Is there no coming back from this besides going to the vet? Is my other option to put her down?

[citychicks99]

@coach723 how do you know when to stop the sugardine? I caved in and paid to talk to an online vet and they recommended a chlorhexidine soak followed by a chlorhexidine spray and hydrocortisone spray. I thought hydrocortisone wasn't safe for chickens but I see other users here using the cream for a prolapsed vent.

The vet also said to keep the area dry, not moist and that sugar can encourage more bacteria growth. I hate getting conflicting advice. Since the sugardine helped the bottom of her foot so well I'm thinking of continuing that but applying the chlorhexidine spray to the top of her foot. They also said I may need to keep her on doxyvet for 2-3 weeks.

 

[coach723]

Well, I'm not a vet, I can only speak to my personal experience. It's worked very well for me, and not in a single case have I personally seen it make things worse. Equine vets still use it (at least those that know about it). This article I linked to earlier, is a bit humorous, but by vets:
https://www.americanfarriers.com/ar...-mess-that-works-when-treating-wound-injuries
Doesn't mean that for someone, somewhere, maybe there was a different result.
Since you have seen improvement, I would not consider that it's hurting anything, and probably helping. When I stop is when I see healing going on, no pus formation for a while, nothing but healthy looking tissue. If it's a deep hole I make sure that it's healing enough from the inside before stopping so that it doesn't heal on the surface first and close any bacteria in.
I will not be critical of a profession that I don't have a license in, but my experience over the years is that many simply do not know. They are book taught in schools that are subsidized by pharma, so......
Not slamming pharma, some of what they do is pretty valuable.
I have had screaming (literally) arguments with a couple of vets about what to feed my animals. I don't consider a dried bag of baked to death dust/meal nuggets with an 'expiration' date years out, to be food. Mostly I just don't have that particular conversation with them any more. I don't consider doctors (human or animal) to be all knowing, or infallible. They ARE educated. Different thing. And some of them are very experienced. But some times we don't know what we don't know. My husband has terrible reactions to insect bites, especially spiders (not anaphylaxis), with huge swelling, redness, itching and oozing. All the ointments and remedies given by modern medicine don't really help. I use a poultice of echinacea angustifolia (the kind matters) and within 8 -12 hours the swelling and itch is reduced by at least half, often more. A long standing herbal remedy used for centuries, including for snake bite (I'm not advocating it's use for that), Dr's look at me like I'm nuts, and shrug me off. I figure if something is not going to do any harm, then why not try? It might work, who knows?
Conflicting advice is common, particularly with chickens (birds in general). I would say, weigh all you have heard and experienced, and do/follow that which makes the most sense to you and that you are most comfortable with. I know I tried it the first time out of complete desperation, and my bird recovered from what I was sure was going to be the end of him. I've used it numerous times since.
No hard feelings on my part, whatever you decide to do. It's your bird and your choice. I just share to try to give options to others in the same situation I was.
Hopefully the doxy helps, and the chlorhexidine may as well, that should not cause any problems. I use that all the time as well.

 

[citychicks99]

Well, I'm not a vet, I can only speak to my personal experience. It's worked very well for me, and not in a single case have I personally seen it make things worse. Equine vets still use it (at least those that know about it). This article I linked to earlier, is a bit humorous, but by vets:
https://www.americanfarriers.com/ar...-mess-that-works-when-treating-wound-injuries
Doesn't mean that for someone, somewhere, maybe there was a different result.
Since you have seen improvement, I would not consider that it's hurting anything, and probably helping. When I stop is when I see healing going on, no pus formation for a while, nothing but healthy looking tissue. If it's a deep hole I make sure that it's healing enough from the inside before stopping so that it doesn't heal on the surface first and close any bacteria in.
I will not be critical of a profession that I don't have a license in, but my experience over the years is that many simply do not know. They are book taught in schools that are subsidized by pharma, so......
Not slamming pharma, some of what they do is pretty valuable.
I have had screaming (literally) arguments with a couple of vets about what to feed my animals. I don't consider a dried bag of baked to death dust/meal nuggets with an 'expiration' date years out, to be food. Mostly I just don't have that particular conversation with them any more. I don't consider doctors (human or animal) to be all knowing, or infallible. They ARE educated. Different thing. And some of them are very experienced. But some times we don't know what we don't know. My husband has terrible reactions to insect bites, especially spiders (not anaphylaxis), with huge swelling, redness, itching and oozing. All the ointments and remedies given by modern medicine don't really help. I use a poultice of echinacea angustifolia (the kind matters) and within 8 -12 hours the swelling and itch is reduced by at least half, often more. A long standing herbal remedy used for centuries, including for snake bite (I'm not advocating it's use for that), Dr's look at me like I'm nuts, and shrug me off. I figure if something is not going to do any harm, then why not try? It might work, who knows?
Conflicting advice is common, particularly with chickens (birds in general). I would say, weigh all you have heard and experienced, and do/follow that which makes the most sense to you and that you are most comfortable with. I know I tried it the first time out of complete desperation, and my bird recovered from what I was sure was going to be the end of him. I've used it numerous times since.
No hard feelings on my part, whatever you decide to do. It's your bird and your choice. I just share to try to give options to others in the same situation I was.
Hopefully the doxy helps, and the chlorhexidine may as well, that should not cause any problems. I use that all the time as well.

Haha, what an entertaining read. "All I Know About Horses".. the pages were blank.

From my personal experience, different doctors will tell you different things, that's why it's good to get a second opinion. And from what I've seen, a lot of it is trial and error.

I'll combine what the vet told me plus things I've tried that have worked. The sugardine really is a miracle worker. I thought it would take a few days but I couldn't believe I saw improvement overnight. I was using Neosporin for about a week with no change, if not getting worse.

I'll soak her in chlorhexidine for 10 minutes a day, rinse, then apply Silvex to the top of her foot and sugardine to the bottom. Apply hydrocolloid dressing to the bottom and Saran wrap to the top of the foot to keep everything moist.

One of my other hen's foot was turning pink and swollen, early signs of Bumblefoot. I applied Silvex and a few days later, the pink and swelling had gone down and aside from it looking a bit dry, it looks pretty much back to normal.

 

[coach723]

Sounds like a good plan. I'm pulling for your hen, hope she makes a full recovery.

 

[citychicks99]

After browsing through an older thread @alinas2010 posted about someone's rooster's foot self-amputating, I'm afraid the same thing is happening to my chicken. I'm seeing the same dried out parts and skin sloughing off where the cut was. Her foot doesn't smell anymore though. I'm wondering if it's the antibiotics working and her body getting rid of the foot. Just bracing for the worst.

 

[citychicks99]

@coach723 - I didn't want to make a new thread just to ask you this, but when I was changing the bandages from my other chicken with mild bumblefoot, I noticed a small cut on her toes with dirt stuck in it. I tried wiping it off but it was still dirty. I put antibiotic ointment on it, a gauze pad and rewrapped it. Do you recommend sugardine in this case even if I'm not seeing an infection yet? Should I soak her feet tomorrow? I also have tricide neo on the way. Wondering if I should try that..

 

[alinas2010]

Aw I’m very sorry you are going through this. How is she doing besides her foot?

These things are so tough to tell. One day they look horrid, the next they look great, then the next you just don’t know what to think. Sometimes you just have to keep treating and see what happens. She may loose a toe or two, maybe even the whole foot. She may surprise you and lose nothing. It really is tough to tell. But I do know one thing, no matter what happens with her foot, she is in good hands with you. Do not be discouraged, I really think they can have a good quality of life missing a foot. It’ll be different and take adjustments, but you’ve got this

 

[citychicks99]

Aw I’m very sorry you are going through this. How is she doing besides her foot?

These things are so tough to tell. One day they look horrid, the next they look great, then the next you just don’t know what to think. Sometimes you just have to keep treating and see what happens. She may loose a toe or two, maybe even the whole foot. She may surprise you and lose nothing. It really is tough to tell. But I do know one thing, no matter what happens with her foot, she is in good hands with you. Do not be discouraged, I really think they can have a good quality of life missing a foot. It’ll be different and take adjustments, but you’ve got this

Mood wise, she actually seems to be getting better because she's getting feisty again and fighting me when I try to treat her.

Yeah, it's been a roller coaster ride. Thank you for your kind words. I'm just feeling very overwhelmed, emotionally and physically.

 

[coach723]

For the cut, I would use the ointment and see if that heals it up, since there is no sign if infection there. Most of the time these kinds of injuries heal up fine. You can always change treatment if it begins to look necessary. Sadly, sometimes it does feel like when it rains it pours. Hang in there.