How the heck to wrap their feet after Bumblefoot treatment???

[Sammbalina]

I am about to be treating a few of my quail for bumblefoot, and afterwards will be butchering the lot. I had hoped to be incubating their eggs, but after we moved about 2 months ago they stopped laying and haven't started back, so they are all going to the freezer and I will be starting over in the spring, maybe.

Now, to treat the bumblefoot I know you soak in an epsom salt bath and poke and prod so to speak until the plug comes out, then antibacterial ointment, but how on earth do you wrap those tiny little feet?!?!? I don't know how to keep them sanitary and allow them to heal if I can't bandage, unless I keep them in a bin on clean paper, but they poop so much so I don't know how i would keep them clean enough to recover and prevent reinfection.

 

[ShannonR]

How about killing 2 birds with one stone and treat the bumblefoot by butchering them? It might sound like a stupid question, but in my mind that makes much more sense.

 

[Sammbalina]

I've read you can't eat the birds if they have bumblefoot. The infection makes them no good for eating, so you have to heal them up first if you want to consume them. Otherwise they go to waste

 

[ShannonR]

I've read you can't eat the birds if they have bumblefoot. The infection makes them no good for eating, so you have to heal them up first if you want to consume them. Otherwise they go to waste

I haven't heard that one before. Maybe if the infection was systemic and they required antibiotic injections or orally.... but then they would have antibiotics in their system and would be unfit to eat anyway.

If you are worried about it, don't eat their legs. And enjoy!

 

[Sammbalina]

I think I would rather be safe than sorry. It was a post a while back on here that several posters said it wasn't a good idea, so that's what I'm going with.

 

[ShannonR]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...rocess-chickens-with-bumblefoot-staph.835624/

This is the latest post I could find on the subject, consensus says it is okay to eat. You do cook your quail before eating them after all, correct?

But I mean do what makes you happy.... if treating them first makes you feel better about things then go for it. personally, I wouldn't waste the effort. I don't go treating every one of my meat birds that gets bumblefoot (those fat white Cornish x are notorious for it), but I don't eat the legs or the feet and I don't eat raw chicken so it's all good.

 

[Shezadandy]

If you're going to wrap the feet - get some really, really sharp scissors and cut vetwrap (coflex) into strips that will do the job. It adheres to itself. Small little circles of gauze over the opening, then wrap the itty bitty feet. I don't have quail so really I've got no idea just HOW little … WELL, except my wild quail - but they always run off under the bushes.

PRID can help get the plug to come up if it's really in there.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I totally agree with ShannonR on this. Unless the infection has gone septic, it's perfectly fine to eat all but the infected portions... in this case, their feet. As for the failure to lay for the past two months, quail need 16 hours of (day)light daily for optimal egg production. In your area, you're currently only receiving about 12 hours daily; this can easily be remedied with a light in their coop, preferably set on a timer to avoid forgetting to turn it on (or off). It only needs to be bright enough to read by, so an old fashioned nightlight on a timer may do the trick.