Hen with poorly foot

[richardeblack]

Hello All
My hen with water belly seems to now have a poorly claw. I thought it was just her water belly making walking difficult so drained her. This was successful and made her a bit better but she got worse over the past couple of days and she can barely walk now.
On looking I can see the claw has a swollen bit. It is soft and has a black spot at the bottom. I wonder if it might be bumblefoot or if she has punctured it on a thorn or something.
Any advice welcome.
I have included a picture and video (so long as it works).
Thank you for your time.
Richard.
Video of hen's foot
Still of claw

 

[richardeblack]

Just thought I'd add that she had a soak in Epsom salts a couple of days ago which I always do prior to draining her belly.
Would iodine be any good for treating her if it is bumblefoot?
I'm not sure how long she'll live with the ascites so don't really want to put her through a surgical procedure.
Thank you.

 

[LaFleche]

This is a giant bumble on her foot that needs to be treated properly so she will be able to walk again.

Give the foot a long soak in epsom salt water, 15-20 minutes. Then disinfect her foot and start to remove the dark spot/scab that can be seen on the underside and gently squeeze the pus out. Chicken pus has a cheese like consistency which can make difficult to get it all out at the first try. Disinfect again and fill the whole with triple antibiotic ointment and put a gauze pad on it and gently wrap her foot. Make sure to not wrap too tight as this can cut off circulation causing the foot to get necrotic.

Repeat every other day until sll pus is gone, the swelling down .

 

[richardeblack]

Thank you for that,
Not sure where to get the cream from or what sort of gauze or how to secure it but will go to our animal feed and health shop and see what they've got.
Thank you.

 

[LaFleche]

Here is a link to more detailed instructions including the needed supplies etc.:

https://the-chicken-chick.com/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning/

 

[richardeblack]

Thank you for that and the link. It looks a bit frightening and not sure that I could do that. Apart from anything else, I can't get the cream. I will see if I can get the rest and have a go tomorrow.
Do you think it would help at all to spray her foot with iodine now? Or is it a waste of time.

 

[LaFleche]

Do you think it would help at all to spray her foot with iodine now? Or is it a waste of time.

I would rather give her foot a good long soak in warm water adding some iodine to it.

 

[MarlaMac]

You (or someone on your behalf) will have to take measures to rectify the situation for the hen. Chickens cannot expel pus by themselves. If you do not take measures, the infection will spread to the bone. Once that happens, outlook is pretty dire.

Next to draining water, treating bumble is a walk in the park. Using an antibiotic ointment is essential to help remove the infection.

If it were my chicken, I would probably start with drawing salve on a bumble that big. Drawing salve will help to pull the infection out of the foot.

As swollen as the foot is, you might be surprised by how much pus you can squeeze out.

Good luck.

Edit: you might not have to take the extreme measure shown in that article. I would start by seeing if you can scrape the scab off and see if any pus comes with it, then gently squeeze the foot to see if you can get more out. Then, I would apply some drawing salve or antibiotic ointment, cover, wrap (not too tightly) and repeat daily until you see improvement. Once it starts to improve you can probably go to every two days until healed.

 

[richardeblack]

Thank you both
I have managed to track some antibiotic cream on eBay but won't come for a few days. I assume the drawing cream can be any magnesium sulphate (for example) cream? I can get that and the vet wrap tomorrow. Does it make sense to start soaking in Epsom salts from today even though I don't have any other items?
I have an added problem as I go away on Sunday the 8th for 5 days. I don't think I can get anyone to change dressings while I'm away. Will she be ok for that period without changing the dressing? Or will that make things worse?
Thank you so much for all your guidance.

 

[richardeblack]

Just a quick question, you say to disinfectant the area at the start and then again after getting puss out. I used isopropyl alcohol for disinfection before draining her. Will that be ok or should I get another disinfectant for this purpose.
Also I can get antibacterial spray locally. Would that work or does it have to be triple antibiotic?
Thank you so much for all the advice.
Richard