Well, along with routinely sticking my finger up hens’ butts, I can now add performing minor surgery to my ever growing Chicken Ownership Resume – and to the list of things I never thought I would do.
A few days ago, I noticed poor Duke’s foot appeared to be a little swollen. Not the entire foot – just the bottom pad of his foot. He didn’t seem in any pain and he walked and ran as usual. But the next day, I noticed that his swollen pad seemed to be getting a little larger. I picked him up and examined the pad of his foot and found exactly what I was hoping I would NOT find. A small black scab in the middle of the swelling. Duke has Bumblefoot.
Bumblefoot is a type of Staph infection on the pad of the foot. Apparently, fowl, Guinea Pigs, and other creatures can get it. I’ve read many posts on the Backyard Chicken forums about chickens that got Bumblefoot but, to be honest, I never really paid a whole lot of attention while reading them because this was outside the realm of anything I had experienced within my flock – and ever hope to.
I decided to google Bumblefoot and treatments and interestingly enough, the Backyard Chicken (BYC) forums provided the most detailed information. Especially this information by Eggcentric. I am extremely thankful to Eggcentric and others for providing so much detail about diagnosing and treating Bumblefoot. If you own chickens, I believe you will find BYC an invaluable resource.
Although I was very unhappy to learn I was going to have to cut into Duke’s foot, I did feel confident that I knew what I needed to do and, in the end, Duke was going to be better off. I will mention that I spent some time calling every vet clinic in this area begging for someone to handle this for me, but each phone call ended exactly the same. “I’m sorry. We just don’t treat chickens.”
[NOTE: I am NOT going to include any graphic, nasty pictures. But I am going to discuss how this little surgery went. If you are extremely queasy, or eating as you read this, you may want to navigate away from this post right now. I honestly don't think the description is disturbing, but I don't want anyone hating me for not telling them I was going to describe a little bit of cutting and pus. And, lest you think I just enjoy writing about gross things, let me assure you that I am posting the below in the hopes that chicken owners who have never treated Bumblefoot may gain a little insight from my experience - which is, of course, different than the experiences I've read about because my chickens do NOTHING by the books.]
So, I went out at daybreak, grabbed Duke off his roost and said “Well, boy. It looks like we’re going to spend some quality time together this morning.” I won’t repeat his response.
All I can say is that I really wish Duke and his Bumblefoot had read the information on what a Bumblefoot “core” is supposed to look like and how it’s supposed to behave. After a long time of digging out the scab with an Exacto knife, the “core” I expected to find and easily remove was not there. Instead, I found strands of rubbery pus. Lots of strands of rubbery pus. And blood.
I have to believe the strands of pus were indeed the “core” I have read so much about – but it was not the single mass that I expected. Each time I inserted the tweezers into the opening, I would pull out another strand of rubbery pus. Eventually, I could find no more of it. And trust me when I say that Duke would tell you I really tried to find more. Poor guy. He did amazingly well and only jerked his foot a couple of times. I was very proud of him.
OK, so we got all the nasty stuff out of the foot. And then I was supposed to fill the deep hole with antibiotic cream. There was only one slight problem. There was no hole. What probably should have been a hole was filled with blood and nothing I could do would change that. So I blopped on a big wad of antibiotic cream and then gently pushed some of it into the blood filled hole with the tweezers.
Then I placed some sterile pads on the bottom of Dukes foot and bandaged his entire foot and leg. I was careful to wrap the bandage in between each of his toes so he can still walk and roost. I also hoped it would leave his foot feeling somewhat normal so that he wouldn’t pick the bandaging off.
I decided to keep Duke in a cage in the chicken run until he heals. I really have no where else to put the cage because I’m afraid it’s too warm in any of our outbuildings. Keeping him in the house is a definite no-go. We’ve tried that before. Apparently, when Duke gets unhappy about being in a cage, he crows. Loudly. Morning. Noon. And. Night. Even in pitch black darkness, Duke crows when he is in a cage in the house. So keeping him in the house is not a good idea.
But with all the pecking order issues we’ve got going on right now, keeping Duke in a cage in the chicken run didn’t work out very well either. Bobby Lee tormented poor Duke unmercifully. He ran around and around the cage trying to peck Duke through the cage bars and when I finally had enough of Bobby Lee’s aggravation, I let Duke out of the cage. I’ve been watching him all day and he’s not picking at his bandages. He kind of walks a little funny now, but I’m not sure the foot really hurts him as much as the big ol’ bandage annoys him.
If you look closely, you may be able to see Duke’s bandaged foot in this picture:
It was raining and I didn’t want to get my camera wet, so I had to rely on a zoom lens.
I’ll re-wrap Duke’s foot tonight and make sure it looks OK, and then check it in the morning again. I may have to repeat the procedure a couple of times to make sure all the “core” is out. Oh – and if anyone can send me the formula for figuring out how many CCs of Pen-G a 9 pound rooster needs and dosage info, I would really appreciate it.
And, finally, speaking of roosters, here is skinny little Bobby Lee enjoying his Reign of Terror:
And see the pullet in that picture with him? That’s one of Duke’s babies. She’s a White Faced Black Spanish mixed with Silver Gray Dorking. She is a HUGE girl – and definitely has Duke’s eyes, as well as his five toes. She’s from the hatch that we had about 4 months ago. I’ve had a hard time coming up with a name that suits her. Any suggestions?
Jethro is one of Duke’s boys from that same hatch. He’s a Silver Leghorn crossed with a Silver Gray Dorking. He is the spitting image of his father when Duke was that age.
And this is Pico – he’s a White Faced Black Spanish crossed with a Phoenix. Bobby Lee is his daddy:
And I’m going to stop there with the pictures of the boys. You should be very thankful. There are actually eight more cockerels out there now. Can you believe that? You would if you heard the crowing around here all day – every day!
I’m hoping my Chicken Ownership Resume doesn’t get much longer. I would be happy if the only thing on it said “Happy chicken owner. I know how to feed and water chickens. And I can feed them treats and scoop poop from the coop. The end.” Seriously. I mean who would ever actually APPLY for a job where knowledge of sticking fingers up chicken butts and cutting on chicken feet was required? If you answered “Me!” to that question – have I got a job for you!
Bee Free,
Penny
