My favorite rooster had developed bumblefoot as a result of a torn toenail. His foot and lower leg swelled 3X the normal size (all while I was on vacation). The vet suggested soaks and tetracycline (terramycin) in his drinking water. There was little improvement.I searched the web for "bumblefoot" and after the first 3 pages of a rock band called "BumbleFoot" I found a raptor rehab page. They suggested soaking the foot and injecting the foot with penicillin. I use Epsom salt in the foot soak twice a day and my husband injected the infected area with antibiotics. We switched antibiotics to penicillin (from Tylan) after I got the information and it is working! His toes are normal sized, but he still has a way to go on his "ankle"...though it is greatly improved.
I dug through my microbiology book to look up the two antibiotics and found that Staph and Strep (usually the causes of the nasty wound infections) are gram positive bacteria and that is exactly what Penicillin (bacteriocide) is active on with few side effects (allergies in humans). Tetracycline is a broad-spectrum (bacteriostat) with possible liver and kidney damage (in humans) after prolonged use.
So now when I have a strange disease in my chickens, I'm going to look up info on raptors and expensive cage birds. Many animal care people have the "Far Side" mentality (the cartoon showing the book on horse health..every treatment was to "shoot" the sick animal).

Re: Bumblefoot Blues

I have a hen with bumble foot. She is now on Tetracycline and after soaking for 5 days, I asked a vet to look at her. He opened her foot and removed whatever debris he could and bandaged the foot with gauze. It is now 2 days later - I removed the bandage and am worried to see that her foot is still swollen and very warm. I dabbed a bit of Peroxide on the wound but this seemed to hurt her. My big question is: Should I be soaking her foot still? and should it stay bandaged or does it need to drain or air?
Any information would be greatly appreciated!

Last year we doctored a hen with bumblefoot for several weeks. We removed the piece of wood that had gotten stuck in the foot, then squeezed gunk out a couple of times after that. She got a couple of shots, and we kept checking the foot and cleaning with peroxide. Generally speaking, peroxide doesn't hurt too much, so maybe your hen was reacting to its temperature. Try to keep the site as clean as possible. If she will keep a bandage on there, you could coat the wound with some antibiotic cream each time before you dress it. Watch to see that she doesn't get the bandage mucky so that dirt and fecal material is held in the wound with the bandage. If you could separate her so she will have to roost on the floor in a little pen on clean straw, I think that would be better than on the roost, which is almost always at least a little dirty. Hope this helps.

One of my hens has swelling between her toes and on the bottom. Is this bumblefoot? I have read where you can either soak and let it heal itself or open up, drain and inject with antibiotic. I am inclined to the former. Can it cause death if not treated properly immediately?