Bumblefoot bumbling

One of our chickens, Snowflake (also known as Crazy White Girl) has developed a mild case of bumblefoot. It's our first case, and we want to do the right thing. Step One: research! It's amazing - there are a LOT of tried and true ways to deal with this, and they are all right, and they are all different.

This is a place for me to keep my notes, and hopefully to share them with anyone else who is seeking more information on bumblefoot.

About Bumblefoot

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/07/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning.html
"Bumblefoot,  also known as “plantar pododermatitis,” is an infection that is found on the bottom of the feet and sometimes between the toes of chickens. Left untreated, serious cases can be fatal."

Causes:
"Bumblefoot can be caused by a cut, scrape or injury to the foot pad, commonly occurring from a splintered roost or repetitive, heavy landings from heights or poor litter management (dirty shavings). The compromised skin allows an entry point for bacteria (eg: staphylococcus), which can then lead to a pus-filled abscess.  A less common cause of bumblefoot is a vitamin A deficiency. Failure to treat bumblefoot timely can result in the spread of the infection to the bones and tendons and even death" -Kathy Shea Mormino aka The Chicken Chick

TRICIDE-Neo

Add contents of one package to a gallon of DISTILLED water.

https://www.pondrx.com/products/16165.html
https://www.pondrx.com/pages.php?pageid=13
http://www.koiacres.com/koi-acres-products/tricide-neo/faq.html
http://www.koiacres.com/Koi-Acres-Products/tricide-neo/dosing.html
http://www.koiacres.com/
ordered: 9/15/13

(warning - gross pix)
http://www.moleculartpharma.com/www.moleculartpharma.com/Home.html

"We rinse their feet before the dip, clean with a paper towel if necessary.  Rinse again after the 7 minute dip.  No wrap or bandages. We mix a small batch of one half gallon and use it for one week as directed in the instructions.  Then we'll mix another batch for the second week."

Oxine

"I order Oxine from Revival animal health by the case and store bottles inside my storage room in house. My spray bottles are kept in my feed shed next to layer house ouut of direct sunlight and are opaque.. I use 1oz for my 500gallon molded duck pond as I fill it. 1/4oz  in a tall spray bottle for disinfection and cleaning food and water containers before rinsing. 1/4 oz in tall spray bottle for cleaning inside poultry houses and shoes . I use Oxine only as preventive during wet weather periods in water (1oz to gallon then half eye dropper for each gallon jug). I use ac vinegar in the drinking water.I got. All my information on Oxine from EPA website, a couple of university websites, shagbark bantams etc.,. I've been incredibly lucky that I. Have not had ny mite or lice in any of my birds in 7 years. No loss of birds to  disease in 5 years of using it. I have never bathed a bird with oxine in water but my ducks do their own thing."

"1/8tsp per gallon for drinking water and duck water"

http://www.amazon.com/Bio-Cide-International-Oxine-AH-Gallon/dp/B000HT7H8W

Duramycin

From: http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/386187/duramycin-to-treat-bumble-foot-couple-of-questions
foot has to be soaked in the solution for 5-7 minutes a day(mixed w/ distilled water only), some BYC'ers were soaking twice a day

"Duramycin is nowhere near strong enough to touch a staph infection like bumblefoot. I never give antibiotics for it. Treating it topically works better."

Tylan

Three weeks later, my Cream Brabanter is showing signs of what may be cellutitis in his feet, as well, meaning it's going systemic. I just mixed my Tricide-Neo, but I'm thinking it's Tylan time for him. :< I've never used Tylan, but I just gave him .5 cc down the throat of Tylan 50 Injectable. I did look it up, and Tylan is indeed effective against Staph.

Vetericyn

Traumeel

?
http://www.amazon.com/Heel-Inc-HEEL-USA227009-Traumeel/dp/B0006MQ47A

Poultrypedia

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry
Powdered forms of Penicillin in food or water are less difficult to administer but are more designed for digestive tract infections, and are not likely to be as effective for Bumblefoot as injections. Penicillin is much better than almost any other antibiotic for Bumblefoot, though Baytril is another powerful option.

Back Yard Chickens

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/303829/vet-suggestion-for-non-invasive-bumblefoot-cure/40

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/322241/bumblefoot-surgery-link-with-pics

regular Neosporin

So avoid lidocaine and other -caine ointments
"I would NOT recommend triple antibiotic because a lot them contain a "..cain" ingredient and it seems that is toxic to chickens"

Bandaging

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yik1PtRgaU8
Vet Wrap
also,

Chicken Shoe

https://www.etsy.com/listing/106158021/1-neoprene-chicken-shoe?ref=listing-shop-header-0
About The Chicken Shoe:
Aspects of the Shoe:
-Made out of Neoprene (wet suit material).
-Closed-cell rubber material helps keep out moisture
-Provides cushioning
-Has a rubber grip bottom to prevent slips
-Helps keep bandages and medicine against the foot

Encouragement:

"the ones that i treated with tri cide neo that went away were so small. Like the kind if you pick the scab off, nothing is really there but a tiny hole. no plug or anything really. yes, I have done the surgery many times with a great success rate. Just from experience i can tell which one is to do which. Hey, try the tri cide neo and if it doesnt work then do the surgery. what else do you have to lose? I have also soaked off the scab and not found a plug because it was small like that. I squeezed neosporin into the little hole and gauzed and wrapped it and they have healed fine too."

Treating Snowflake's Foot

Our white Leghorn chicken, Snowflake, seems to have a mild case of bumblefoot. I'm trying here to keep track of what I've done. My research and notes are in another blog entry.

Update so far: Snowflake's foot seems to be doing better. I have been soaking it in epsom salts, and massaging it with olive oil. The pad continues to stay soft with no hard core.

Snowflake, chillaxin' in the bucket of Epsom salt soak

We discovered the bumblefoot because Snowflake was just dirty. We'd noticed that everyone else had nice clean fluffy butts, yet hers is just dirty. We also noticed that the fluffs underneath her wings were getting dirty too. So we caught her, and checked her out, and examined her feet, and yikes. There it was, like a cursed pirate... The Spot.

Day One

Found the dreaded black spot
Washed and soaked her foot.
Actually, we washed and soaked the entire chicken. She seemed to really enjoy it. She was one dirty bird.
Removed dot with sterilized exacto knife.
Poked a bit, but did understand how deep to poke, and decided to err on the side of caution
Let her run around outside to dry.
Did research

That evening, re-soaked her foot in epsom salts.
Wrapped with gauze pad, triple anti-biotic ointment, and medical tape
Did research

Day 2

The pad was warm and swollen, and I was worried.

This is Day two, after soaking and rubbing off the medical tape glue-residue

Removed the medical tape. The glue from the tape and dirt made her toes look really black and gross.
Washed her feet in soapy water in a bucket
Soaked her feet in epsom salts in the bucket (she likes this)
I used olive oil to rub the rest of the tape-glue off (didn't have vet-wrap on hand - now I do)
Did more research


It was also recommended that her feathers might like some olive oil rubbed on, to help with the dirty-bird thing she had going on. I also rubbed down her big floppy Foghorn-leghorn comb. She liked that, too.
No wrap.

Day 3

The pad is MUCH less warm, still slightly swollen.

This is Day Three with the reduced swelling

Soaked her feet in soapy water.
Soaked her feet in epsom salts for about 12 minutes.
Massaged her foot with olive oil, rubbed the rest on her comb and on her under-butt-feathers (I'm sure there is a technical term for them).

She really gets relaxed with all this spa-treatment stuff!

To be continued...........