Is this bumble foot on a 4 wk chick?

[2ndTink]

@Hen Pen Jem I have read and re-read your post at least 10 times! So much information! Hallelujah it has a name, I've been searching for it for days. I've used Bag Balm the last two nights, antibiotic ointment in the mornings, and vetericyn at noon, and this morning her feet felt softer.

I won't attempt the herbs, but I'll try adding some poultry vitamins for her. I've ordered colloidal silver since I'm out, and I'll get the TufFoot next week in hopes she's healed enough for it by then. I can raid my emergency kits for some sterile gauze, and I'll look up how to wrap her feet this evening after work.

If things worsen I'll use the Providone Iodine and see what that does, for now based on what you are saying I am going to do the soaks, alternate ointment and colloidal silver, and do the wraps.

Thank you for the help and the blessing I really appreciate it!

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

Also, it's not necessary to soak in epsom salts continuously. Simply washing the feet under the tap with some mild dish soap, then, drying thoroughly is enough.

Here is my diagram on how I wrap my chicken's feet. You'll have to cut the self stick gauze/vet wrap, down to 1 inch wide or less, since these are chick size feet.

It should look like this, after adding extra strips of self wrap. This will provide the best coverage and yet allow the chicken to have better mobility.

If you don't have any self stick wrap/vet wrap, that's fine. You can use regular rolled gauze to cover the foot. Do your best, as this takes practice. You should check the foot every 2-3 days at first. If it looks good you can change the dressing every 4-5 days. Before you know it, you'll be a foot wrapping pro!


I hope this is helpful.

God Bless

 

[2ndTink]

it just dawned on me, you helped me with my little RIR a few weeks back when she had an abscess on her shoulder! She's doing great, never even slowed down her growth, and no odd feathering. You can't tell anything ever happened.

I'm hoping I can get some better pictures of the little ones feet tomorrow or Saturday. Do I need to make sure the wrap goes all the way back over her back toe where the spikes are the worst? Other than that one bad spot on her back toe that is off colored in the picture she doesn't have any redness or heat. She was scampering around with the others today, I couldn't see any difference in her activity level compared to the others, plus she's no longer crying all the time!

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

Bless her little heart! She is probably feeling better now that you are treating her. Yes, cover all the areas of infection/growths. These growths are a response to infection, inflammation etc.

You should also give her a boost by administering some Poultry Cell, as Wyorp Rock
suggested.

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

Bless her little heart! She is probably feeling better now that you are treating her. Yes, cover all the areas of infection/growths. These growths are a response to infection, inflammation etc.

You should also give her a boost by administering some Poultry Cell, as Wyorp Rock
suggested.

One more important note:
Be sure not to wrap the foot too tightly. You don't want to restrict blood flow. Try not to overstretch the vet wrap if you use that. Rolled gauze may be a better option for a chick.

 

[2ndTink]

One more important note:
Be sure not to wrap the foot too tightly. You don't want to restrict blood flow. Try not to overstretch the vet wrap if you use that. Rolled gauze may be a better option for a chick.

Ok! I have some of that. I used to drive a lot traveling to different states for work and saw a few wrecks the last one was really bad and 5 or 6 of us stopped and no one had a first aid kit, I have one now for each vehicle supplied with stuff my brother, an ER nurse, recommended including the sterile gauze pads and the rolls of gauze. I'll try the rolls out on her. She's still hard to catch but she's getting easier to work on once she's captive. Man can she flail her little feet

 

[2ndTink]

I rinsed her feet and let them dry in the house, got some photos, took forever for me to think of putting her on the glass table but that worked WAY better than all the ways I was trying to holder her and get the camera to focus and get a photo. I've put ointment on her feet and wrapped them, its not pretty, but I'm hoping they stay on at least overnight and I'll attempt again tomorrow. She's doing okay with them, but keeps pulling at them. The discoloration on her foot pad it almost like pigment or bruising? Then she has the little red sores on two of her toes and the larger growths on her back toes.

She's huddled up sleeping with the other little chicks now.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Great idea about placing her on the glass table - photos are good!

Personally I would use vet wrap/coban to wrap the feet instead of gauze just because the birds seem to pick at that more. Possibly getting strings wrapped around toes or even eating them. I've had a bird also work loose coban and swallow a small piece of that too - so

I like @Hen Pen Jem diagram. For small feet, cutting the wrap into thin strips helps, then work on wrapping. Vet wrap seems to stay in place better on active birds too. I've left my birds wrapped for a few days and it stayed on fine.

Cute Chick!

 

[2ndTink]

Great idea about placing her on the glass table - photos are good!

Personally I would use vet wrap/coban to wrap the feet instead of gauze just because the birds seem to pick at that more. Possibly getting strings wrapped around toes or even eating them. I've had a bird also work loose coban and swallow a small piece of that too - so

I like @Hen Pen Jem diagram. For small feet, cutting the wrap into thin strips helps, then work on wrapping. Vet wrap seems to stay in place better on active birds too. I've left my birds wrapped for a few days and it stayed on fine.

Cute Chick!

Thanks! I'll try the vet wrap today, my gauze job ended up pretty bulky on her little feet.

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

Wrapping the feet of an adult chicken is tricky enough. I can imagine how difficult it must be to wrap the very small feet of a chick. Not to mention, the bird's uncooperativeness!

If you are treating the bird by yourself, you will have to wrap her in a kitchen towel. A kitchen/dish towel should be just the right size to wrap a chick her size. That way she won't be able to flap her wings or move about too much. Also, you can coil a large towel into a doughnut shape, place it on a table, then lay her on her side, in the middle. This will cradle her while you work on her. I did this with my little rooster, only I used a little doggie bed.

Even with restraining them in a towel, you always have to be prepared for them to attempt escape. You need to take great care when its time to remove the bandage. I use safety scissors as well as hair cutting scissors. It would be good to have a helper at this time.

Chickens are pros at disassembling bandages, hen saddles, and anything that they are curious about or don't like having on. I agree with Wyorp Rock, vet wrap is a wonderful product for bandaging chickens. It provides superior protection, and is almost impossible for a chicken to remove. However, it can restrict blood flow if applied too tightly. If you have never used self stick gauze/vet wrap, you should try wrapping a piece around your finger.

The feet look much better than the earlier photos. Yes, some of that dark coloring on the pad is just pigment. She has dark legs, that pigment will carry onto the feet.

You are doing a great job of caring for your chicklets!