Rooster with complex double bumblefoot

[chicknmania]

Hello,

We have a big heavy cross bred rooster who is four years old. He is the alpha in our flock and is a sweet natured gentle guy, but doesn't enjoy being handled. A few months ago he developed bumblefoot in his toe. We didn't notice it at first as he never limped on it. When we did, we attempted to do the standard lance and drain minor surgery, but the infected material inside was all hard. So we decided to wait and see what would happen. Nothing happened. He walked on it cheerfully for several weeks, it didn't get worse, in fact it got slightly better. However, now he has bumblefoot in his OTHER foot. It is very sore. So now I'm not sure where to go with it. I'm guessing he might have developed bumblefoot in his new foot, because he may have been favoring the other foot a bit, thus putting more weight on the good foot, until he injured it. It will be difficult for me to soak him by myself without help, which is where I'm at these days. And he needs a short cure if that's even possible. I'm considering a vet, although I don't want to spend a ton of money on surgery either. Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I’ve had a lot of success with using a salve or ointment on the affected area and then wrapping with gauze, vet-wrap, and medical tape. This, along with occasional soaks (if you’re unable to do it every day), softens the scabs and draws out/softens the pus, making the pus much easier to remove without a bunch of bleeding.

 

[chicknmania]

I’ve had a lot of success with using a salve or ointment on the affected area and then wrapping with gauze, vet-wrap, and medical tape. This, along with occasional soaks (if you’re unable to do it every day), softens the scabs and draws out/softens the pus, making the pus much easier to remove without a bunch of bleeding.

What kind of salve or ointment do you use?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

What kind of salve or ointment do you use?

I use triple antibiotic ointment (without painkillers)

 

[JannetteB]

Hello,

We have a big heavy cross bred rooster who is four years old. He is the alpha in our flock and is a sweet natured gentle guy, but doesn't enjoy being handled. A few months ago he developed bumblefoot in his toe. We didn't notice it at first as he never limped on it. When we did, we attempted to do the standard lance and drain minor surgery, but the infected material inside was all hard. So we decided to wait and see what would happen. Nothing happened. He walked on it cheerfully for several weeks, it didn't get worse, in fact it got slightly better. However, now he has bumblefoot in his OTHER foot. It is very sore. So now I'm not sure where to go with it. I'm guessing he might have developed bumblefoot in his new foot, because he may have been favoring the other foot a bit, thus putting more weight on the good foot, until he injured it. It will be difficult for me to soak him by myself without help, which is where I'm at these days. And he needs a short cure if that's even possible. I'm considering a vet, although I don't want to spend a ton of money on surgery either. Thoughts? Suggestions?

My rooster has left bumble foot since June. He does not like to be handled. I caught him, separated him from the flock. (Set up infirmary, in a large dog crate, in an unused grassy dog pen.) He is easy to grap from the crate, I soak his foot in Dr Teals Lavander Epsom Salt, and warm water. I think the vapors calm him. I used a plastic basin filled half way. I set up a chair, with upside down Milk crate in front. Immediately after preparing the soak, I put it on the milk crate, grap my rooster, sit on chair, put his feet in the basin. Although he initially struggled, He calmed quickly, and was able to do 15 minute soaks 2x day. I followed that with vetricyn (?sp) spray, for 2 weeks. The bumble decreased in size. I did not have anyone else to hold him, I wanted to lance it, but can not. After 2 weeks I put him back to the flock. The bumble grew again. He limps on it . So I am planning to catch him again and start the soaking again.

 

[chicknmania]

Ive done soaks a lot of times for bumblefoot. But its an extremely long process and timewise its difficult for me to do. Weve had two other roosters in past years with it. They both did recover but one was left with a permanent limp. Seems like we just did soaks forever. I think soaking will help with his new bad foot and i will try the triple a ointment and vet wrap too. He is in a hospital pen as of today but i hate to do that to him as he is the alpha. This is the first time ive tried lancing it and that only becsuse a friend with experience helped me. Im not sure anything will help his toe that had the hard pus...but that side still seems ok...all thongs considered..

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Ive done soaks a lot of times for bumblefoot. But its an extremely long process and timewise its difficult for me to do. Weve had two other roosters in past years with it. They both did recover but one was left with a permanent limp. Seems like we just did soaks forever. I think soaking will help with his new bad foot and i will try the triple an ointment and vet wrap too. He is in a hospital pen as of today but i hate to do that to him as he is the alpha. This is the first time ive tried lancing it and that only becsuse a friend with experience helped me. Im not sure anything will help his toe that had the hard pus...but that side still seems ok...all thongs considered..

The hard pus is removable if you keep the bumblefoot from getting worse and keep a wrap + ointment on it. I treated bumblefoot on a pigeon without doing many soaks at all (I only had the time for a 20-30 minute soak + foot cleaning every other week). I just kept a wrap on his foot when I wasn’t able to soak it. To keep the pigeon in the foot bath, I put him in a bucket with a lid loosely on top. If you have a large tub with a lid, you can try the same thing with your rooster. I’ve seen people cut a hole in the lid so there’s enough room for them to stick their head out, but not escape.

 

[chicknmania]

The hard pus is removable if you keep the bumblefoot from getting worse and keep a wrap + ointment on it. I treated bumblefoot on a pigeon without doing many soaks at all (I only had the time for a 20-30 minute soak + foot cleaning every other week). I just kept a wrap on his foot when I wasn’t able to soak it. To keep the pigeon in the foot bath, I put him in a bucket with a lid loosely on top. If you have a large tub with a lid, you can try the same thing with your rooster. I’ve seen people cut a hole in the lid so there’s enough room for them to stick their head out, but not escape.

I've seen that with the hole in the lid too, but I just can't imagine.... But thank you, I will definitely try the wraps, because I just don't have the time either. But that's the thing, it takes weeks. And then the rooster is all the way at the bottom of the pecking order. But, really, there isn't much choice so here we go again....

 

[chicknmania]

My rooster has left bumble foot since June. He does not like to be handled. I caught him, separated him from the flock. (Set up infirmary, in a large dog crate, in an unused grassy dog pen.) He is easy to grap from the crate, I soak his foot in Dr Teals Lavander Epsom Salt, and warm water. I think the vapors calm him. I used a plastic basin filled half way. I set up a chair, with upside down Milk crate in front. Immediately after preparing the soak, I put it on the milk crate, grap my rooster, sit on chair, put his feet in the basin. Although he initially struggled, He calmed quickly, and was able to do 15 minute soaks 2x day. I followed that with vetricyn (?sp) spray, for 2 weeks. The bumble decreased in size. I did not have anyone else to hold him, I wanted to lance it, but can not. After 2 weeks I put him back to the flock. The bumble grew again. He limps on it . So I am planning to catch him again and start the soaking again.

Here's something you can try. I copied/ pasted this advice from another member of this forum who gave it to me a long time ago, he has lots of experience with Bumblefoot. And I just kept it in my first aid notebook. And yes, it does work....over time. I'm embarassed to say I can't remember who it was that gave me this advice, sorry about that...but maybe he'll chip in here. Tricide Neo isn't cheap especially, but it is readily available.

Quote:
The foot has to be soaked in the distilled water/tricide neo mixture 5-7 minutes, twice a day. The dosage is a little bit less than a tablespoon for one gallon of water. You can cut that dosage in half to save the trineo powder (half tablespoon per 2 quarts of water.) The trineo mixture is good for 5 days, then you must change it out and make a new batch. After soaking, dry the foot off well and apply neosporin to the affected area. You can wrap it up if you wish. Trineo works, I've used it. It seems to clear up small bumblefoot in about a week's time. For bigger bumblefoot it seems it may take up to a month or more. I never had any large bumblefoot problems, I wouldve performed minor

 

[Lillith37]

I have a hen who had a wound on the underside of her middle toe and it actually healed over but left the hardened pus under the skin. I used a salicylic wart pad over the hard tissue with the plaster cover and vetwrap. Eventually the skin softened enough and the whole plug lifted out. I then just sprayed with vetericyn, covered with gauze and vetwrap and she healed very quickly.