Thank you so much for sharing thins info. I really need to get a first aid kit going my chicks are 6 weeksAwhile back I posted about my BR that had a Bumblefoot. I wanted to update and let y'all know what I ended up doing. Original Symptoms: She had been looking "under the weather" for a couple days. Staying inside when the others went out and hunkering down in the litter. But when I'd go in she'd jump up and go about her business then eventually go back and hunker down. Didn't look EXTREMELY sick but definitely not herself. Couple days later on examination found bumble foot. These are the original photos when I found she had it. Right foot was way worse than the left. It was swollen and looked like it had bruising under the skin but not the scab. Right Foot (before washing): This right leg looked like it had a little red mark part way up the leg.Left Foot (before washing):
I wanted to do the least invasive cure possible. Read and read and read. Watched videos. Then asked questions of experienced people...then asked them again
(they were getting tired of me I think)! -I began by soaking in the hottest water that the bird could stand with epsom salts in it. Kept her in the soak 30 min. each time. I actually did this for 2 weeks straight. If you bring the biscuits I have a bucket of chicken!
-After the soaking I'd put either NuStock or Icthammel drawing salve on the feet, cover w/a small piece of gauze, and wrap with vet wrap. Vet wrap comes 3" wide so I cut it into 1" strips to wrap.
NuStoc on foot
All wrapped w/vet wrap.
The soaks and salves drew up some infection on the right foot which I lanced and continued to soak daily. In the meantime, I read about an antibiotic soak called Tricide Neo used for pond fish at this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/303829/vet-suggestion-for-non-invasive-bumblefoot-cure I ordered some from this guy...really nice guy if you ever want to order some...I told him I'd recommend him! https://www.pondrx.com/products/16166.html The Tricide Neo is helpful if you catch the infection early but you have to soak 2X/day for 2-4 weeks. MOST OF US DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF TIME! By the time the Tricide Neo arrived I only used it for 3 days before deciding to do surgery on the right foot. The left foot was recovering nicely and the scab had pretty much fallen off by itself by then. NOW - ON TO THE SURGERY. After much reading, I found this WONDERFUL post by Kerrie at City Girl Farming Blog. It had been posted the same week I was needing to learn so it was brand new. I purchased the biopsy punches from vetmed and performed this surgery. MUCH EASIER THAN TRYING TO CUT ANYTHING! I did try at one point to cut a little into the infection but decided to quit. I'd definitely recommend using those punches for the initial cut. Much better than trying to hack away with an exacto or other such knife or scalpel. Here's where I got the biopsy punches (I ordered several different sizes: 4mm, 6mm and 8mm, to put in my med kit. This source was less expensive than the source Kerry got hers from. http://www.shopmedvet.com/product/biopsy-punch-6mm-sterile-each When I did the surgery, I did not find the putrid, active infection that Kerry is showing in these videos. On my girl, it was obvious that the foot was on the mend but still seemed to need to be opened to remove the blocking core. Then I packed w/antibiotic ointment and re-wrapped for several days. Here are the videos: Part 1 Part 2