Vet suggestion for non-invasive bumblefoot cure

Hi...Im here...
First of all, staph will not get to your babies and kill them, unless they have open wounds and you touch the staph and then the open wounds on the babies.
I would suggest wearing medical gloves (available cheap in most drug stores) when treating the feet of the chickens that have the bumblefoot.
Its unclear to me if you are seeing swelling now or just saw it months ago.

Google bumblefoot and look at the images by clicking on "images" on the left hand side of the google results page. Also, I have a few pics of very bad bumblefoot on my meetup page, which is in my signature.
Just look in photos and under medical. The recent one that I put up is a very bad cast that had festered for months in a hen that someone gave me. She didnt know that it was a problem but you can see that the bumbles traveled to in between the toes and became huge.
Bumblefoot doesnt just go away...it presents originally as a dark callus or scab that can be cut off and the plug below it dug out, or carefully soaked and massaged and coaxed out.
The very early ones sometimes are basically on the surface but you do have to dig around a little and try to get the pus out. You have to do this because often there is a tiny black scab that hides a huge infection underneath.
Many people dont treat it and just let the chickens go till they cant walk. Many people also put bumblefoot chickens down...I completely understand that because it can be very hard to treat.
Left untreated, the infection travels and gets involved in the tendons and joints. It seems to me that it eats away at the attachment of tendons to the bones, and destroys and softens the bones too. The chicken's body tries to fight off the infection by making pus, but chicken pus is very thick and he seems to follow the kernel as it travels...and the kernel does travel, the infection does spread.
Heavy breeds tend to get this and it can be caused by splinters in the perches or something like a thorn bush.

If you have had chickens for this long and they seem to have some dark scabs on their feet without swelling for months...no redness or hardness to the foot pad or between the toes, it may not be what you think.
I would scrub and soak their feed to see if its just dirt.
I tried the koi antibiotic on numerous chickens as suggested here, and also some other types on a duck with a problem in the winter, and I didnt think that it worked any better than Tylan 5o injected directly into the swelling and coating it with neosporin then wrapping it with vet wrap. I change bandages every 3-5 days depending on the bird or the infection. I dont want to mess with it too much and sometimes it will heal better if left alone if you can get it out.

Your situation is different because you dont even have the birds anymore. If they dont like to be held upside down then wrap them in an old towel and let them lay across your lap while you look. bring a bucket of water and try to scrub the feet off and see if they seem infected or as if they have increased since youve had them. A chicken may poop on you even if you have them wrapped, but a towel over the lap helps alot with that.
I wouldnt go opening up anyone's feet unless you have time to keep up with it...also unless they are showing signs of pain or the pads or between the toes seem harder than a normal chicken foot (they are usually soft with looser skin) I would leave it alone.
The only thing is that if you catch it really early, you can just pop off the scab, scrap it a little to get any bit of very soft pus out, and put some neosporin on it, wrap it and let them go...sometimes the scab has a white stalactite type of protrusion on it and that would be likely the beginning of the kernel. The scab can be anywhere on the foot and if you look at the picture on my site youll see that the between the toes situation is common and that the kernel will try to exit that way too.

anyway, I guess that the question is, how long have they had these scabs and...well, can you take pics and post them? that would be the best thing...just wash them good first.
 
Reading a lot about Bumble Foot because my Favorite RI hen has it now. Has any one ever tried Vetericyn wound care gel? It claims to cure/help bumble foot on their website, most likely because it kills staph. Have some and giving it a try, along with salt soaks and Tricide Neo (just ordered it). She's limping but it doesn't seem treating without surgery should be a problem.

Thanks for all the great info...
 
be aware that the wound care gel treats the MRSA form of staph and not necessarily the bumblefoot variety. Be very careful with the tri cide neo. use gloves and eye covering...its very strong and can be dangerous if you get it on you.
the problem with bumblefoot is that the chicken is unable to throw off the kernel of the infection, and the kernel travels up the foot and into the leg.
its terrible and unfortunately, you have to catch it very early to be able to soak it out.
cleaning out the foot pad is the best way to go.
I havent used the Vetericyn wound care gel but it does debride, so, like iodine, you wont want to use it during the healing process.
I still believe that using bactine for pain care and scraping it out, then filling the hole with neosporin and injecting the foot with Tylan and wrapping, is the way to go. I change bandages to keep clean but I dont revisit the wound for 5 days or so...at that point I soak and then clean it again if necessary. It will bleed alot and thats good.
look at the pictures in this thread and other threads on this forum.
If you feel like its early enough to approach it with only soaks, be aware that if youre wrong, it can progress until its too late. knead it very firmly to dislodge the infection and try to squeeze it out firmly. If you see alot of pus, try to grab it with a tweezer.
Many people dont treat at all and some put down chickens with bumblefoot. I understand it because treatment can be very long term and its seldom sucessful forever....bumblefoot recurs ...especially if you dont get the bumbles all out.
good luck.
 
How much Tylan do you give for Bumblefoot and how often? Daily? Do you shoot it right into the pad of the foot? I just started treating my rooster for this. I had a hard time getting 1/2 cc of Penicillin into the foot pad. Tried today to remove the bumble core, but could not find a core. So I injected some more Penicillin and used Neosporin, gauze and vet wrap for now. I just want to completely rid him of this since he is my best Silke rooster. I am hoping this is just a mild case since I didn't find a core. I used Vetericyn spray to clean the wound too.. and I just don't know what I should do from here. More shots each day? Where to give the shots? Or do I wait? Someone said to follow up with a different antibiotic after penicillin in case it didn't wipe it all the way out. So, I'm just confused as to what to give, how often to give it and what to follow up with. If anyone could help me out on this, it would be so appreciated. Thank you!
 
How much Tylan do you give for Bumblefoot and how often? Daily? Do you shoot it right into the pad of the foot? I just started treating my rooster for this. I had a hard time getting 1/2 cc of Penicillin into the foot pad. Tried today to remove the bumble core, but could not find a core. So I injected some more Penicillin and used Neosporin, gauze and vet wrap for now. I just want to completely rid him of this since he is my best Silke rooster. I am hoping this is just a mild case since I didn't find a core. I used Vetericyn spray to clean the wound too.. and I just don't know what I should do from here. More shots each day? Where to give the shots? Or do I wait? Someone said to follow up with a different antibiotic after penicillin in case it didn't wipe it all the way out. So, I'm just confused as to what to give, how often to give it and what to follow up with. If anyone could help me out on this, it would be so appreciated. Thank you!
Tylan is mainly used for respiratory infections and will most likely have little effect on bumblefoot. Here's a link on how to administer penicillin, post #2 and scroll down to the last part.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/352701/how-do-i-administer-a-penicillin-shot-to-a-chicken
 
Hi,

Thanks for the link and information. It gets confusing sometimes. I was giving Penicillin in the foot because I read here: http://www.poultrysupplies.com/index_files/Page1190.htm that you should inject in the swollen area for Bumblefoot. Well, that is what I did, only it didn't seem like a good place to do it and I wasn't sure it was getting into his system. I tried to clean the scab off and remove the plug today, only I could not find a plug. Then read in this thread that you could use Tylan since it was effective on Staph. But I guess I should stick with the penicillin and inject it in the breast for 4 days. But now, do I count today and yesterday... since I gave it in the pad of the foot... or is it really not effective there. When I was cleaning it out, it looked as if the penicillin was there sort of solidified. So I don't know what to do. His feed has probiotics in it already, so at least that will help counter the antibiotics. He does seem quite stressed though and that bothers me. I am considering letting him back out with the other chickens, but keeping his feet bandaged and just checking him and changing bandages as needed.
 
Hey, I saw this post and it's the closest I can find to my problem. I have a 1-1 1/2 week old female Indian Runner with some little abrasions on her feet. They are not open or bleeding nor do they appear to be infected. I don't suspect bumblefoot, but I don't want it to get worse either. I have 2 girls and only Ivy has it. She is fawn and white and Willow is black. Here is a picture:

They are on wood pellet bedding and I have raised chicks on it before without problems, so I don't think that's the reason. However I also take them outside a lot and they go on walks with me down the sidewalk (not when it's hot of course) but could the abrasive surface still cause her little sores? I'm going to keep her off the pavement anyway until they heal up and then maybe even get some little "shoes" for them, but in the meantime do I need to apply any ointment? Like some Neosporin, just to lessen the chance of infection? Help please!
 
Hey, I saw this post and it's the closest I can find to my problem. I have a 1-1 1/2 week old female Indian Runner with some little abrasions on her feet. They are not open or bleeding nor do they appear to be infected. I don't suspect bumblefoot, but I don't want it to get worse either. I have 2 girls and only Ivy has it. She is fawn and white and Willow is black. Here is a picture:

They are on wood pellet bedding and I have raised chicks on it before without problems, so I don't think that's the reason. However I also take them outside a lot and they go on walks with me down the sidewalk (not when it's hot of course) but could the abrasive surface still cause her little sores? I'm going to keep her off the pavement anyway until they heal up and then maybe even get some little "shoes" for them, but in the meantime do I need to apply any ointment? Like some Neosporin, just to lessen the chance of infection? Help please!
 

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