GRAPHIC PICS...........DO NOT LOOK AT IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH !!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, here goes...............
Well this weekend, I noticed that my older Tom, who is no longer in the breeding pack, was not himself. I have about 300 animals but I look at all of them every day and I look for unusual behaviors, signs, symptoms, injuries, etc. Well my Tom was in one spot of the chicken yard for an unusual long amount of time and the other turkeys were unusually close to him. He is my Old Tymer and he keeps to himself and doesn't bother anyone. So, when I saw this I went out to the chicken yard to see what was going on. I picked him up and immediately noticed that he had lost some weight. So, I brought him inside and checked him out . I always check his feet first because he has a history of bumble foot. Well, lo and behold, the bumble foot was back. He get bumble foot 1- 2 times a year and I have to do minor surgery. I think that the reason it keeps re-appearing is because I am not digging out the "plug" that's in there and so then it continues to grow. Well, this time, I think I got the entire plug out.
Well, this is what I did.
I went to the bathroom and filled his foot spa tub up with warm water and Epsom salt. He has his own foot spa tub. I picked him and put him in his tub. Here is a pic of what he looks like in his foot tub. This is a pic from last year, so you can see how I have him set up. I let his feet soak for about 30 minutes. I check on him every 5 minutes to make sure that he is ok. I usually close the door and turn the light out but I have a night light in there so there is at least some light. This allows him peace and tranquility. (well, it does that for me.)
I have my surgery items on hand before I begin. My list includes:
1. Gloves
2. Razor Blades
3. Gauze
4. Neosporin
5. Tweezers
6. Paper Towels
7. Blue Kote
8. Special spray from my vet for cuts and injuries
9. Pan of fresh warm water
10. Spray bottle of warm water with Epsom salt.
After 30 minutes, I took him out and placed him on a flat surface. This time I placed him on a chair because I needed to get a good position to begin my work and I couldn't do that on a table top this time. I placed a towel on the chair and on the floor below me. I covered his face with a towel. During this time, he is not fighting or moving . By now, he knows the procedure. He usually takes a nap when I start surgery and I wake him up when I'm done.
So, I got the foot that has bumble foot. This is what it looked like before I began.
I took a razor blade and I cut around the dark scab/plug. There was a little blood but not much. I took the tweezers and pulled the black scab off. A good pull would pull out the entire plug but I didn't get that on the first plug, so I had to dig and dig and dig all of the crap out of there.
After trying to clean all of the crap out, this is what the bottom of the foot looked like. Unfortunately, I could tell that there was still crap in there but I could not get to it. So, I turned his foot over and I found yet another bumble foot ON TOP of his foot, so I had to work on that area as well.
Bumble foot on TOP of this foot.
So, now I had to work on getting more crap out. So, this time, I played with the scab to see how easy it would be for me to get that plug. Well, I was able to pluck that plug out and I was sooooooooooooooooooo relieved. This is what the plug looks like. It is VERY important to make sure you get the plug out. If not, the bird will continue to have bumble foot as my Tom has. The plug that I pulled out is shaped just like a ear plug but kinda looks like a kernel of corn.
Pic of Plug from Bumble foot
After pulling out the plug, there was really no more crap in there. I made sure that all of the crap was out of there and cleaned him up really good with the items on the list. I used the spray bottle of Epsom salt and water and cleaned up the area.
The hole where the plug was pulled from was deep. It's length was from the top to the bottom of his foot. Bumble foot had spread straight through his foot pad. Here are the pics so that you can see what I mean. This was the worst that I have ever seen it. But that's my fault because I never got it completely out and this is what happened because of my mistake. I was always afraid to go too deep thinking that I would hurt my turkey but you have to get all of it out. If not, this is what you will have to deal with.
So, for now, my tom is inside in the wash room recovering. I have been hand feeding him because he has lost weight. Something that I noticed as to why he lost weight was because he was not able to stand in front of the feeder to eat. So, it looks like he chose to not eat in the chicken yard. He would have starved to death if I would not have noticed something was wrong with him. I noticed that he was not able to eat when I watched him in the laundry room without him knowing that I was watching him. I had his water and feed in with him and he was able to stand up to drink but for some reason, when it came time for him to eat, he was not able to. He had to sit down on his comforter to eat and he was having a hard time doing that. I guess after using all of his strength to drink, he couldn't stand any longer to eat.
Although he is not able to stand on the foot that I did surgery on for a long period of time, he is recovering fine. I am hand feeding him 3 times a day and giving him vitamins. I am trying not to fatten him up too much because I don't want to him to put on too much weight with that foot being injured. He is getting grits and eggs for breakfast and for lunch he is getting game bird crumble mash. I will probably get out the blender and juicer and blend him up some Mean Grean healthy smoothies with lots of veggies and feed him.
So, there you go. This is what I was dealing with this weekend.
Everyone, please check our turkeys and all of your other birds for bumble foot. Bumble foot can be on the top of the foot as well as the bottom.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
ETA: Wanted to explain Bumble foot for those that do not know.
Explanation from Wikipedia
Other Links
http://poultry.allotment.org.uk/advice/chicken-health/bumblefoot
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-treat-chicken-foot-sores.html
Well done! You really should post this in https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/10/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures
I think many people will learn from it!
e
