Rescued Rooster with severe Bumblefoot (Both feet) advice/help needed.

[PoultryPrince]

Hey all, so a neighbor of mine rescued 32 chickens awhile back and I'm helping him care for them. The flock of course came with some "Baggage" and
while the other things I know how to deal with there is one rooster with a nasty case of bumblefoot, on both feet!
I've never had to deal with bumblefoot before, which is odd considering how long I've raised birds. Both his feet are horribly swollen even the toes and while I haven't managed to clean off the bottoms of his feet to get any helpful pics, I do have a pic of each foot from the top, Which I'll try and post below. (Note, I'll try to get his feet cleaned and pic taken tonight after dark when I can actually catch him..)
There's also another roo who has one foot that is beginning to swell so I think I have two cases on my hands.

As I said above I'm new to dealing with bumblefoot so any help/advice is greatly appreciated,particularly with this boy.
Oh and I'm pretty sure he has scaly leg mites, (it never ends...)
Thanks so much!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Can you post a picture of the bottoms of his feet/toes?
I'm thinking scaly leg mite and possibly a combination of mites and bumblefoot.
Here's a post with discussion of bumblefoot treatment I posted today.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...chooks-and-many-many-more/25890#post_17960252

He looks like he needs his nails trimmed too. Were they on wire?

The best approach with a bad infestation of scaly leg mites is to cull.
Barring that, brush chickens legs and roosts once a month with a solution of one part kerosene to two parts linseed oil.
Use ivermectin, 1/4 cc by mouth. Don't use it if the birds will be used for eggs or meat.

 

[Beekissed]

Here's something that can start getting him some immediately relief and also will give him some long term results. Soak his feet in warm epsom salts...give them a good, long soak. After soaking, take a toothbrush or veggie brush and do a gentle cleansing of the whole foot, concentrating on any dirt between those old, deformed scales. Finish up by massaging a nice, thick coat of Castor Oil upward under those scales and all over the entire leg and foot.

The epsom salts will ease pain and inflammation, while softening up his scales and loosening mite debris and old skin cells. The castor oil is a natural antifungal, antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and, finally, a natural insecticide that is safe to use on him. The castor oil will start working immediately. Let that work for a week and then do it all again.

I think you'll be surprised at how quickly his feet start to heal and the old scales start to slough off, leaving new, supple scales beneath. You can find castor oil at any pharmacy in the laxative aisle and it's fairly cheap. It's odorless, colorless, tasteless but very thickly viscous, so wear gloves when applying as this stuff is hard to wash off. That's a good thing...you'll need something on those feet that will stick around when the rooster moves around in all weathers.

It will help if he is housed on some nice deep litter and if the run isn't muddy and nasty for walking, so placing some good deep litter there will help also. Nice, wide roosting bars on which to roost will take the pressure off his feet also. You can even cushion that even further if you'd like by splitting a pool noodle and zip tying it onto the roost bar to provide cushioned roosting for those feet.

 

[PoultryPrince]

Here are some pics of the bottoms off his feet hopefully this will help with something... I'll say more in the morning, but in the meantime thank you so much for the advice already given!!! Both for the scaly leg mites and the bumblefoot!!! My flock has been getting mites lately anyway so the info you've given will help me there as well!!!
Oh, and no the weren't on wire this was a free-ranging flock that had just been abandoned to die or fend for themselves I don't know what happened to this poor guy but he got a bad lot for sure...

 

[Beekissed]

Poor, poor bird. It hurts to even look at those feet. Once you get that swelling and inflammation down in his feet, you may want to soak him again and then do a gentle twist with some pliers on those long spurs and remove them altogether. It will look raw underneath there and will likely make you feel like you've just ripped off his toenail but they don't seem to feel that as much as if you clipped it off short. You can then apply some more CO to that spur nub to keep out any chance of infection until it can harden over and start regrowth...the CO will help with that too.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would wonder if there is something else in addition to the scaley leg mites and bumblefoot problems, such as gout or bacterial arthritis. Staphylococcal and mycoplasma synovitis are are common types of bacterial arthritis, but E.coli and other colon bacteria could be possible. Those would require antibiotic treatment, which is usually only available through a vet, thanks to new FDA regulations. Gout is diet related, but sometimes from other causes.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

gout is a definite possibility

That's definitely bumblefoot.
I'd start soaking those feet with Epsom salts to try and relieve some of the pain.
Get the birds on some fresh dry pine shavings

 

[PoultryPrince]

Alright, I can get started with the epsom salts and such. I'm not to sure what you mean by gout as that is a new term for me. I'll admit I have no clue what he was able to eat or get to before so it could've been diet related... I wouldn't be surprised if there are some other problems with the feet considering how bad they look. Should I soak the feet a few days then try to get the swelling down and then remove some of the infected tissue you think?? and just do a bit at a time as he has so many sores on his feet?? I've seen a few things on surgery for bumblefoot but as he has enough sores on his feet I worry about doing it all at once.

 

[Beekissed]

Alright, I can get started with the epsom salts and such. I'm not to sure what you mean by gout as that is a new term for me. I'll admit I have no clue what he was able to eat or get to before so it could've been diet related... I wouldn't be surprised if there are some other problems with the feet considering how bad they look. Should I soak the feet a few days then try to get the swelling down and then remove some of the infected tissue you think?? and just do a bit at a time as he has so many sores on his feet?? I've seen a few things on surgery for bumblefoot but as he has enough sores on his feet I worry about doing it all at once.

I wouldn't dig around on those feet at all. Just the soak, the cleanse and the CO and let that work. Let the treatment work and give him time with good care and feed to see how things go. If you start trying to remove tissue or dig around on those spots, you could hurt him even more than he's hurting now and make it worse. No matter what anyone says, you don't have to remove those centers or cores in order for it to heal. I've taken care of some mighty sore feet on neglected birds previously that had sores on the bottom much like his and with the good care they just went away pretty quickly.

Right now I'd just worry about getting that swelling and tenderness down and leave the sores alone. I've spent almost half my life doing wound care on humans, so I know a thing or two about wounds and inflammation. Please don't dig around on those feet.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'd hold off on the surgery. Try a couple warm Epsom salt baths a day to start. Keep him on clean dry bedding.

Gout exists in most species, including humans.
In chickens it can be articular gout or visceral gout.
Articular gout can come from excessive dietary protein and represents as enlarged foot joints with white urate deposits visible through the skin.
Visceral gout is also dietary, usually associated with excessive calcium, excessive sodium, imbalance of calcium/phosphorus, deficiency of vitamin A or D. It can also be due to kidney damage from infectious bronchitis. Since the damage is to the kidney, often there are no symptoms before death.