Here in California it's wet & muddy... I just did a little surgery for a slight case of bumble foot

[amyduck]

I'm worried about her running around outside while it's so wet and muddy and getting her foot infected- so I'm going to keep her inside until her foot has healed enough - but does anyone know about how long it takes a foot to heal? I didn't have to go in very deep at all.

She is one of my wilder hens and I just know she's going to hate being away from the others, inside my kitchen in a small dog cage... and I'm at work all day. I figure I'll let her out for a bit around my house each night - but I'd like some idea how long I'll need to keep this up.

Alternately, is there anything I can put on her foot to keep the wound dry? We are going to have rain on and off over the next week.

Thanks!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It takes a long time. Is the dog cage wire bottom?
Definitely don't let her walk around in the mud. Bumble foot is a staph infection from some type of cut. Until it is healed, the staph will find its way back in again. Don't let it get wet at all.
I recommend dry shavings or corn cob bedding.
You'll want to keep the wound wrapped with gauze, tape and vet wrap.

As far as I know, surgery isn't recommended any more unless it is a big hard pussball.
Soaking the foot a couple times a day in an Epson salt bath is prescribed.
There has been a lot of good results using an ointment of Calendula, Hypericum and Echinacea. It's known as CEH ointment.
Injecting the infected footpad with an antibiotic like penicillin will help.

 

[amyduck]

Thanks ChickenCanoe - darn - I wish I'd come across that information - I read a number of posts before tackling the problem... and *was* happy I caught it early.... It would have been safer and a lot easier (except for catching her!) to do as you suggested. I searched here for "Bumble foot" went to the "article" pages and read the only one that seemed to be about bumble foot.... along with a few others here and in other places. I would have much preferred your method. Oh well.

In answer to your question - it's not a wire bottom - there is a tray, although I could remove the tray. But I like the idea of corn cobs...

I put colloidal silver, gentian violet and a triple antibiotic and then wrapped her foot in gauze and a people tape... but I'll switch tonight when I check it out.

A few more questions: Should I put her on an antibiotic?

And finally, your reply to my question about how long it takes to heal was "a long time" - that's really, really, broad! Any idea are we talking days, week, a month? There really isn't very much of a hole at all and the area is about the size of my pinky's nail bed...

Thanks.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I wouldn't put her on an antibiotic. It may not affect the foot much and it is a very persistent infection. From my research, a combiotic injected into the wound is the best approach. The only thing I could find is Combi-Pen which is 2 strains of penicillin. Traditionally, combiotic is a combination of penicillin and streptomycin to cover a broader range of resistances. I'm not sure if it is available any more.
The research I read on the CEH ointment was for bumblefoot in raptors. They said they don't use antibiotics with it.

This is where I got the information.
http://www.oocities.org/gymnogyps_gray/bumblefoot2.html

Here's another great bumblefoot writeup.
http://www.beautyofbirds.com/bumblefoot.html

Check page 8 in the following PDF
http://www.carolinaraptorcenter.org/files/RBCManual2010a.pdf

There's more bumblefoot information on pages 771/772 in the following pdf
http://avianmedicine.net/content/uploads/2013/08/34_orthopedic.pdf

 

[amyduck]

Thanks Chicken Canoe - I'll read the links when I get home from work.
The only thought that comes to mind is that I would think that chickens (vs raptors) could be more susceptible to infection since they spend most of the time on the ground... Just a thought! I have some injectable penicillin at home that I have yet to use- I'll check that too.

Finally - while my hen was limping - once I took off the callous - I didn't really see any sign of infection... So maybe it was just starting and I got it soon enough. FWIW - I pretty much pinched off the callous/bumble and then cleaned up around it by tweezing and just a little bit of scissor work - I didn't use any other cutting tool. I used my finger to see if there was anything hard inside and I didn't find anything...