Bumblefoot in chickens

[indy]

Not sure I would want to clip claws I have done it twice and have only just managed to survive the experience, good luck to you

[Millymollymandy]

I do it regularly with my cat and have also done my neighbour's cat so I'm a bit of a dab hand at it.

[indy]

My old dog was an absolute fool when it came to claw cutting time!! He nearly skinned my legs alive once trying to get away from me lol

[Millymollymandy]

Interestingly the quick in her claws was almost as long as her long claws so I just nipped off about a mm of sharp claw on a couple of them. No probs but the major prob is getting her in position on my lap amid a load of wing flapping and digging in of claws. She just hates being handled and is too big to hold both her wings and under her belly with my two hands when picking her up. It's going to be somewhat embarassing when we do get to the vets with her (can't control/handle my own pets.... )

Anyway she is now the happiest hen in the universe, wibbling away in her low growly voice specific to her (think it is why she is my fave ), back in the shed with the others. She thinks it's her birthday and Xmas all rolled into one. If only she knew she'd had a reprieve from the vet too.

[indy]

thats good news

[Alexandra]

I'm sorry to hear about the problems you've had. However I have to agree - bumblefoot can be a nightmare.
Treatment really depends on how quickly you catch it and what caused it. If caught early on then the problems can be minimised. If there is a lot of inflammation, infection or scar tissue then it sometimes be impossible to fix.
Antibiotics are useful to get rid of any infection, but sometimes the scar tissue that forms is more of a problem than infection. This can mean that the foot can still look just as bad after antibiotics. Sometimes this will need surgery to remove excess scar tissue, but there needs to be enough skin present so that it can be put back together again!
Repeated pressure on the sore area can contribute to bumblefoot - hence the bandages ('ball' or 'doughnut')- but I agree that often these aren't practical with chickens and are not something that I use in my own chickens, because they would not tolerate them. Instead I will try to offer different sizes of perches to try and encourage them to put weight on different parts of the foot.
Putting cream or other medicine onto the foot can be useful. I tend to use dermisol, healX or just vaseline - this helps to soften and scar tissue that forms. However, I've found that wherever there are any wounds on the skin (feet or body), they will take weeks or months to heal - bird skin doesn't seem to heal as quickly as that in dogs or cats.
The weight of the bird also affects the outcome - lighter birds tend to do better than heavier birds just through the weight on the foot.
Your vet needs to make an assessment as to whether or not they think it could improve - if so then persevere; if not then sometimes you have to call it a day.
Mary.

[theabsinthefairy]

Your poor chicken MMM, sounds like a handful!

I had one with bumblefoot recently, but she cut it open herself on the rocks at the edge of the herb garden slipping over on the ice - most ridiculous thing you ever saw.

Anyway she bled out over the snow and various other fluids - rather nasty looking - but obviously the dog though it smelt fascinating, and she has been standing on one foot for the last few days, but no other signs of problems, and today she has been wandering around almost normally and her foot is no longer swollen up and healing up nicely. Luckily no need for silver duct tape or superglue - essentials for an animal first aid kit.

[Millymollymandy]

What do you use superglue for?

Snowy's feet haven't changed but she seems much chirpier so I guess she was feeling low from infection. Not much I can do other than keep cleaning her feet where the mud keeps going in the pockets which formed and putting antiseptic on. Then watch and wait and see. All a bit hopeless really. But I decided putting myself in her position she'd really rather not go to the vet to have her feet cut open and then back in solitary confinement.