I need help...My rooster has a swollen foot pad. The bottom of his foot is the size of a golf ball. This has happened in the last 14 hours. I homeschool 3 kids so the chickens are well watched. We noticed he was limping and carrying his foot up. When inspected we noticed it was red, large & swollen. There is a black spot on the bottom about the size of a dime. I did not see anything stuck in his foot. What can I do to help him? Should he be taken to a Vet? We can't stand to lose Rudy. Help would be greatly appreciated.

Do a word search on the classroom for "bumblefoot". Sometimes a rock or a small cut or something gets stuck in the foot and causes an infection. That's what you have. I had a roo once that had this and we didn't do anything. He was fine. His foot looked funny but he could walk just fine. The "remedy" is to cut it open, drain the thing out and treat it as you would an infection (with topical antibiotic cream), separate him and keep him on clean dry litter for a while until it heals. I don't think a lot of chicken fanciers are very comfortable performing this "surgery". If you have a vet that will do it, that would work and he'd be just fine with some good aftercare by you.

Susie

I should add that my roo who had bumblefoot with no treatment wasn't nearly as bad off as yours sounds. His foot had a lump probably the size of a marble. We do routine foot checks all the time now with our flock. Chickens with feathered feet are more likely to get bumblefoot.

Susie

Also:
Aftercare:
Provide deep litter (pine shavings); avoid high perches; round off edges of perch and sand off splinters; feed vitamin supplement (especially vitamin A).