Caring for Salmon Faverolles with Chronic Bumblefoot | A Journal with Pictures

[Tookie]

Thanks so much, Tookie!
My mom and sister made some frozen treats for them! The chickens have a kiddie pool of water to wade in. We also take frozen water bottles out to cool their drinking water. And recently, we set up some tarps to provide even more shade.

Hopefully, they should have enough ventilation in the coop. We have a large window that I open wide in the summer. They have a solar powered fan that blows air out of the coop during daytime. And my dad built the coop so that the roofs eaves allow air out. Here's a picture of them when they were little at the window:
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Oh awesome! Sounds like you're doing a great job for them. They're lucky to have you!

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

Oh awesome! Sounds like you're doing a great job for them. They're lucky to have you!

Aw, thank you! You are so sweet.

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

┈┉─━⊰ Update #10 ⊱━─┉┈​

Debbi has graduated out of bumblefoot treatment! This is a little under 42 days since I first noticed her feet were bad. I am so happy! I will continue to monitor to make sure she heals up completely.

(These photos aren't the best unfortunately. My sweet Fav get dirty feet so easily.)

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Brie is doing a little bit better. I am switching to using honey on her feet. We'll see how that goes. We are on day 72 for Brie and Mari.

I haven't gotten a chance to work on Mari's feet yet. She looked about the same when I checked her though.

 

[Tookie]

~ Update #10 ~

Debbi has graduated out of bumblefoot treatment! This is a little under 42 days since I first noticed her feet were bad. I am so happy! I will continue to monitor to make sure she heals up completely.

(These photos aren't the best unfortunately. My sweet Fav get dirty feet so easily.)
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__________________________

Brie is doing a little bit better. I am switching to using honey on her feet. We'll see how that goes. We are on day 72 for Brie and Mari.
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I haven't gotten a chance to work on Mari's feet yet. She looked about the same when I checked her though.

Much improvement since the beginning, you've put so much effort and time into them, good job!

Manuka honey is good to use for wounds and such, so if you've got that, that would be great. If you don't, that's ok, regular honey will work!

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

Much improvement since the beginning, you've put so much effort and time into them, good job!

Manuka honey is good to use for wounds and such, so if you've got that, that would be great. If you don't, that's ok, regular honey will work!

You have definitely encouraged me a lot throughout this process. Thank you!

I don't have any Manuka honey, unfortunately. I have some raw, locally grown honey right off the comb that I applied to her feet a few times. I'm hoping it will still help.

 

[Tookie]

You have definitely encouraged me a lot throughout this process. Thank you!

I don't have any Manuka honey, unfortunately. I have some raw, locally grown honey right off the comb that I applied to her feet a few times. I'm hoping it will still help.

You're most welcome!

Raw honey should still work! That's better than honey that's not raw.

 

[Tookie]

How’s everyone looking now??

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

┈┉─━⊰ Update #11 ⊱━─┉┈​

Brie has gotten worse. She is not doing well currently. Can any experienced chicken keepers help me?

Today marks 100 days since I started treating Brie for bumblefoot. I have spent a huge amount of time taking care of her. I have also put in a lot of effort researching the best way to help her.

About 6 weeks ago some of our chickens went into shock after de-worming. Ms. Azygous rescued us and our chickens! The four that were doing the worst (and that we brought inside to monitor), have recovered and are in great health! Brie has never quite been the same since that time. She wasn't doing poor enough to be brought inside like the other four chickens, but she was one of the worst of the ones that remained outside. She also began going through a soft-molt after that. She lost 14 oz. in weight. We noticed that she had stopped eating much during the day (empty crop at night when on the roost bar), and began bringing her inside at nighttime to offer her food. I gave her a large variety of things to eat. I was surprised how much of an appetite she had. She regained 4-6 oz. in weight. A couple days ago, she ate the most I had seen her eat in a while. Then the next two days she just stopped wanting much food. Eventually, we decided she needed to be tube-fed. My sister and I are spending large amounts of time making sure she gets the care and nutrients she needs (Since we are new to tube-feeding, it takes us a lot of time.)

I know that sometimes tube feeding only extends the life of a dying chicken unnecessarily. I would not be tube-feeding her if I thought that was the case. My current thought is that there are too many problems at the same time for her little body to handle (bumblefoot, de-worming, molt, respiratory issues [healed now], & high temperatures outside). If I can just tube-feed her through the worst of it, maybe her body will recover enough to get better the rest of the way on her own. I have hope for her. Here are the things I have noticed that are good:

• She spends all day and night outside with the other chickens.
• She loves to free range with the other chickens.
• She follows them around the yard and eats bugs she finds.
• She still drinks water.
• She still makes some noises.
• She jumps to the top roost bar at night.
• If the top hen or my little dog get too close to her, she gives a slow and polite peck to say, "Please let me peck around in this area." (Sadie is the top hen. I think she is trying to train Brie to give little pecks so Brie can eat without being pushed away.)
• She likes to hop on my lap or shoulder to sit.
• She is curious. Although slower than the others, she follows around and stays with them.
• When she is sitting, her eyes are open, and she looks around at everything going on about her.
• She is growing lots of new feathers.

I think all these things say that she isn't doing so poor that I need to let her go.

Here are the concerning things:

• Her bumblefoot will not heal.
• She has lost weight (Although, she has gained that little bit back).
• She has an empty crop every night before we feed her.
• She lays around more than the other chickens.
• She is more quiet than the others.
• Her eyes look a little sunken.
• She is not laying eggs (This hasn't happened for over a month).
• If other chickens come close to her (no mean pecks or anything bad going on), she often gives them whatever she was pecking at.
• She has a very low appetite. Before a couple days ago, if I continued to put food in front of her face, she would eat it. Although she quickly lost interest, and I would need to re-put the food in front of her face again. Any little distraction, like noise or movement, and she would just stop eating what I was giving her.

Here are some pictures of her and her face. These were taken within the last few days. I know she is missing a wrap in the second picture. I had run out of the wrap that sticks well, so I needed to use a different one that ended up falling off. I have since re-wrapped it.

(First Four Pictures Courtesy Of @Tiffany Wikk.)

Currently, Brie's feet are not healing. Her right foot is producing a massive amount of pus every 1-5 days. If I could measure, I think it would be about 1/2 tsp -1 tsp. Her foot will close up with cheesy yellow tissue which I remove. When I poke it, pus will erupt from the wound. I continue to massage and more will flow from it. I have seen all sorts of colors: clear, white, creamy, yellow, & the latest one - pink. There has been thick pus and watery pus. All of it is a liquid consistency though.
I have seen so many different types of tissues in her foot: healthy tissue, bloody tissue, stringy white tissue, clumpy white tissue, thick yellow sheets, yellow globs, & hard black scabs. I have seen red bruises and green bruises at points. Sometimes, her foot get hot and red. Other times it is not.
Her right foot has been swollen ever since May 23rd when I applied NU Stock to her foot, and her foot reacted horribly to it.
Her left foot has a thick dark scab that, if removed, bleeds profusely and seems to have regular tissue underneath.
The biggest concern is that despite my attempts to keep the foot clean, pus is reforming inside of her foot at a fast rate. To make it worse, the pus was pink last night. I know I have removed the core/plug before and don't see anything that looks like another one currently. I remove the scabs regularly. She has never had a good, healthy, yellow scab, or I wouldn't have removed it. I have already performed surgery on her foot and gone as deep as I dare. Yet, there is clearly still something very wrong.
Here are photos of her foot:

Here are some photos after the initial swelling when it was at its worst (NU Stock), but before this latest swelling from the pus. It was at it's best during these photos:

Here are some of the things I have attempted at various points. If I didn't see improvement, I would switch and keep trying different things. Sometimes it goes down a little, and I am encouraged by progress. Other times, it seems to swell back again.

Salves & Ointments	Disinfectants & Cleaners	Treatments	Supplements & Herbs (Administered Orally)
Prid	Povodone-Iodine	Warm Epsom Salt Soak	Calcium Citrate & D3 (Infrequently, since she is not laying.)
Durvet Epsom Salt Poultice	Banixx	Cold Epsom Salt Soak	Braunschweiger (for Vitamin A)
Icthamol	Dawn Dish Soap	Warm Epsom Salt & Oregano Oil Soak	Homegrown Oregano
NU Stock (Horrible Reaction)	Saline Flush	Gauze Squares and Wraps (She always has these on. Replaced every 1-5 days)	Homegrown Basil
Triple Antibiotic Ointment (No-Pain Killer)	Epsom Salt & Oregano Oil Spray	Warm Compresses and Dawn	Homegrown Thyme
Sugardine		Surgery	Homegrown Rosemary
Raw Unfiltered Honey		Frequent Removal of Superficial Infected Tissues	Fresh Garlic
Homemade Salve with Oregano Oil		Scab Removal	Poultry Cell
Bag Balm

I have ordered Nutri-drench and am planning to start giving that to her soon.

It concerns me that she is not eating well on top of the bumblefoot problems. Can any experienced chicken keepers help me? I love her so very much. I don't want to lose her.

Soli Deo Gloria

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

Here are some videos I took tonight of Brie when we brought her in for food. She ate a tiny bit on her own, like you can see in the videos. She still had a completely flat crop, so we tube-fed her after these videos were taken. I hope it helps people to see videos of how she is doing.

 

[Tiffany Wikk]

Here's a few close-ups of Brie's face I took tonight. You can see small feathers on her forehead that she's been able to start growing! I'm glad she is at least getting enough nutrients to do that!
I think under her eyes look different than before. They almost seem sort of sunken.
Hope these help for y'all to examine!
(For those of you who do not know, I am Elspeth's sister.)