Yellow spongy foot and gangrene?

[lfoose]

Hi all,

I have a Silkie that I will guess has to be about 6-8 yrs old. She was a rescue and her feet have always been an issue. Every so often, she'd get this crust on her foot that would build up. Vaseline kept it at bay. Once the crust fell off, there was a spongy, smelly, yellow mess underneath. A bath and some antibiotic cream always got rid of it.

Well recently she's gotten a bad case of it that I can't get rid of. I've found tonight on BYC that it may be fungal which made sense since I noticed a similar thing on her chest...so I bathed her w/some antifungal soap and cleaned off the foot as best as I can. Tomorrow I will do it again. This foot already had part of her toe missing (before I got her). Well, now the other two toes, I swear are getting gangrene. One is about 1/2 black and the other is grey w/bits of black. These showed up w/in the last couple of days.

Can anyone tell me if the two are related? Also can anyone tell me what to do about the gangrene-if it is that? If she loses her toes, she'll just have a stump. Her other foot is pretty deformed as well-this too happened before I got her.

Would an antibiotic help? If so, how much? I have the following: Sulmet drinking water solution, Tylan 50 and Terramycin powder.

Thanks!

 

[chickenoverlord]

She has bumble foot, caused by a staph infections. The spongey mass is a staph infection plug. You need to wrap her in a towel and remove the plug with a knife and tweezers. Once you get the scab off, thelug comes out almost painlessly for the chicken. It will leave large holes in her feet that will need disinfected and bandaged. I recommend a strong Epsom salt soak and hydrogen peroxide, then packing the wound with neosporin and bandaging it. She will need to be kept in a clean and climate controlled environment ( a clean laundry basket lined with paper towels in There bathroom works great) and her wound should be cleaned and re-bandaged every day or so. If you can get her some antibiotics as well. You MUST remove the staph plug or else the problem will not go away. Ps staph ( short for staphylococcus) is the bacteria that causes mrsa, so WASH YOUR HANDS!!!! If you let it go for to long, her foot can rot off. Good luck and I hope your girl gets better!!!

 

[lfoose]

Thanks. Any idea on the dose of Tylan 50 I can give as an antibiotic?

 

[chickenoverlord]

Not really, look up an ornithological vet in your area and ask them about dosage.

 

[chickenoverlord]

It might also help to BluKote it every time you change the bandage.

 

[PoultryPedia]

Tylan will not help with Bumblefoot, to the best of my knowledge.
Penicillin is the drug of choice for staph infections. Denegard is also effective for some kinds of staph, but I don't know if it helps with Bumblefoot or not.
I am uncertain of how effective oral Penicillin is for Bumblefoot, but I know Penicillin injections are an excellent treatment for it.
There is some info on this & other Bumblefoot treatments on the Poultry Podiatry page on my website (linked in sig below).

If your bird has a fungal infection instead, I'd hope antifungal creams could help. I'd think Oxine would have a very good chance of helping, too.
There is some info on it on the Fungal Infections page on the website, too.

 

[chickenoverlord]

Agreed.

 

[PoultryPedia]

I found some additional info from other sources on possible meds--
"Staphylococcus Infections in Broiler Breeders" - article in Aviatech:
The majority of S. aureus isolated from poultry are sensitive to penicillin but sensitivity tests should always be performed, as antibiotic resistance is common. Penicillin resistance may develop quickly in birds undergoing treatment, so it may be beneficial to switch to another antibiotic after five to seven days of penicillin therapy. Other water-soluble antibiotics that may be effective include erythromycin, lincomycin and tetracyclines. If the problem is specifically in males, it may be worth considering the use of an injectable, long-acting antibiotic. Consult your poultry veterinarian for advice on antibiotic selection, as some antibiotics can only be used when prescribed by a licensed veterinarian.
"Poultry Diseases" – Jordan:
Control – Birds in the early stages of infection and disease may respond to treatment but those with well established lesions are unlikely to respond. S. Aureus in inherently a rather resistant organism. Penicillin, streptomycin, tetracyclines, erythromycin, novobiocin, sulphonamide, lincomycin, spectinomycin and fluoroquinolones have all been used with some success, but antibiotic resistance is common.