Swollen foot and not sure what to try next

Oh my, when the lumps are solid, and they don't drain, that's not good. And since they feel hot, that could indicate an infection. Have you given her any antibiotics in her drinking water? That might help a little. Do the lumps have a little hole on top--looking like a possible bite or perhaps a parasite larvae inside?

 

it sound like bumble foot it would be nice to see a pic of it too
there are several links about it i willl give you some
i am working on on one now good luck

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=4389544
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3860880
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=33330
laura
ps if you find stuff save on your hard drive to

 

Have you given this bird a course of antibiotics? Topical antiseptics (like Blu-Kote) are fine as wound dressings to help prevent infection, but they are not generally effective in treating serious infection. For this you need to give much stronger antibiotics either orally or injected. I think Terramycin or some other oxytetracycline drug would be the choice for treating staph infection (which is what most Bumblefoot is). Before you cull, you might try a 5-7 day course of Terramycin as a last ditch effort. The infection may have spread to far for this to be off any help at this point, but worth a try.

BTW - have you considered the possibility that this isn't typical Bumblefoot, but may be related to a mycoplasma sinoviae infection? Did this bird experience any respiratory symptoms in the weeks leading up to the discovery of the swollen foot?

 

Not sure what to tell you, but

My d'Uccle roo has a small case of bumblefoot, but his feather shafts are all inflamed-looking as well. He's going to get an epsom salt soak this afternoon. Hopefully that will soothe the foot feathers and help me work with the bumble site. He's been molting, so I want to make sure these foot feathers grow in nicely for the show next month.

 

Quote:I agree with Laura. It can be a common occurance with cage birds, especially if perches are not kept scrupulously clean; not as often seen with poultry as with "pet" birds (canaries, parrots, cockateils etc.), but often enough. It can be hard to treat due to the location of the wound that allows the infection. I know for parrots that in more severe cases when the foot has been dressed, a ball is taped under the opened foot to help with mobility.

Good Luck!

Steve

 

You sound totally stressed out and I think its causing you to jump to conclusions. First of all, Bumblefoot is not a "disease" per se. It is the name given to the condition where a bird turns up lame with swollen foot pads. It is USUALLY the result of a wound on the foot (sometimes a foriegn body like a thorn or sliver becomes imbedded in the wound), it becomes infected with staph or some other bacteria, and turns into a pus-filled abscess. The same thing could happen to you and you would go to a doctor who would open the abscess to drain the puss, dress the wound with antiseptics (like you did with the Blu-Kote) with orders to change the dressing regularly, and then give you oral antibiotics for 10 days to fight the infection systemically. This is essentially what you must do with birds to fight Bumblefoot. The difference is...you don't walk around barefoot in your own poo and continue to expose your wound to bacteria. That's why these infections are often difficult to deal with in your birds.

So...you've got it right on what you need to do for your hen with the suspected Bumblefoot, but that doesn't mean treating your entire flock just because of the one hen. Bumblefoot is from an injury. It is not a disease spread from bird to bird.