Kristen’s Chickens and Farming Ventures

[Kris5902]

Ok, I now have a very grumpy Roostie, one less baby wipes box, and a perhaps somewhat cleaner floor thanks to the failure of the foot bath solution (which might work with a less than ten pound rooster with legs the size of a loonie) and a fairly nasty poop offering. Further disappointing is that the bumble on his “good” foot isn’t looking any better either. I am sort of considering attempting another lancing on the top of his foot. I’m trying to upload some pictures I got. I smell like wet rooster, here’s the poop pic. Bear in mind it’s in the spilled foot bath water, he hadn’t really eaten much commercial feed yet, and I think he did this just to decorate my floor.

 

[Kris5902]

Bottom of foot the bumble is gone and it healed nicely

The bumble was about the size of my middle finger nail and centered in the pink area of the foot pad
Hopefully these pictures give an idea of the swelling

His foot is quite hot

 

[Kris5902]

Here is his foot mid bumble treatments

and his “good” (less bad) foot with its bumble... excuse the dirt/poop

these pics are from mid October, and I had already been treating him for almost two weeks, we had just gotten the pus/infection/stringy gross bumble stuff to the point where it wasn’t present at the wound site and we thought we had it all out. This is when the swelling started to get significantly worse.

 

[Kris5902]

The bumble on his good foot is about the same size as the bad one was initially

it’s a blurry pic of a dirty foot so I’ve outlined the bumble

And this is where I’m considering making an incision. I am certain there is an infection and I think this is the most likely place to drain any pus from. What I really need is a good vet that doesn’t object to treating chickens...
Edit: I will just clarify that the bumble that still needs removed is on his left foot, but all the swelling is in the one that we got the bumble out of already. And there isn’t any sign of the bumble re-forming, the pad of his foot is all healthy good looking tissue now, but the foot itself is clearly infected, painful, and swollen... so the infection has moved up further into his foot or he has developed a secondary infection that moved up. I won’t even consider doing anything about the remaining bumble until he is able to put weight on his bad foot.

 

[BY Bob]

I haven’t placed my order yet... I’m not sure what I should try honestly. I wish he was a little less attached to his ladies and I could bring him inside the big coop for winter. It is raining cats and dogs and this complicates his treatment. Please remember I don’t actually have access to a vet who will treat poultry. And ordering veterinary antibiotics is not exactly permitted here. I managed to import the enrofloxacin, so I’m considering trying again with some other items.

So far I have treated him by the initial removal of the bumble, a topical antibiotic ointment to the wound site, bandaging and flushing until the foot healed (but the infection seems to have moved up further into his foot). 12 days of enrofloxacin 10%. This didn’t really help so I moved up to pradofloxacin. I had enough left from Whisper’s treatment to do 10 days of treatment, but wasn’t sure of the dosage/using it in a bird as the stuff my vet prescribed said “cats only”. It seemed to be responding to this, but I’m basically out.

I am thinking I will order more enrofloxacin, some Amoxy-Tyl amoxicillin 20% tylosin 40% powder.
I could also get 10% amoxicillin or the tylosin separately. Or trimethoprim/sulfa SMZ? I’m open to any suggestions at this point...

It is usually a staph infection. Staph Is treated with penicillins and erythromycin. I would get some amoxicillin for sure. Tylosin is really for respiratory bacteria but it will treat an anaerobic infection as well and you could have one here. Of what you can get, Amoxy-Tyl seems like the way to go. Without a culture result these are most likely to kill the likely bacteria. You have already ruled out most of the other bacteria that could be the cause with the ineffective enrofloxacin.

Don't waste time. He could become sceptic or if it is an anaerobic bacteria once it progresses to a cetain point it get very hard to get antibiotics to the root of the infection. Time is of the essence right now. I do not like that it is moving up his foot at all.

 

[Kris5902]

It is usually a staph infection. Staph Is treated with penicillins and erythromycin. I would get some amoxicillin for sure. Tylosin is really for respiratory bacteria but it will treat an anaerobic infection as well and you could have one here. Of what you can get, Amoxy-Tyl seems like the way to go. Without a culture result these are most likely to kill the likely bacteria. You have already ruled out most of the other bacteria that could be the cause with the ineffective enrofloxacin.

Don't waste time. He could become sceptic or if it is an anaerobic bacteria once it progresses to a cetain point it get very hard to get antibiotics to the root of the infection. Time is of the essence right now. I do not like that it is moving up his foot at all.

Thank you for the guidance, I really am more than a little out of my comfort zone with ordering medications like these. And he is such a sweet boy it would be a shame to lose him, and I hate seeing him limp. I will rush the shipping and cross my fingers it makes it across the border...

I was on the phone earlier with the guy I got Roostie from (I’m taking on another 8 rescues in the very near future, and paying to do it no less) and I told him that not only haven’t I gotten any Chicks out of Roostie yet, I am now dealing with treating this severe bumblefoot issue. He couldn’t believe I was treating him, NVM ordering medications. He said he has his chickens on the “American style health plan” when they look down it’s “off with their Heads”. He was also claiming that he could cull the birds and sell them for $50 each, but he would rather sell them to me live, so he’s willing to let them go for just $25 each. Yes, I’m a sucker for animals in need of help.

I can only save the 8 hens though, no more cockerels or Roosters, especially as he says they (three of them!) are very aggressive and violent towards each other and other males. The only place I have room to house them (barely) is in the free range coop with Sammy, Dean, Cass, and Little Red. I am not messing with those boy’s delicate balance by adding an aggressive Rooster or Cockerel in. Now if only someone could convince him to give up the egg laying flock as well.

 

[BlueBaby]

It is usually a staph infection. Staph Is treated with penicillins and erythromycin. I would get some amoxicillin for sure. Tylosin is really for respiratory bacteria but it will treat an anaerobic infection as well and you could have one here. Of what you can get, Amoxy-Tyl seems like the way to go. Without a culture result these are most likely to kill the likely bacteria. You have already ruled out most of the other bacteria that could be the cause with the ineffective enrofloxacin.

Don't waste time. He could become sceptic or if it is an anaerobic bacteria once it progresses to a cetain point it get very hard to get antibiotics to the root of the infection. Time is of the essence right now. I do not like that it is moving up his foot at all.

You seem to know a bunch about what @Kris5902 need's for trying to help Roosties foot out. Thank you! I hope that she will be able to get some up there.

 

[BY Bob]

Thank you for the guidance, I really am more than a little out of my comfort zone with ordering medications like these. And he is such a sweet boy it would be a shame to lose him, and I hate seeing him limp. I will rush the shipping and cross my fingers it makes it across the border...

I was on the phone earlier with the guy I got Roostie from (I’m taking on another 8 rescues in the very near future, and paying to do it no less) and I told him that not only haven’t I gotten any Chicks out of Roostie yet, I am now dealing with treating this severe bumblefoot issue. He couldn’t believe I was treating him, NVM ordering medications. He said he has his chickens on the “American style health plan” when they look down it’s “off with their Heads”. He was also claiming that he could cull the birds and sell them for $50 each, but he would rather sell them to me live, so he’s willing to let them go for just $25 each. Yes, I’m a sucker for animals in need of help.

I can only save the 8 hens though, no more cockerels or Roosters, especially as he says they (three of them!) are very aggressive and violent towards each other and other males. The only place I have room to house them (barely) is in the free range coop with Sammy, Dean, Cass, and Little Red. I am not messing with those boy’s delicate balance by adding an aggressive Rooster or Cockerel in. Now if only someone could convince him to give up the egg laying flock as well.

You are a true chicken hero Kris rescuing the 8 that you can. Please let me know when they say you will get the antibiotics. If it is anaerobic you may need to open it but if we can get antibiotics in time, it may not be necessary.

 

[BY Bob]

You seem to know a bunch about what @Kris5902 need's for trying to help Roosties foot out. Thank you! I hope that she will be able to get some up there.

I'm a microbiologist by training. While I'm not great at chicken biology I do know bugs and drugs.

 

[Kris5902]

I'm a microbiologist by training. While I'm not great at chicken biology I do know bugs and drugs.

For which I am extremely grateful... and I hope Roostie can be as well for a long time! Would there be any point in attempting to resume treatment with the enrofloxacin... I can’t find my prepaid CC to do the online shopping, and will need to get another one purchased, hopefully tomorrow, 100sq feet of space and I can’t find what I need 90% of the time! It’s really amazing sometimes