Severe infection in hen’s foot

[RDchicken99]

@azygous @Wyorp Rock

I have been treating one of my Polish Crested hens for bumblefoot the past two weeks. Today I went to check her bandages and found that her toes were inflamed and the whole foot had a pungent rancid smell. I’m afraid I’d made the bandages too tight but when I first wrapped them I watched her for several minutes and the day after that and she didn‘t seem especially bothered by them.

The whole foot is pretty sickening at the moment. Her scales are peeling away from her foot, and the scales on the backs of her toes are blackened. The foot pad itself is very swollen as well as the bases of her toes. I’m thinking that the swelling is from the bumblefoot infection spreading despite my efforts. Because of that, and how swollen the foot pad is, I made a very small incision in hopes of getting out some of the bumblefoot gunk, however nothing came out even when I was pressing the pad quite firmly.. (Oh, and there is no bumble anymore, it’s just the foot pad.)

She’s been separated from the flock and put in a cage with lots of nice soft straw. As of now I’ve cleaned the whole foot with soapy water, and put a generous amount of AAA ointment on the incision+infection foot pad mess. I sprayed BluKote on the back of her foot in hopes of helping the peeling scales and blackened parts.

The pictures are pre-cleaning. I can’t get any more at the moment.

 

[azygous]

You are correct that the bandages are responsible for this sad turn of events. It's very important to unwrap the bandages two days after initial bandaging precisely for this reason, and the bandage should be changed every few days to avoid the rancid condition you've found.

It may not be too late to save most of those toes. Soak twice a day in 100 degree Epsom salt solution with Betadine or some other wound disinfectant added to the water. Soak for fifteen to twenty minutes. Do not bandage. Leave the tissue exposed to pull in as much oxygen from the air as it can. The Epsom salts will stimulate blood circulation. Do these twice daily soaks for the next four or five days and let's see how the foot responds.

 

[RDchicken99]

You are correct that the bandages are responsible for this sad turn of events. It's very important to unwrap the bandages two days after initial bandaging precisely for this reason, and the bandage should be changed every few days to avoid the rancid condition you've found.

It may not be too late to save most of those toes. Soak twice a day in 100 degree Epsom salt solution with Betadine or some other wound disinfectant added to the water. Soak for fifteen to twenty minutes. Do not bandage. Leave the tissue exposed to pull in as much oxygen from the air as it can. The Epsom salts will stimulate blood circulation. Do these twice daily soaks for the next four or five days and let's see how the foot responds.

Will do. Thank you so much for the help. What do you think I should do about the incision? Just keep up with the ointment?

Would iodine work for the soaks?

 

[Mason Farm and Ranch]

You are correct that the bandages are responsible for this sad turn of events. It's very important to unwrap the bandages two days after initial bandaging precisely for this reason, and the bandage should be changed every few days to avoid the rancid condition you've found.

It may not be too late to save most of those toes. Soak twice a day in 100 degree Epsom salt solution with Betadine or some other wound disinfectant added to the water. Soak for fifteen to twenty minutes. Do not bandage. Leave the tissue exposed to pull in as much oxygen from the air as it can. The Epsom salts will stimulate blood circulation. Do these twice daily soaks for the next four or five days and let's see how the foot responds.

Absolutely spot on, however a round of antibiotics are definitely called for. Penicillin would be best. Oxytetracycline if you can't get Penicillin.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You are correct that the bandages are responsible for this sad turn of events. It's very important to unwrap the bandages two days after initial bandaging precisely for this reason, and the bandage should be changed every few days to avoid the rancid condition you've found.

It may not be too late to save most of those toes. Soak twice a day in 100 degree Epsom salt solution with Betadine or some other wound disinfectant added to the water. Soak for fifteen to twenty minutes. Do not bandage. Leave the tissue exposed to pull in as much oxygen from the air as it can. The Epsom salts will stimulate blood circulation. Do these twice daily soaks for the next four or five days and let's see how the foot responds.

Where is the incision? Do you have a photo of that?

You can use Iodine in the soaking water if that's all you have.
I've found that Betadine or Povidone Iodine is very hard to find in my area, I don't know what the problem is with that, it's been like this for a couple of years now. BUT if you can get Betadine/Povidone Iodine, then it would be good to use.
Hibiclens (Chlorhexidine) is another product you can use in the soaking water, this seems much easier to find at Walmart/CVS, but I usually just order it from Amazon.

Will do. Thank you so much for the help. What do you think I should do about the incision? Just keep up with the ointment?

Would iodine work for the soaks?

 

[azygous]

Epsom salts (magnesium sufate) will stimulate blood circulation while iodine alone will not. Of the two, Epsom salts is more effective in restoring healthy tissue. Any antibacterial solution may be added to it to combat any bacterial infection that may be starting.

 

[RDchicken99]

Where is the incision? Do you have a photo of that?

You can use Iodine in the soaking water if that's all you have.
I've found that Betadine or Povidone Iodine is very hard to find in my area, I don't know what the problem is with that, it's been like this for a couple of years now. BUT if you can get Betadine/Povidone Iodine, then it would be good to use.
Hibiclens (Chlorhexidine) is another product you can use in the soaking water, this seems much easier to find at Walmart/CVS, but I usually just order it from Amazon.

The photos were taken before I made the incision, I’ll get some more pics after I soak her feet tomorrow.

I do have the Povidone Iodine, so I think I’ll stick with that since I have it on hand. My local Walmart has the Hibiclens too, I might end up grabbing that as well. Thanks for the help.

Absolutely spot on, however a round of antibiotics are definitely called for. Penicillin would be best. Oxytetracycline if you can't get Penicillin.

Noted. The only antibionic I know I can get ahold of at the current moment is amoxicillin, would that work? Any others you know of that I could try and find?

 

[RDchicken99]

Epsom salts (magnesium sufate) will stimulate blood circulation while iodine alone will not. Of the two, Epsom salts is more effective in restoring healthy tissue. Any antibacterial solution may be added to it to combat any bacterial infection that may be starting.

Sorry, I wasn’t clear! I meant using the Iodine to add to the Epsom Salt bath.

 

[Mason Farm and Ranch]

The photos were taken before I made the incision, I’ll get some more pics after I soak her feet tomorrow.

I do have the Povidone Iodine, so I think I’ll stick with that since I have it on hand. My local Walmart has the Hibiclens too, I might end up grabbing that as well. Thanks for the help.

Noted. The only antibionic I know I can get ahold of at the current moment is amoxicillin, would that work? Any others you know of that I could try and find?

Both Penicillin and Amoxicillin are for bacterial infection.

Chicken dosage is 15mg per kg of body weight for 3-5 days.

 

[azygous]

My preference is for amoxicillin 250mg per day for an average size chicken given for seven to ten days.