INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[ChickCrazed]

Raining here again!!! The chickens are braving it though, they are all soggy messes.

I wanted to share how my treatment of my bumblefoot girl is going. The poor thing had it on both feet, one was about pea sized and the other slightly bigger. I couldn't bare the thought of doing the surgery with an awake chicken, so I researched alternative treatments and wanted to let you all know about it.

After finding a thread on BYC about it, I purchased a Koi fish medication called Tricide-Neo from an online Koi supply store. It was around $20 for a packet that created a gallon of medication. You HAVE to use distilled water or the medication is inactivated. You use it as a foot soak. I am on day five of treatment, I have been soaking her in the evenings for 5 minutes, then putting preparation H on her infections and wrapping her feet in cotton and vetwrap. I couldn't really tell if it was working for the first few days, the infection seemed to be sticking out of her foot very slightly but other than that I couldn't tell. I decided to do an extra morning treatment over the weekend. Today it looked a bit more pronounced so I squeezed the bottom of her foot a bit and the kernal of infection started to pop out even more! I was able to squeeze both kernals out of her foot! I don't know if I got it all, but I got a fair amount out of both feet and at the very least the medication will be able to get into her foot better for her remaining treatments. I have been really impressed with this treatment and wanted to share it as a non-surgical option for you all.

Unfortunately I did not get pictures of it. I will track how long I actually need to treat before I deem it safe enough to stop. This probably involves a greater time investment than surgical options but I think it has been much more pleasant on both of us so it is worth the time for me.

 

[Birdylady3]

Only 11 pages behind and falling asleep.. nite guys

Nite

 

[Birdylady3]

Morning world!

 

[hoosiercheetah]

Morning humans!

 

[kittydoc]

@ChickCrazed As long as you are able to get those hard kernels and the pus around them out of both feet, and continue to keep them clean and bandaged long enough to heal completely after the infection is gone, that's what counts! The foot soak probably helped it burst, which is essential, whether by medical or surgical means. Hopefully she will be as good as new soon. You could also pack the foot with a triple antibiotic ointment and wrap it in between soaks to speed things along. You can pick that up anywhere--pharmacy, Wal-Mart, Target, etc., just use the human stuff.

 

[Leahs Mom]

After finding a thread on BYC about it, I purchased a Koi fish medication called Tricide-Neo from an online Koi supply store.

I've also used Tricide Neo a couple of years ago w/one of my birds. I have to say, though, that using it is very time intensive and it isn't always feasible for folks that work away from home or if there are several birds in a flock that need treatment.

Sounds like you're getting the core of the infection which is great when it comes up that way!



I did learn with more experience over time that many times what we have been taught to think needs treatment as bumblefoot doesn't. I now only work on a foot issue if there is a visible infection rather than just a dark spot with no signs of infection. I've found that it causes more trauma to the foot and often causes an infection when it wasn't necessary to even treat.

 

[ChickCrazed]

@ChickCrazed As long as you are able to get those hard kernels and the pus around them out of both feet, and continue to keep them clean and bandaged long enough to heal completely after the infection is gone, that's what counts! The foot soak probably helped it burst, which is essential, whether by medical or surgical means. Hopefully she will be as good as new soon. You could also pack the foot with a triple antibiotic ointment and wrap it in between soaks to speed things along. You can pick that up anywhere--pharmacy, Wal-Mart, Target, etc., just use the human stuff.

That is a great idea! Now that the swelling is down I will stop using the preparation H and switch to a triple antibiotic without pain relief. She has been really good about leaving her shoes on

 

[ChickCrazed]

I've also used Tricide Neo a couple of years ago w/one of my birds. I have to say, though, that using it is very time intensive and it isn't always feasible for folks that work away from home or if there are several birds in a flock that need treatment.

Sounds like you're getting the core of the infection which is great when it comes up that way!



I did learn with more experience over time that many times what we have been taught to think needs treatment as bumblefoot doesn't. I now only work on a foot issue if there is a visible infection rather than just a dark spot with no signs of infection. I've found that it causes more trauma to the foot and often causes an infection when it wasn't necessary to even treat.

I'm sure people start to worry about bumblefoot long before there was a real issue. This girl has limped on and off since I got her last spring, I just always thought it was arthritis since she is one of my AARP chickens. She started hobbling on both feet so I finally caught her and took a look. I do think that it went away on its own last winter and came back, but who knows. Luckily I had already ordered the meds for Margo (RIP Margo) and had them on hand to try. It is a slower process for sure, but a good option for the squeamish and for those that want a non invasive option for the sake of the chicken!

Toeing the line between catching it early and worrying before it is an issue is always hard to do!

 

[Leahs Mom]

The one I treated was infected for sure. There were small infections on the side and top between the toes so it needed to be done.

Then a few months later I noticed spots on a couple of the other bird's feet with no visible infection. On those I decided to wait and watch and they have never developed an infection in over 1.5 years. My original inclination was to do something just because there was a spot there but I waited on those and glad I did. Now I have a better idea of when it's really an infection and when it's not.

 

[BryLT3]

One of the 6 piglets. They are so cute (and active!)