Meat bird with bumblefoot, treat or not?

[Sunny Side Up]

Someone just gave me a mixed-breed cockerel, about 14 weeks old. He's from a batch of mixed-breed chickens I hatched in late January and his owner couldn't keep a rooster. My plans have been to butcher all the cockerels from this hatch at about 20 weeks or so, as soon as they feel meaty enough.

The man who returned this cockerel is a new chicken-keeper with little other experience with poultry. He only told me after I put the bird in my box "oh, he has been limping recently". When I got him home and could observe him in action in the pen, I can see that he is very hesitant to put one foot on the ground & put his weight on it. There is a slight swelling on the bottom of that foot, nothing really big or firm or definite.

All I want is for this bird to grow meaty for the next 6 weeks. I don't want to pour a lot of Rx or antibiotics in our food. I don't want to cause him additional stress or pain by trying to operate on him for bumblefoot. At this point I don't even know if I could find enough stuff to remove from his foot to make him feel better.

Do you think it's okay to just leave him untreated until his appointment at the table? I have a small pen where he can spend his days unbothered by any other chickens, alone with another lame hen.

 

[uhuh555]

Garlic has strong antimicrobial properties.

Take several cloves of garlic, mash them into a paste. Get an inch wide Kerlix bandage wrap and a cotton ball and a piece of duct tape.

Be sure to clean the abscess out if possible first.

Place the garlic paste on the cotton ball then onto the bottom of his foot (over the abscess). Hold it in place with the Kerlix bandage wrap. Put a strip of duct tape on it to keep him from removing it.

Check it every 2nd or 3rd day and replace the cotton ball and garlic paste until it is healed (about 6 to 10 days). Rewrap and tape as needed.

Isolate him so the bandage isn't removed by other birds.

 

[Kim_NC]

Is there a blackish scab on the bottom of the foot pad? That would be bumblefoot. And if it is bumblefoot, then I wouldn't eat the bird. Bumblefoot is a staff infection. Even treating it would not make the bird food-worthy to me.

 

[HathawayHens]

staph bacteria are everywhere and everything... they only get the abscess from increased susceptibility for various reasons. If the garlic works, or if the bird is at least comfortable enough to get around and eat and drink, I would keep going and use him for food... still LOTS better than the bugs commercial stock have. And cooking does kill bacteria.

 

[jaku]

I have no real knowledge on the subject, but I will say that before I had any clue what "bumblefoot" was, I had several birds with a foot like this. I never threw one out, and have had no problems, for what that's worth.

 

[Kim_NC]

Most cases of bumblefoot involve the following bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, E.coli, Corynebacterium spp., and Pseudomonas spp. Once the infection takes hold in a matter of days the foot and or foot pad becomes swollen and is somewhat reddened and may be hot to the touch. The above mentioned bacteria that cause Bumblefoot are extremely aggressive and can and do infect humans. You would be wise to handle these birds with latex rubber gloves and be sure to wash your hands and change and wash your clothes before handling healthy birds.
Complete article here: http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/poultry-health/bumblefoot.html

I'm not the only one who would not eat a bird with bumblefoot. See these posts:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=4105071

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=288928&p=2

If it's bumblefoot, and you do decide to eat it...please cook it well.​

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Hmmm, thanks for the food for thought. I'm really not sure it's bumblefoot, I'll have to research the ailment more and also inspect this bird's foot more closely too. I just got him yesterday. He stands a bit knock-kneed, with the hock on the sore side the most bent out-of-line. And he steps like his one foot is tender, like that one foot is landing on hot pavement with each step, not wanting to put much weight on it at all. I took a quick look at the bottoms of both his feet & the sore one seemed just a LITTLE swollen, but not discolored, red, or with any noticeable scab or injury. He will bite when you reach out to grab him, don't know if that's just his general bad temper or if he's irritable because he's in pain.

I'll also have to call the guy who gave him to me, to find out more about the history of this problem, how long it's been going on. He's very new to chickens so may not know much, but hopefully he was being observant.

We really don't need the meat for our table THAT bad, if there's any question I would rather just use him to fertilize a tree and eat beans & rice instead. But at our place the order is food is first for the humans, if unfit for them then it goes to the animals, and if unfit for them then it goes into the compost or buried deep at the drip line of a tree or bush.

 

[uhuh555]

There are very few infections that poultry get that can not be destroyed by cooking (meat temperature at or above 140 F is safe). Any infection that develops toxins that will make you sick (even if the meat is well cooked) would have killed the bird before you would have noticed it was sick (botulinum toxin).

As mentioned above you must practice clean handling of any possible sick bird as not to spread it from bird to bird or yourself. Make it a practice to always tend to your chicks before attending to any other poultry or animals. They are the most susceptible. Washing your hands between groups is another good practice. Wearing rubber boots when tending animals where you must walk in their waste and removing them before tending your poultry is another preventive measure.

Some will say they never do these things and have never had any problems, most likely their animals are healthy. It could be the luck of the draw, too. It's like washing your hands after using the facilities or before eating, some do, some don't. Just do what your comfortable with.