Treating bumblefoot with tricide-neo

[BarnGoddess01]

I have a hen with a chronic case of bumblefoot. I've carved it out a few times but never felt satisfied that I got it all and clearly, I haven't because I believe it's flaring up again. (It's actually in the knuckle of a deformed toe rather than in the pad of her foot which perhaps makes it harder to treat.) I have purchased some tricide-neo and distilled water. I wonder if anyone can tell me how I should treat her with it. What concentration should I mix? Should I bandage her foot between treatments? How many times should I treat her? How long should I soak her foot?

I hope someone can help. Thanks!!!

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
The foot has to be soaked in the distilled water/tricide neo mixture 5-7 minutes, twice a day. The dosage is a little bit less than a tablespoon for one gallon of water. You can cut that dosage in half to save the trineo powder (half tablespoon per 2 quarts of water.) The trineo mixture is good for 5 days, then you must change it out and make a new batch. After soaking, dry the foot off well and apply neosporin to the affected area. You can wrap it up if you wish. Trineo works, I've used it. It seems to clear up small bumblefoot in about a week's time. For bigger bumblefoot it seems it may take up to a month or more. I never had any large bumblefoot problems, I wouldve performed minor surgery just to save time. It has been recommended that if you have already done minor surgery on it, you shouldnt use the trineo mixture. However, I know others have used it after minor surgery with no adverse effects reported. Good luck.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
The foot has to be soaked in the distilled water/tricide neo mixture 5-7 minutes, twice a day. The dosage is a little bit less than a tablespoon for one gallon of water. You can cut that dosage in half to save the trineo powder (half tablespoon per 2 quarts of water.) The trineo mixture is good for 5 days, then you must change it out and make a new batch. After soaking, dry the foot off well and apply neosporin to the affected area. You can wrap it up if you wish. Trineo works, I've used it. It seems to clear up small bumblefoot in about a week's time. For bigger bumblefoot it seems it may take up to a month or more. I never had any large bumblefoot problems, I wouldve performed minor surgery just to save time. It has been recommended that if you have already done minor surgery on it, you shouldnt use the trineo mixture. However, I know others have used it after minor surgery with no adverse effects reported. Good luck.

Thank you! I'll start it on her today. She has a pea sized plug right now that I don't think will take much to come loose so I suspect I'll pull that out and then commence with the soaking and wrapping. I see that some others have used Prep H in the hole/on the spot following the soak with good results as well. But you prefer neosporin?

 

[artsyrobin]

here is a thread i was reading- i too have a couple cochins that have chronic issues- wish it was sold in smaller amounts!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3867013

 

[Lulu1943]

I have noticed that most people post their treatments and cures but never mention the importance of a good diet. Just feeding pellets or crumbles alone is not enough. A chickens immune system must be up and running in addition to treatments. I am feeding my hen a combination of enriched pellets with vitamin A mixed with flax seed, oats, spirlena powder, dehulled sunflower seeds, with freeze dried meal worms(protein) all mixed together with added green foods she gets from the yard. It is very important that they receive a rich and well balanced diet along with what ever treatment you choose to give.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
In my case, a good diet and care goes without saying. I'm not sure what I could do to improve the quality of life for my birds and their diet. They have a premium commerical layer crumble available at all times (with flax) for omega 3 qualification. The ladies free-range in lush pasture and because they are a small flock, they all have access to plenty of bugs and worms and goodies. I also feed them BOSS and yogurt daily as a treat and peanuts, raisins, hard-boiled eggs, and melons occasionally. I also have wide, smooth roosts for my birds that I clean daily. And I clean my coop daily as well (bedding mixed with DE), a habit I got into with my horses and carry on with the birds.

I'm fairly confident that I'm doing everything I can to provide for my birds.

It's also interesting to note that even though I provide the best care and supplemented diet for my horses, there is still one that gets abscesses (which is really what bumblefoot is) on a fairly regular basis - something he is just prone to apparently.

 

[Lulu1943]

to I love hens: Thanks for your reply, I know there are some folks out here who focus more on the treatment than diet. I don't claim to be an expert on chickens or try and give the impression I am but I have done extensive reading on their care and asked a lot of checken breeders for their imput. The more research I do the more I am becoming convinced there are different forms of the staph which causes bumblefoot. My hen, Lulu was a rescue. The people who first had her mistreated her severely and I rescued her from horrible living conditions. I have become very attached to her. It was only a few months after she came to live with me that I noticed a brown spot on the bottom of her foot. After doing more research I learned the term "bumblefoot," up until then I had never heard of it. Shortly afterward I became concerned about her condition and started trying almost every recommended treatment I found online about treating this nasty disease without results. So, I know all about the depression people feel when it comes to their beloved pets.
I am however an expert on fish care, both pond and aqaurium, having managed and worked with fish for the past thirty years. I know that two fish can have the same disease but each may respond to different treatments. That is why I believe when it comes to treating bumblefoot there are medicines and treatments that will do wonders for some chickens and not others. I just finished reading an article from the AMA that stated staph infections are around us every day, we carry them on our bodies and even our pets carry them. But the reason staph doesn't attack everyone depends on our immune systems. That is why some people get sick and others are able to stay healthy, that is why a healthy diet is so important. So, the best advice I can give is never give up on try different treatments no matter how hopeless it seems. Keep trying new treatments even if one doesn't work. Sometimes the best vets are not always successful in treating bumblefoot. If any of you are interested in the new antibotic I am using to treat Lulu, let me know. I will be happy to share any information with you. And by the way, Lulu seems to be getting better on the new treatment I am using now.

 

[ChooksChick]

I love a good discussion on such subjects and would like to share that using vet wrap over a loosened bit of cotton-ball soaked in a 50% solution of povidone iodine works wonders. You must cut the vet wrap into 3/4"-1" strips and be CERTAIN to wrap it loosely and avoid pressure on the tissues. Keeping it covered and in contact with the iodine will allow the infection to be addressed more fully from within.

One thing to determine is the cause of the bumblefoot. If you have an anomalous toe or a bird previously infected, obviously you can only address that issue. If you are getting bumblefoot in a normal flock, increasing the depth of the cushion where they land when jumping down from a roost is crucial, and eliminating burrs, thorns, sharp gravel and whatnot in their foraging space will go a long way toward protecting their feet from their foraging actions.

I also offer mine a footbath in the summer (old jelly roll sheetpan with water and ice) and they love to cool/wash their feet.

Feet should be inspected on each bird at minimum monthly.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

I have had two other birds with bumblefoot (one very early last summer and the other in the late fall) both successfully treated very quickly by cutting it out and using a diluted iodine solution from the vet. I also used a small square of "animalintex" poultice (something I use for the horses' abscesses) under the vetrap and polysporin. However, they both had "normal" feet. The bedding in their coop is several inches deep - and very clean. I also use DE. I'm not sure what else I could be doing to improve things for them. (I have noticed that chickens land HARD.) My birds free-range. I keep my property well but there is still LOTS of stuff for them to get into that I'm sure is less than ideal. However, I certainly don't feel that bumblefoot is a chronic condition in my coop.

The bird I am struggling with has a deformed toe, as I mentioned. The trouble started with her last year and is with the knuckle of her middle toe (permanently bent on a 90 degree angle) which seems to be what takes the bulk of her weight in that foot. I've treated the bumblefoot using the method above but now, months later, I can't seem to get the toe to heal - which leads me to believe the bumblefoot isn't really resolved. It's also VERY tricky wrapping that foot with the deformed toes. Thus, I thought I would try the tricide neo soak. Perhaps that will get a little deeper than I can with a knuckle involved. The hen is not currently lame or favouring the foot at all but I figure it's just a matter of time. There is a huge "scab" that I will remove for treatment so it will be an open wound that I am treating which several seem to advise against when using tricide neo. I obviously haven't started treatment yet as I'm still gathering facts.

I'm reluctant to try antibiotics yet but I will certainly keep it in mind since this does seem to be an on-going issue with "Meg". And I love the cool footbath idea. I am definitely going to try that.

These are Meg's toes - pre-bumblefoot. The toes will not straighten.

 

[1muttsfan]

I don't know if they would fit her because of her toe, but some people use chicken shoes to protect the foot, along with soaking. Soak first, apply a little neosporin, then the shoe (or bandage but they are hard to keep on). This protects and cushions the foot.