10 hens 3 ducks a guinea fowl and 6 bantams.the iodine is doing a good job the scabs are shrinking. thanks all for the info i will keep treating them and just hope it does not spread.

 

[amenfarm]

Twocrowsranch: what about a larger scab/ deeper infection? I treated for 6 weeks and thought I was through. I'm doing surgery and retreating this hen starting Saturday ( that's when I'll have help). I was going to remove the scab, soak 1x a day in tricidi neo (for 1 week?) and spay 1x a day with vertericyn spray, neosporin and re-wrap/ 1 Long lasting penicillin shot. I did all of this last time except the vetericyn. Do you have a different suggestion? The other hen had much smaller scabs and is now fine. I did not know to keep the scab covered until it was totally gone

.

 

[TwoCrows]

Twocrowsranch: what about a larger scab/ deeper infection? I treated for 6 weeks and thought I was through. I'm doing surgery and retreating this hen starting Saturday ( that's when I'll have help). I was going to remove the scab, soak 1x a day in tricidi neo (for 1 week?) and spay 1x a day with vertericyn spray, neosporin and re-wrap/ 1 Long lasting penicillin shot. I did all of this last time except the vetericyn. Do you have a different suggestion? The other hen had much smaller scabs and is now fine. I did not know to keep the scab covered until it was totally gone

.

Sometimes these infections are stubborn, especially the longer they have had them. If the infection has turned into a deep staph infection, then you may need to start her on penicillin shots daily for a few weeks. The problem with starting them on antibiotics is that you can not stop with the medications until the infection is gone. If you do, the bacteria can become resistant and even more aggressive. I had that happen to me earlier this year and never again will I stop until it is all over. So unless the infection is really bad, or goes systemic, then I would try not to use antibiotics.

If you have a chicken foot with a very deep infection, you will need to do daily draining on the pad. Don't let the wound scab over. Unwrap the foot daily and if there is pus, irrigate the wound with Lincomycin in a syringe (without needle) and swamp the wound. I have had SUPER luck with Lincomycin, squirting it down in the hole. Then oddly enough, packing the wound with Preparation H. Sounds weird, but the Prep H bridals up the bad tissue and pus, reduces inflammation and the Lincomycin with the Prep H, and I can knock out a bad infection in a week or two. You MUST however, always keep the bandages on, and drain the pad daily. Don't let the pus sit in the pad. You will know there is pus in the pad because it will always come to the surface. If you can go 2 days without seeing pus at the surface, or slightly within, then you can let the wound scab over. (make sure you are getting all the pus chunks out. Sometimes there is only liquid pus in the wound. So you can dig to china and still never find the core. Do the best you can and if you don't get it out the first time, there will be another time soon! LOL)

Sometimes you have to just keep at it. When you find the right combo of procedures, then they heal fast. I have one hen that is allergic to neosporin. Makes her pus up in her pad over night. Keep up with the Tri-cide Neo, (remember to use distilled water only) and check it daily.

IF you start to see swelling between the webbing of the toes and heat in the joint, you may be dealing with MS, Mycoplasma Synoviae, a wicked bacterial infection. I had a bumblefoot case that went on for 7 straight months till I had a vet diagnose her with this MS. It is an infection that can be nearly untreatable and VERY difficult to complete destroy. Untreated it causes permanent lameness and other organ damage. This hen has been on antibiotics for 5 straight months and she is nearly cured! But it took 7 months of daily surgeries and wrapping on my part, daily medicating and love to save this bird AND my flock as it is contagious. She is due off the meds in about 2 weeks and is expected to make a full recovery. Well at least live a normal life.

Keep us posted on the progress! Hang in there and consider it another routine thing you have to do daily. It makes it a lot easier to deal with the depressing pus in the feet each day. Old hat around here. (sigh) But I love my girls and now that I have found ways to treat them successfully, not so depressing. Just part of my chicken experience! You will learn tons of things about your chickens when you have to do surgery on them or heal them. You become one step closer to knowing what it is like to be them. Good luck!

 

[TwoCrows]

Oh...and NEVER use the Tri-cide Neo in combination with Epsom Salts. The reason you have to use distilled water for the Tri-cide is that any salts, magnesium or calcium in the water, and they will bind to the antibacterial drug in the Neo and renders the soak useless. So stay way from the Epsom Salts while using the Tri-cide.