Hen with poorly foot

[richardeblack]

Thank you Maria
Yes they are a constant worry but so much fun as well. They do make me laugh with their antics.
Tried squeezing the leg down to the pad and some dried dark coloured bits came out far enough to tease out with the tweezers. Not much though. I will give her another go late tomorrow afternoon then bandage her up with loads of salve and see how she is when I get back.
I'm trying to decide whether or not to drain her water belly tomorrow as she is very swollen but think it would be too much on top of the foot.
I just put salve on this time so will see what happens tomorrow.
Our trip is holiday, meeting my wife's cousins, one from America (Port Jefferson) the other from Guernsey. Julia from America has her daughter and son in law over too with their two kids who we haven't seen yet.
It will be good but I'll be glad to get home to my chicken.
Thank you again.
Richard

 

[MarlaMac]

Thank you Maria
Yes they are a constant worry but so much fun as well. They do make me laugh with their antics.
Tried squeezing the leg down to the pad and some dried dark coloured bits came out far enough to tease out with the tweezers. Not much though. I will give her another go late tomorrow afternoon then bandage her up with loads of salve and see how she is when I get back.
I'm trying to decide whether or not to drain her water belly tomorrow as she is very swollen but think it would be too much on top of the foot.
I just put salve on this time so will see what happens tomorrow.
Our trip is holiday, meeting my wife's cousins, one from America (Port Jefferson) the other from Guernsey. Julia from America has her daughter and son in law over too with their two kids who we haven't seen yet.
It will be good but I'll be glad to get home to my chicken.
Thank you again.
Richard

Sounds fun. I just wanted to say, my name is Marla, not Maria. No worries - it appears in my 7th grade album that way too. Been dealing with it my whole life.

I don't have any experience with water belly (hope I never have to), so I cannot advise on that. I hope your girl does well while you are gone.

 

[richardeblack]

My apologies Marla.
I wasn't really looking for advice on the water belly, just trying to make my own mind up. I think I am stressing her quite a lot as it is.she is definitely getting around better though.
I do wonder if a previous hen had bumblefoot and the infection spread. She also had water belly and I went to drain her because she was walking strangely but no fluid came out. I seem to remember someone commenting on the picture say she had bumblefoot but she was very weak by this time and I thought it was the final stages of ascites. Maybe if I had dealt with the bumblefoot earlier she might have survived a little longer.
I know I will start looking at their feet regularly from now on.
Thank you again for all the help and good wishes. I will try and video tomorrow's treatment if possible but will have to do it inside as rain is forecast all day.
Richard.

 

[MarlaMac]

The thing about this chicken thing is that we all learn a long the way. I believe that if we do the very best we know how then we are ahead of the game and our chickens are lucky to have our care. No use crying over spilled milk.

Monthly checks are imperative. I do that. I currently have a gal I am treating for a very small bumble. It is so much easier to deal with if we catch them early on.

My bumbles almost always start as a sanbur that the chicken steps on. Horrible plant and we are in the 3rd year of trying to eradicate them. But our flock free ranges over several acres (they have 60 but stay closer than that, of course) so we have a lot of ground to cover.

Thanks for keeping me up to date.

 

[richardeblack]

Hello Marla (and all who have helped),
Just back and changed her dressing. I have done a video of the process.
I noticed her foot is a bit yellow but a bit less swollen I think.
Squeezing her leg to her foot doesn't bring anything down. I went in with the tweezers but the wound is full of dark fibrous matter. I tried to get some out but I can only pull small bits away.
I have packed it with the drawing salve and sprayed it with chlorohexadine and bandaged it up again. I'm really not sure I can get anything else out without cutting her which really can't do.
What do you think?
Thank you again for all the support.
Richard.
Poorly foot

 

[MarlaMac]

Hello Marla (and all who have helped),
Just back and changed her dressing. I have done a video of the process.
I noticed her foot is a bit yellow but a bit less swollen I think.
Squeezing her leg to her foot doesn't bring anything down. I went in with the tweezers but the wound is full of dark fibrous matter. I tried to get some out but I can only pull small bits away.
I have packed it with the drawing salve and sprayed it with chlorohexadine and bandaged it up again. I'm really not sure I can get anything else out without cutting her which really can't do.
What do you think?
Thank you again for all the support.
Richard.
Poorly foot

Welcome home! Hope you had a great visit with family,

It looks like you are getting proficient at wrapping chicken feet! Looks like you are still pulling infection out. Did the salve dry up while you were gone?

I don't know about the yellow. What is the normal color of her feet? Perhaps something in the salve?

At this point, if you are not seeing stuff drawing out, you might switch to antibiotic ointment for a few days and see if the change up will encourage further release of the infection. Perhaps switch it up every couple of days.

Do you know anyone who has a recent prescription of antibiotics they didn't completely use up? Amoxicillin would be great to get into her.

 

[richardeblack]

Thanks Marla
Thank you, we had a great time with family. A lot of driving for us but nothing for you I'm sure.
Yes, the salve had dried up so I gave her a full 20 minute plus soak in Epsom salts. I will swap to antibiotic cream tomorrow and see how we get on.
I'll ask a farmer friend about the amoxicillin but doubt if I can get some.
Thank you.
Richard