Turkey with Bumblefoot

[fergyc2l2t316]

My turkey has been sick since before Thanksgiving. Everyone says he did this on purpose because of the holidays. LOL. Anyhow, I took him to the vet and had tests ran on him. I am finally getting the pneumonia under control but the bumblefoot has me really concerned. They took a sample of the fluid inside and said there was no growth on the petri plates so they were not concerned about it. Yet it hurts him and the swelling is getting worse. I have ordered some of the stuff for Koi Fish (topical antibiotic) but it won't be here until this Saturday. I have taken pictures of his foot, 3 of them. Can anyone please that is familiar with bumblefoot look at it and tell me if I should cut it out or wait for the antibiotic? I have to get him back on his feet so he can start healing. It's been a circular battle since he can't walk right now and I have been doing a lot of physical therapy with him. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind, it's not fair to him. He wants to be out with the flock and be his birdzilla self again.

 

[Eggcessive]

The bumblefoot is there in the pictures, so she could have a staph infection or possibly mycoplasma synovitis, since she had a respiratory infection. Is her swollen foot hard around the joint? MS is fairly common. Symptoms can be treated with Tylan 200 1/4 ml for every 5 pounds, twice a day for 5 days. MS is a chronic disease and can come back.

 

[fergyc2l2t316]

No the joint is not hard. It is swollen at the foot as you can see and feels like fluid. the only hard spot is on the bottom of the foot. I have had him on Tylan 50 400 mg per the vet and it hasn't touched the foot. He can't walk on it due to the pain in the foot. I have read that it may need a topical antibiotic due to the swelling because the blood flow is not as strong there since the swelling is so bad. So I have ordered some and am going to try it. Unless you have any other suggestions, this is the direction I am going to go.
Thank you so much for responding. I greatly appreciate it.

 

[fergyc2l2t316]

also one more thing the vet wasn't sure if it was mycoplasma synovitis. But assumed it was because of the respiratory infection.

 

[Eggcessive]

Since there is bumblefoot, that needs to be taken care of, and bumblefoot can lead to staph infection of the joint. The vet could prescribe something that would treat both types of infection.

 

[fergyc2l2t316]

Thanks for the information. Greatly appreciate it.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here are a couple of articles about arthritis in chickens, but some may be a little technical:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poult...stem/infectious-skeletal-disorders-in-poultry
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/143/staphylococcosis-staphylococcal-arthritis-bumble-foot/
http://vetmedmosul.org/ijvs/media/11-2-10e.pdf

Here is a good link about mycoplasma synovitis, one of the common types of arthritis:

Mycoplasma synoviae

Synonyms: MS, infectious synovitis, synovitis, silent air sac
Species affected: chickens and turkeys.
Clinical signs: Birds infected with the synovitis form show lameness, followed by lethargy, reluctance to move, swollen joints, stilted gait, loss of weight, and formation of breast blisters. Birds infected with the respiratory form exhibit respiratory distress. Greenish diarrhea is common in dying birds (see Table 1). Clinically, the disease in indistinguishable from MG.
Transmission: MS is transmitted from infected breeder to progeny via the egg. Within a flock, MS is spread by direct contact with infected birds as well as through airborne particles over short distances.
Treatment: Recovery is slow for both respiratory and synovitis forms. Several antibiotics are variably effective. The most effective are tylosin, erthromycin, spectinomycin, lincomycin, and chlorotectracycline. These antibiotics can be given by injection while some can be administered in the feed or drinking water. These treatments are most effective when the antibiotics are injected.
Prevention: Eradication is the best and only sure control. Do not use breeder replacements from flocks that have had MS. The National Poultry Improvement Plan monitors for MS.

 

[fergyc2l2t316]

Here are a couple of articles about arthritis in chickens, but some may be a little technical: http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poult...stem/infectious-skeletal-disorders-in-poultry http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/143/staphylococcosis-staphylococcal-arthritis-bumble-foot/ http://vetmedmosul.org/ijvs/media/11-2-10e.pdf [COLOR=0021A5]
Here is a good link about mycoplasma synovitis, one of the common types of arthritis:

[/COLOR] [COLOR=0021A5]
Mycoplasma synoviae

[/COLOR] Synonyms: MS, infectious synovitis, synovitis, silent air sac Species affected: chickens and turkeys. Clinical signs: Birds infected with the synovitis form show lameness, followed by lethargy, reluctance to move, swollen joints, stilted gait, loss of weight, and formation of breast blisters. Birds infected with the respiratory form exhibit respiratory distress. Greenish diarrhea is common in dying birds (see Table 1). Clinically, the disease in indistinguishable from MG. Transmission: MS is transmitted from infected breeder to progeny via the egg. Within a flock, MS is spread by direct contact with infected birds as well as through airborne particles over short distances. Treatment: Recovery is slow for both respiratory and synovitis forms. Several antibiotics are variably effective. The most effective are tylosin, erthromycin, spectinomycin, lincomycin, and chlorotectracycline. These antibiotics can be given by injection while some can be administered in the feed or drinking water. These treatments are most effective when the antibiotics are injected. Prevention: Eradication is the best and only sure control. Do not use breeder replacements from flocks that have had MS. The National Poultry Improvement Plan monitors for MS.

Have a question. I'm still having trouble getting his swelling in his foot to come down. He has been on tylan, I have used betadine and epson salt soaks with hemorrhoid cream, the antibiotic for koi fish soak and hemorrhoid cream and some swelling has gone down. There has been a scab that fell off and it has been draining but not enough for him to get footing. I know that people have injected tylan into infection of sinus cavities so I was wondering about injecting into the foot. Just curious and trying to find away to figure out to get the foot back down

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that the swelling is so bad. I think I would try to see a vet again if possible. What dosage of Tylan have you used? There are stronger antibiotics that your vet may prescribe. TwoCrows, a BYC moderator, has treated MS in her flock, and has posted some threads about it which you may want to search for at the top of this page.

 

[taprock]

I don't believe the tylan would help with the bumble foot. The swelling will not go down until the corns under each scab have been removed. Sometimes you can soak and squeeze them out but larger ones need to be taken out surgically. Afterwards a topical antibiotic can be put on and the foot wrapped. Do a search for bumble foot surgery.