infection on bumble foot?

[kumokumo]

hi, so i've noticed that on one of my lavender orpingtons hens that her toe was a little puffy and red. i realized this just last week on friday, so i ended up doing some research on what it could be. initially, i thought it was a bee or wasp sting since there's a lot of bees in our area, but with more research, i figured it was bumble foot because of the scab. she has a lot of mini bumble foot all over her feet, but i'm not sure how she got it from. i'm assuming if it was from the bedding, the others would have it too, but my other chickens don't have any, other than my other lavender orpington (who, for some reason, likes to jump down from their high roost as fast as she can). she had 2 scabs that were puffy on her right foot (one on the bottom and the other on her toe) and 1 big one on her left (just on the bottom). my mom and i ended up cutting her toe open to remove the kernel, but we only found a super tiny one, like the size of a small ant. it bled like crazy and she seemed to be in pain, so we stopped digging into her foot. in the other ones, we got the kernel out without much hassle, and we've been giving her espom salt baths and putting vetericyn and neosporin on a gauze pad and wrapping it with a nonstick adhesive bandage. she's been healing fine, they're still very puffy though. the wound on her toe, however, turned a weird yellowish color and has a yellowish fluid coming out when i drain her toe. is it infected? i only did the procedure 2 days ago and i wrapped it as well as i could, but could it somehow be infected? she's able to eat, drink, walk, and run, but she's sitting down most of the time. she doesn't like to stand a lot. should i be worried? she's also laying eggs regularly. any advice can help !!
a photo of her toe from today's treatment

 

[alinas2010]

Hello and welcome to BYC. I’m sorry about your hen!

I assume the toe in question is the farthest one (of the top 3) on the right in the picture? The one that is obviously grotesque looking? It does look infected. I’m not sure about the fluid coming out, but usually chicken pus is solid and yellow or white and cheese like in texture. Generally to cure an infection, all of the pus material would need to be removed. You could try some hot compresses to soften the scab and then work the pus out. Follow that with your current treatment regimen of spraying with Vetericyn and covering with neosporin then wrapping with gauze and vet wrap. It may take more than one session to get everything out. Be sure to really pack any open holes in her foot with neosporin before covering with gauze.

 

[kumokumo]

Hello and welcome to BYC. I’m sorry about your hen!

I assume the toe in question is the farthest one (of the top 3) on the right in the picture? The one that is obviously grotesque looking? It does look infected. I’m not sure about the fluid coming out, but usually chicken pus is solid and yellow or white and cheese like in texture. Generally to cure an infection, all of the pus material would need to be removed. You could try some hot compresses to soften the scab and then work the pus out. Follow that with your current treatment regimen of spraying with Vetericyn and covering with neosporin then wrapping with gauze and vet wrap. It may take more than one session to get everything out. Be sure to really pack any open holes in her foot with neosporin before covering with gauze.

would i have to cut more into her toe? i’m scared if i hurt her even more; she’s able to get up on her roost at night by herself (it’s about 3 ft in the air, with ledges leading to the top ofc) but she’s been sitting around a lot during the day or she’ll forage while sitting. should i put her into isolation? it’s been rainy and scorching hot where i am, and maybe the weather might not be helping her. i’ve been checking this site ever since i’ve gotten chickens, and the community seemed sweet so i finally made an account after kumo (my hen) got injured. thanks for the response!!

 

[alinas2010]

would i have to cut more into her toe? i’m scared if i hurt her even more; she’s able to get up on her roost at night by herself (it’s about 3 ft in the air, with ledges leading to the top ofc) but she’s been sitting around a lot during the day or she’ll forage while sitting. should i put her into isolation? it’s been rainy and scorching hot where i am, and maybe the weather might not be helping her. i’ve been checking this site ever since i’ve gotten chickens, and the community seemed sweet so i finally made an account after kumo (my hen) got injured. thanks for the response!!

Of course! I’m sorry you joined under the circumstances of a bumblefoot! But we are happy you’re here if you get a chance try searching some bumblefoot threads on the site, you may find some helpful information.

I don’t think I would cut into her foot anymore. I can’t tell for certain, but it looks like you may have an opening there, it’s just scabbed over. If you can either continue with hot epsom salt soaks or try hot compresses you may be able to loosen the scab up and work some of the pus out that way instead. Again, it may take a few separate sessions of soaking until you’re able to get the scab off, though. I’m always one to use as little invasive-ness as I can, so that is what I would try first before making any more incisions. Try this approach maybe twice a day for a day or so and see if you make any progress. Let us know how it goes and if you notice it getting worse, though.

 

[alinas2010]

Oh and no, I wouldn’t isolate her or bring her inside out of the heat unless she becomes unable to get around herself or starts getting picked on or you see her struggling. I think it can be less stressful for them to be with their flock in familiar surroundings.

 

[kumokumo]

Oh and no, I wouldn’t isolate her or bring her inside out of the heat unless she becomes unable to get around herself or starts getting picked on or you see her struggling. I think it can be less stressful for them to be with their flock in familiar surroundings.

it’s the next day and she’s walking around a lot more!! kumo (my hen) is following her flock around when they’re foraging, before she would just kinda sit by herself. she’s still eating like normal and she’s able to run a bit. i’ll try and give her 2 epsom salt bathes today and see what i can get out of her foot. is there any numbing sprays or creams that i can use to help with the pain? she cries quite a bit when we have her wrapped during bandaging; some of her crying might just be her complaining though. kumo’s a very sweet chicken, so i hope she’s able to recover super soon!!

 

[alinas2010]

it’s the next day and she’s walking around a lot more!! kumo (my hen) is following her flock around when they’re foraging, before she would just kinda sit by herself. she’s still eating like normal and she’s able to run a bit. i’ll try and give her 2 epsom salt bathes today and see what i can get out of her foot. is there any numbing sprays or creams that i can use to help with the pain? she cries quite a bit when we have her wrapped during bandaging; some of her crying might just be her complaining though. kumo’s a very sweet chicken, so i hope she’s able to recover super soon!!

I believe you can give baby asprin for pain, but I am unsure of the dosage. You can probably find it on the site here using the search feature. Topically, I have used a little Campho-phenique on a cotton swab and gently dabbed the wound for helping with pain and infection on bumblefoot, I’m unsure if it really did much. Don’t give anything with lidocaine (or anything ending in -aine in it), it is poisonous to chickens. I know it’s hard to watch and hear them in pain, it broke my heart seeing mine wince from the pain when she had bumblefoot, too. But it has to be treated, and it beats the alternative. Take it slow, start with soaking and don’t force and scabs off if they won’t easily come loose. Sometimes a few drops of dawn dish soap in the soaking water can help loosen a scab, too. Hot compresses focus the soaking power directly on the wound and could be more effective in her case, so that is something to consider, but I know how hard it could be to get a chicken to sit still, so do what you can.

 

[kumokumo]

I believe you can give baby asprin for pain, but I am unsure of the dosage. You can probably find it on the site here using the search feature. Topically, I have used a little Campho-phenique on a cotton swab and gently dabbed the wound for helping with pain and infection on bumblefoot, I’m unsure if it really did much. Don’t give anything with lidocaine (or anything ending in -aine in it), it is poisonous to chickens. I know it’s hard to watch and hear them in pain, it broke my heart seeing mine wince from the pain when she had bumblefoot, too. But it has to be treated, and it beats the alternative. Take it slow, start with soaking and don’t force and scabs off if they won’t easily come loose. Sometimes a few drops of dawn dish soap in the soaking water can help loosen a scab, too. Hot compresses focus the soaking power directly on the wound and could be more effective in her case, so that is something to consider, but I know how hard it could be to get a chicken to sit still, so do what you can.

i believed treatment seemed to be going well. kumo was very active and playful; she always ran for treats and made it up to roost every single night. her toe continued to be yellow, and while changing her bandages today, i believe she lost her toe. i think, when we first did the surgery, her toe was too puffy and my mom unknowingly cut too far into her toe. her toe is not responsive (when we squeeze her toe she doesn’t respond or there’s no weight to when we move it, it’s not warm either). when she curls her feet, her toe doesn’t move. i’m scared she’ll get blood poisoning from the dead toe. i’m able to move her toe into ungodly places, im sure she can feel a little bit of her toe, but she has little to no strength in it. my mom suggested we just chop it off or hope it’ll detach naturally, im just shocked. i thought i was taking such good care of her. i was happy that her toe shrunk compared to when it was so puffy it was like a balloon. kumo’s not a meat chicken or egg layer, she’s just a pet chicken. she’s super sweet, cuddly, funny, and caring and id hate to lose her. if anyone has any advice on how to help her moving forward, it’d be very appreciated. (maybe i should make this a separate post?)

 

[alinas2010]

i believed treatment seemed to be going well. kumo was very active and playful; she always ran for treats and made it up to roost every single night. her toe continued to be yellow, and while changing her bandages today, i believe she lost her toe. i think, when we first did the surgery, her toe was too puffy and my mom unknowingly cut too far into her toe. her toe is not responsive (when we squeeze her toe she doesn’t respond or there’s no weight to when we move it, it’s not warm either). when she curls her feet, her toe doesn’t move. i’m scared she’ll get blood poisoning from the dead toe. i’m able to move her toe into ungodly places, im sure she can feel a little bit of her toe, but she has little to no strength in it. my mom suggested we just chop it off or hope it’ll detach naturally, im just shocked. i thought i was taking such good care of her. i was happy that her toe shrunk compared to when it was so puffy it was like a balloon. kumo’s not a meat chicken or egg layer, she’s just a pet chicken. she’s super sweet, cuddly, funny, and caring and id hate to lose her. if anyone has any advice on how to help her moving forward, it’d be very appreciated. (maybe i should make this a separate post?)

Oh my. Can you post a picture of her toe in current state? Do you have vet access or any antibiotics on hand?

 

[kumokumo]

Oh my. Can you post a picture of her toe in current state? Do you have vet access or any antibiotics on hand?

i’m not able to post a photo, kumo’s already gone to sleep for the night. i’m not sure if there are any possible vets in my area, i live in the city and even if there were a vet, im not sure they’d know what to do since chicken healthcare is very underdeveloped. i’m also worried about the cost, but id do anything to help her.