Post Bumble Foot Recovery Question

[SWVirginia]

Hello all, long time viewer first time poster!
One of my Rhode Island Reds developed bumble foot. I understand that if you observe them limping then the infection is fairly far along, but nonetheless I believe I caught it relatively early because there wasn't a hard dried out pus ball. I did remove stringy mucus like infected bits though.
Anyway, that was last night and here in SW Virginia we are experiencing a sleet/ice storm so I left her in a closet with a screen in front. No she isn' t in the dark! Is it okay to have her in the closet for a bit and are there any health concerns for me?
I just figured she'd recovery quicker at room temp and not outside in the wet mud.
Thanks!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Yes, confine the bird on deep litter.
You need to clean it out with hydrogen peroxide or betadine, pack with neo-sporin, wrap the foot with gauze and redress it ever couple of days.

 

[SWVirginia]

Okay, thank you.
I should have clarified but after the surgery I cleaned the wound again with betadine, then put a liberal amount of neosporine, followed by gauze, one layer of tape, and finished by wrapping in vetrap. I will leave her there for another 24 hours although she isn't to happy about it.
On another note. I noticed what looked like another spot of bumble foot up one of her toes, is this another common area it can take hold? I cross cut that area and followed all the steps above with it to just in case.

 

[BantamLover21]

Okay, thank you.
I should have clarified but after the surgery I cleaned the wound again with betadine, then put a liberal amount of neosporine, followed by gauze, one layer of tape, and finished by wrapping in vetrap. I will leave her there for another 24 hours although she isn't to happy about it.
On another note. I noticed what looked like another spot of bumble foot up one of her toes, is this another common area it can take hold? I cross cut that area and followed all the steps above with it to just in case.

Yes, bumblefoot can occur anywhere on the foot, including the toes. It sounds like you're doing a great job treating her for the bumblefoot; if all goes well, she should be fine soon. Just keep the foot as clean as possible, keep her on deep shavings (without a roost, or at least not a very tall one), and watch for further infection.

 

[SWVirginia]

Sweet, great advice guys/gals. I took a look at it and there are no signs of additional swelling and she is already starting to compensate less on the bad foot.
She also layed an egg this morning so I guess she is happy with me! haha
Well, unless something else comes up this post is dead. I may make a post sometime down the road with pictures of my coop and run. I'm in college now and used recycled materials from around the area to put it together for under 100$, fits my 17 hens comfortably, and has held up for over 9 months. Catch is that its ugly, ugly, ugly..

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Try a unique paint job on the coop.

I would wait longer than 24 hours before letting her in the mud. Bumblefoot is hard to cure.
Have you injected antibiotic into the wound?

 

[SWVirginia]

It depends on what degree of antibiotics your referring to ChickenCanoe. The only antibiotic containing product used has been Neosporin.

If it helps here is a detailed version of the procedure.

Antiseptic containing iodine and betadine was applied after the salt rinse and before any incision was made. After extracting the infection, flushed with sterile saline, reapplied antiseptic directly into and around the wound, flushed again with sterile saline, cleaned up and dried the foot with gauze, applied a product my neighbor gave me that contained a mix of neosporin and epsum salt, then applied alot of neosporin and finished bandaging.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They may recover without it but I've read that because it is such a resilient infection that one should inject the swollen area with 1/2 cc penicillin/streptomycin combiotic. Not sure how long that needs to go on.

 

[SWVirginia]

I'll have to go pick some of that up once the roads and weather clear up. Until then I'll let her rest an check for possible secondary infections. Which is my worst nightmare at this point, would only be one person to blame for that.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I think you're doing good keeping her warm and out of the mud.