Making hard decisions when it comes to a sick chicken

[citychicks99]

I have a 3 year-old chicken who has a bad case of bumblefoot that's infected and spreading to the leg. It's my first time dealing with this and it hit her really hard. I think it maybe has something to do with her age, but also that I wasn't able to treat her right away because I left for vacation for a week and nobody was able to help me out. I'm trying my best to help her with foot soaks, wrapping, antibiotic ointment, and even started her on amoxicillin last Thursday. However, it looks like the disease is moving really fast and I think she's going to need something stronger.

I think the best thing to do is to take her to the vet but what I'm struggling with is that she's already 3 and I think her breed lives to be about 5-6 at most, and I think the vet is going to be expensive, especially if they're going to want to take X-rays, which will probably be out of my budget. I can probably afford whatever the cost ends up being, but it isn't chump change for me either. And four of my other birds also have bumblefoot but it's not advanced. And I'm definitely not going to be able to take them all the vet if they all get to this stage.

How do you deal with this difficult decision of what to do when it comes to having to choose whether to pay a bunch of money (I hear bumblefoot also tends to come back) or just doing what you can but having to stop at some point and let nature do its thing? I always have a hard time watching them suffer so this is a big struggle for me right now.

 

[ChickQueen77]

I know it is really hard to do but I think sometimes you need to put them down. I know how hard it is I have had to put down some chickens. I don't know that much about bumblefoot but if it is really bad and she is already old....

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

she is already old

I don’t consider 3 old for a chicken. It’s not prime laying age but still plenty of life left in a three-year-old backyard hen. If she is a high production breed rescued from a facility she might be a little worn down from having had a hard life but that doesn’t sound like the case here.

I don’t know a lot about bumble foot either. But I have wished I’d put chickens down sooner rather than letting them suffer.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I would call the vet to get some pricing and see what their availability is. If they can't see her for several days, I would put your girl down and not let her suffer. If they can see her quickly and within budget, you can look at it as getting some help for the entire flock with her visit.

Either way, please don't let the infection fester while she waits to die. I'm sorry her bumblefoot's gotten so bad.

 

[citychicks99]

I don’t consider 3 old for a chicken. It’s not prime laying age but still plenty of life left in a three-year-old backyard hen. If she is a high production breed rescued from a facility she might be a little worn down from having had a hard life but that doesn’t sound like the case here.

I don’t know a lot about bumble foot either. But I have wished I’d put chickens down sooner rather than letting them suffer.

Trying to compare her age to a human, my guess is she would be about 40. She has been pretty spoiled most of her life. I'm going to talk to the vet today to get a gauge of the cost. I already talked to the emergency vet and it's pricey, and they wouldn't give me an estimate until she's been seen, which costs $200 just to be seen.

She's still doing good for now, still eating and drinking and wants to be with her mates, but just has a limp and an infection. She still has until Sunday before she finishes the full amoxicillin course but I'm prepping myself for the worst case scenario. Do I bite the bullet and take her to the ER or wait until she's suffering too much and then put her down. I'm also considering an online vet option if it's more cost effective. Either way, the anticipation and not knowing is so tough.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm totally different from you in that I do not have individual chickens. I have a flock with constantly changing members so I do not feel comfortable responding to your question. I remove chickens for cause a lot. That has to be your personal decision. I do not envy you.

Why do so many of them have bumblefoot? Bumblefoot is usually from an infected splinter or a cut. It sounds like they are walking or scratching on something that is cutting their feet. Can you determine what and maybe do something about that? It could be them scratching in crushed rock or broken glass. Are they walking on something that has the point of nails or screws sticking through? I don't know what is going in but I think this might be worth thinking about.

Good luck!

 

[OLDRanch]

Why do so many of them have bumblefoot? Bumblefoot is usually from an infected splinter or a cut.

I don't know much about bumblefoot but from what I understand is that once one flock member gets it, it becomes contagious. I think.

 

[citychicks99]

I'm totally different from you in that I do not have individual chickens. I have a flock with constantly changing members so I do not feel comfortable responding to your question. I remove chickens for cause a lot. That has to be your personal decision. I do not envy you.

Why do so many of them have bumblefoot? Bumblefoot is usually from an infected splinter or a cut. It sounds like they are walking or scratching on something that is cutting their feet. Can you determine what and maybe do something about that? It could be them scratching in crushed rock or broken glass. Are they walking on something that has the point of nails or screws sticking through? I don't know what is going in but I think this might be worth thinking about.

Good luck!

Thank you. It's been a tough ride the entire way. I adopted them when a family member abandoned them when they were chicks. I knew it would be a lot of work and I didn't want to do it initially but I became somewhat emotionally attached and was unable to let my mom slaughter them.

I'll do the best I can with this flock but after them, I'm done. The emotional and mental toll is too taxing. Not to mention the time and cost.

To answer your question, I think it was because we cut a bunch of blackberry bushes and didn't do a good job of cleaning it up right away, combined with their high roost and hard floor. They had mites, lice and scaly leg mites all summer and it was driving me nuts having to take out the bedding each time so I left the floor bare until the mite issue was fixed. Unfortunately, as soon as that was fixed, that was when I discovered bumblefoot on them. I've had them for 4 years and never had this issue before. I'm going to order some hemp bedding since it's a natural pest repellent so I won't have to worry too much about mites again.