Does it look like these feet are healing? (bumble foot pics)

[TwoCrows]

For simple bumblefoot, antibiotics are of little use. Only if the infection is raging, and I mean pus squirting out every day, bone infections, and what not. So in the future, you should avoid using them.

Ok...vet wrap. Sorry, but I have already "cornered the market" on vet wrap!

Just kidding. I have a lot of trouble with the lay of my land, the rocks, cactus in it and the heavy breeds I keep. I constantly have somebody in wraps around here. I must have gone thru 20 miles of it over this past year!!! LOL Bumblefoot is as common as flies in my yard! LOL

Now, after a few weeks of seeing that she is on the mend, you can go a few days in between wrappings. But I will worn you that vet wrap that gets wet, is a bear to get off! So keep scissors handy. I found some human grade wrap at walmart, the brand name is "Coach", that is easy to get off after a few days. Although if you are doing a lot of wrapping, it is cheaper to use vet wrap. Vet wrap comes in a 4 inch length and I cut it into 4 sections with a sharp razor blade that has a handle on it. DON'T cut yourself, or you will be treating YOURSELF for bumblefinger!!! LOL

In the future, if you really need to use some sort of broad spectrum antibiotic, I like to use Oxytetracycline. It is similar to Duramycin and in the same family of antibiotics. It only has a 7 day egg withdrawal.

Edit to add: Wrap firmly, but not overly tight. After the bandaging, about 5 mins later, check the toes for heat. If they are COLD, you have wrapped too tightly. The toes should be warm.

 

[CarolynF]

Just to show you the progress I'm posting 2 more pics of my girl's feet. These were taken this evening which is two days after the first pictures I posted. I think they're looking better! The swelling has gone down and the wounds look healthy.

I'm going to try to takes pics every couple of days or a visual record fbecause it's so easy to forget exactly what things looked like just a few days before.

Thank you to everyone who has been posting here!

Your comments and opinions have really helped me!! This is such a great place!!

Carolyn


(click on pic to see a larger image)



(click on pic to see a larger image)

 

[welasharon]

If this these pics were taken 4 days after surgery, then I would say they are looking pretty good. See how the scabs look kind of blood red? That is what you want. The left foot with the toe scab looks really good to me. Watch that scab on the right foot, but I would say you are on track. Keep soaking in epsom salts, apply neosporin and or Prep H to the entire pads and KEEP bandaged. NEVER let these scabs see dirt until they have fallen off the feet. It is just like if you had a scab on your foot. It doesn't necessarily mean your wound is infected, but you would not want to walk barefoot thru dirt and chicken poop until it is well healed.  

So, unwrap the feet EVERY day and inspect. You do not need to open these scabs unless you start to get big swelling on the pads and you can see the scabs turning pusy looking. Even lifting off and looking yellow. I think these look good. Apply some sort of ointment for atleast one week and I have found that after that, wiping the scabs with rubbing alcohol and no ointment will speed up the drying and healing. Keep them wrapped daily for weeks. I have had bandages on feet for months waiting for that last tiny scab to fall off. If you remove the bandages too soon, they can become reinfected. 

This is where I messed up. I stopped wrapping too soon.

 

[TwoCrows]

Just to show you the progress I'm posting 2 more pics of my girl's feet. These were taken this evening which is two days after the first pictures I posted. I think they're looking better! The swelling has gone down and the wounds look healthy.

I'm going to try to takes pics every couple of days or a visual record fbecause it's so easy to forget exactly what things looked like just a few days before.

Thank you to everyone who has been posting here!

Your comments and opinions have really helped me!! This is such a great place!!

Carolyn


(click on pic to see a larger image)



(click on pic to see a larger image)

Yes, these feet are coming along quite well. You did a good job! The pads can have swelling for a couple of weeks later. After that, the pads should return to their normal size. But the scabs will still be healing.

Taking pics is a good idea. Once you start looking at these things everyday, it is easy to say..."dang...these things are not healing at all!" When in fact they are. So a pic once a week will show you the healing process.

Keep up the good work! In a few weeks if you start wiping the scabs with rubbing alcohol and wrapping with no other ointments, that will help dry them out. At some point, you want them be a dry as possible. If at any point, one of the scabs looks like the redness and swelling is returning, pus is starting to form around the scab edges, you may need to go back in. Not likely, but watch just in case. Keep them wrapped at all times. Vet wrap is fairly water proof and as long as the bird does not wade thru puddles or big mud, I have found that they can hang around outside on wet days. Sometimes I will change the bandages if I think they are wet.

Oh..also..vet wrap has latex in it. So I use a thin piece of gauze over the wound and also hang if over the webbing as well, so when I wrap the foot, the latex does not irritate the softer skin areas of the webbing and wound area.

Good Job!

 

[CarolynF]

This is where I messed up. I stopped wrapping too soon.

How long did you keep wrapping, and what happened when you stopped too soon?
Then what did you have to do?

 

[welasharon]

How long did you keep wrapping, and what happened when you stopped too soon? 
Then what did you have to do?

Well I had messed around trying to deal with it on my ownand let her feet get really bad. I finally found an exotic pet vet (who knew chickens were considered exotic) who would do the surgery for me. THree bumbles on each foot. She said keep it wrapped a week, so I did. Just yesterday....two or three weeks after the surgery I had to send her back because I saw more swelling. Turns out all six spots had to be recleaned or debrided I think the bill said. THis time I will wrap and keep wrapped until no spot is left on her feet.

 

[froggiesheins]

Well I had messed around trying to deal with it on my ownand let her feet get really bad. I finally found an exotic pet vet (who knew chickens were considered exotic) who would do the surgery for me. THree bumbles on each foot. She said keep it wrapped a week, so I did. Just yesterday....two or three weeks after the surgery I had to send her back because I saw more swelling. Turns out all six spots had to be recleaned or debrided I think the bill said. THis time I will wrap and keep wrapped until no spot is left on her feet.

I too have "exotic pets" [aka: chickens] ! One of my chickens must be up there on the most expensive pet ever...LOL but SO glad to hear your bumbles turned out OK.

 

[CarolynF]

Ok, here are her latest pictures. These are 4 days after the last pictures in post #12. There's not a big change to see in the pics, but in person I feel it's looking good & a bit better.
Thank you again for helping evaluate the situation and sharing your experiences. I hope others will benefit, too.


10 Days after the surgery. (click to enlarge)



(click to enlarge)

 

[TwoCrows]

Scabs are looking great! Keep them dry and clean and they should heal up fine. Bumblefoot does not heal fast. It can take months for a scab to fall off. So only by judging it on a week to week basis, and taking weekly pics of the feet, can you see improvement.

Good job!

 

[CarolynF]

Another Update:

I've switched over to using Vetericyn Wound & Infection Care HydroGel Spray. So, rather than soaking in epsom salt water then packing with neosporin, I am washing with soapy water (using orvus) then drying and spraying with Vetericyn. Before making the switch I did a lot of reading about this spray but I'll save all that information for another post. I was motivated by a new, much smaller, case of bumble foot on a different hen and wanted to avoid surgery. Once I had the product I decided to use it on this girl, too.

The first application of Vetericyn was the evening of 8/11. I'm using it 2 times a day.

These 2 pictures show her worst foot on 8/10 (before using Vetericyn) and again this morning. The pic on the left was done at night so the colors are off. The colors are much more accurate on the right since it was done in daylight. The healing seems to have taken a big jump forward. I don't know if this is because of the new product or if it would have happened anyway. I'm just really happy for the improvement!




I don't have a before and after picture of the new case yet. But without surgery the black scab is already beginning to slough off after just two and a half days. Very similar to the 8/14 picture above.