The Old Folks Home

[drumstick diva]

just reading about it I am ready to

 

[Alaskan]

It all sucks.


Getaclue.... I totally feel ya. I had one with a swollen spot a month back I guess. I ripped the spot off, tried to see if it had any stuff that I needed to squeeze out, then just said "eh, whatever" and let her go.

Whatever... I think she is better.


Me... I have so many issues with people... Bunch of crazies.

 

[Latestarter]

Geeze Al... you've seemed a little discombobulated lately... Hope things settle down for you straight away.

 

[getaclue]

Thank you Al, that's reassuring.

 

[Bunnylady]

I'm sorry for your crazies, Alaskan. BB2K and I had a lot of fun with this bunch of crazies last night.

This is the Fair float; as you can see, we had a bunch of animals in there. They are always a hit. I walked behind the float carrying a big plush chicken - the only bird there, since live poultry is not allowed in public places in our state due to bird flu concerns.

 

[willzpapa]

Bama  shame on you,  you'd slap your momma??

Probably not but if you put a.bowl of them on your head your tongue would beat your brains out trying to get to them lol

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I think you're right bunny.

I did my very first bumblefoot surgery tonight. Both of my daughters came to help. One kept the rooster immobilized, and the other dabbed blood away, so I could see, and passed the things to me that I needed. For the most part, I think I did ok. One foot had at least 3, but they weren't too big, or too deep. The other foot, just had one, but it was fairly large, and deep. I think I got it all, but I'm not entirely sure, however, he had been through enough, and so had I. I'm not willing to put my animals through endless torture, and this was my first time. I washed the feet with blue dawn dishwashing liquid first, then rinsed, and dried. After the surgery, I used lots of Betadyne, packed it with neosporin (no pain reliver), and covered with a non-stick Telfa pad, and wrapped it in vet tape. I figure, even if I didn't get it all, at least getting most of it out, and all the antibiotic ointment should be far better than the way it was. When we put him in his cage, he stood up, took a couple shaky steps getting used to his bandages, then he seemed steady, and began eating. It was past his bedtime at this point, so I began dimming the lights, and he laid down. My daughters had no clue that I had never done anything like that before. They had no clue I was scared at first. LOL!

We have had our fair share of bumble and it sucks. This is a good approach and has worked very well for us. Lately we've taken a minimalist approach - washing the feet, just getting the scab out or off (depending on the type of scab) with a razor blade/scalpel and tweezers to expose the hole. We no longer do any exploratory and try to get a "plug." Express pus by squishing foot, if needed, then wash with chlorhexidine soap, packing with triple antibiotic ointment (neosporin). Cover the foot externally with neosporin, then wrap, if possible and put them in a clean, dry cage with dim lights. So far it seems to be working as well as the more exploratory "surgery" but we don't yet have enough data to say for sure.

Right now we have a turkey hen in our bumble hospital. Her feet were awful. I was embarrassed we let it go as long as we did but if you needed 3 people to help with a chicken imagine what a turkey is like. Her feet were very swollen, she could barely walk. We thought we'd try to fix her, but knew culling was likely. We did the minimalist approach above... because if you haven't been slapped in the face with panicked turkey wings, you're really missing out... and her feet are a lot better. They're not perfect, but the major infection is gone. We will maybe have to cut into one of the feet again - it hadn't formed a real bumble scab so it was difficult to deal with. She doesn't let us wrap them well and as soon as she gets free from us (even if the lights are off) she works the bandages off. So we even don't bandage her. She got the majorly minimalist approach.

 

[WVduckchick]

So what causes bumble to begin with? I always check my birds feet, but forget what actually causes it.

And yes, the lovely turkey slap! My spring hatch last year, I had only one turkey make it. She lived with the chickens for a while, and did not like to go in the coop at night. She would go in at dark if they were already in the run, but if I had let them free range, she would roost on top of the run. I'd have to grab her down at dusk to put her inside. One evening I went to grab her as I always did, and she surprised me with an awesome left hook! My cheekbone hurt for days!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

A cut or a scrape causes bacteria to get in the foot and then start the infective process.

We have soooo many rocks here - there's really no "soil" so I'm thinking that is why we see it a lot. Most of our bumbles resolve on their own without intervention.

 

[Ameraucanas]

We have never had a bumble.