Chickens ducks health
Treating Bumblefoot Naturally in Chickens and Ducks
If you raise enough chickens or ducks long enough you will most likely be faced with a case or two of bumblefoot. Bumblefoot is basically a staph infection in which bacteria enters a chicken's (or duck's) foot through a cut caused by a splinter or other sharp object and causes infection which can travel up the leg.
It can also be caused by a hard landing off a high roost and tends to affect the heavier breeds. If left untreated it can potentially kill the chicken.
You can't really prevent it, but a low roost about 16-18" from the ground as a 'stepping stone' to the higher roosts can help, as can making sure your run is free of sharp stones and rocks, pieces of glass, even pine cones or sharp sticks.
Fortunately bumblefoot is very easy to spot and fairly easily treatable. Once you know what to look for, a quick once-over of your girls feet every once in awhile will be sufficient to recognize it.
Last summer, I noticed that one of our Australorps was limping a bit one morning. Upon a quick inspection, I found that her foot pad was warm and puffy.
Fortunately all my girls, being hand raised from chicks and photographed incessantly, are very used to being picked up and it's not hard to scoop each one up if I need to. Turning her foot over, there was the telltale black scab.
While some might immediately suggest surgery, I recommend surgery only as a last ditch effort. Instead, try treating the infected foot with Manna Pro Theracyn Wound & Skin Care Spray.
Spraying the scab several times a day until it goes away can work especially if you catch the infection early enough.
Theracyn is a non-toxic spray that will kill the infection, increase the oxygen supply to the wound and promote rapid healing. It can be used to treat bumblefoot as well as minor cuts, scratches, and scrapes, ringworm, hot spots, burns, rashes, rain rot, cinch fungus and more, without stinging or irritating the wound.
Contains no steroids, antibiotics or alcohols that might hamper the healing process or weaken the animal's immune system. For me, it's a must-have in my chicken first aid kit.
To treat a minor infection, first soak the foot in warm water and Epsom salts for 20-30 minutes to soften the foot pad. Then merely spray the Theracyn on the foot, then wrap it in gauze and secure with vet wrap, repeating three times a day until the infection is gone.
It is well worth the money since a little bit goes a long way. If, however, after several days the foot doesn't seem to be getting any better, then surgery might be necessary.
If "Surgery" Becomes Necessary
If the foot doesn't improve, or you have a particularly base case, and no vet is available then bumblefoot surgery will likely become necessary. It is a two-person job. One person to act as 'surgeon' and cut, and the other to hold and provide moral support to both the 'patient' and the 'surgeon'. It is not a job for the squeamish, but since your chicken's life and comfort could depend on you doing it, it's something that we all should at least know how to do.
Before discovering Theracyn, a friend had a chicken who was suffering from bumblefoot and she asked me to assist. I was the 'holder'. We have done this surgery three times now, twice on chickens and once on Brigid, our duck, and while I feel confident I COULD do the cutting if absolutely necessary, I am more than happy to just assist.
Fold a gauze pad on top of the open wound and wrap it well with Vet Wrap, separating the toes and add some tape to hold it in place.
After a bit of curious inspection, Charlotte was good to go and join the others in the run.
TREATING DUCKS WITH BUMBLEFOOT
Ducks with bumblefoot would be treated the exact same way, but with their webbed feet, are a bit harder to wrap and tape.
I finally managed to fashion a bandage that our duck Brigid would keep on and could still manage to walk with.
As you can see, wrapping a duck foot is a bit awkward! If the ground is muddy or wet, separating the 'patient' for a few days so the wound stays clean is a good idea. Otherwise, just keep the foot wrapped well so dirt and mud stays out.
In about a week a new scab should form. As long as the new scab is pink or light tan, not black, you can feel confident that you got the infection out and you can consider your patient cured.
Caught early enough, bumblefoot is quite easy to treat, although it doesn't always cause the chicken to limp, so a quick peek on the underside of each foot is important.
Be sure and keep an eye on your girls' feet so you catch any problems early on and be sure to bookmark this article so you will be able to find it again if you ever need it.
Our duck Jemima has bumblefoot & I started with vetericyn. The swelling has gone down a tiny bit but it's been a week and there hasn't been a big change. We had decided to do the surgery but found the scab had completely healed over. Would you still do surgery and just cut into the foot rather than removing the scab? This is our first case of bumblefoot so I'm not sure what to expect :).
Thank you for all the great info!
I fought bumblefoot in 8 hens all summer long last year. Our farm vets pretty much said they had no experience with birds, so I was on my own. One of the hens was so bad that I thought I would lose her. I started using the black salve. After pulling the scab off, I squeezed as much pus out of chicken's foot as the chicken let me. I removed everything I could with a piece of gauze. The hen ended up with a hole in her foot. I packed the hole full of drawing salve, put a big blob of salve on the whole foot pad, and in couple of cases I even added another blob of salve on the top of the foot, especially between the toes. I covered the salve with round cotton pads, and bandaged everything with vetrap which I cut into 2 cm widths. I changed the drawing salve dressing every 2 - 4 days. I always pulled the scab off, so the infection healed from the inside out. All hens recovered nicely. The worst case was healed after 3 months of applying the drawing salve. I have remodeled the hen houses, and lowered all the roosts to not higher than 18 inches. Hopefully this helps.