Vet doesnt know what’s wrong with my hen’s foot… please help me figure out! | BackYard Chickens

Vet doesnt know what’s wrong with my hen’s foot… please help me figure out! | BackYard Chickens

I just got off the phone with the vet’s technician and I’m overwhelmed, shocked, and mentally distressed, to say the least.

On 8/23 sometimes in the early afternoon, one of my hens started limping. Next day, she did not walk at all. I read up about bumble foot, and she did have a small scab on the bottom of her foot, along with swollen foot pad. I proceeded to soak her foot with epsom salt, isolated her to grassy area. I started giving her antibiotic on Monday’s morning. This was the antibiotic prescribed to my other hen, who had passed away and these are still good for another 2 years so they aren’t expired. I also started dressing her foot with neosporin, after cleaning it up with vetericyn poultry spray. I got the regimen done for her until Wednesday, dropped her off at the vet bc the office is an hour away. Next day, It was determined by the vet that she has bumble foot, and nothing else. The vet prescribed the exact same antibiotic with metacam, and tricide solution spray. Instructions given to me were to medicate her, soaking the foot, then spray.

I picked her up on Friday, so she was at the vet office for roughly 48-55 hours. I wasn’t able to pick her up so my husband did.

She got back home on Friday midday.

Her foot looked worse. I’d seen many,many,many bumble foot pictures, including the most severe cases, but none that I saw was anything like my Lapis’ foot. I noticed yellow “liquid” seeping out of her toes. They were terrible looking. I changed her bandage twice a day, cleaned it, sprayed it, soaked, etc. To me, her foot has something else going on besides bumble foot. I stopped soaking her foot with epsom salt for 2 days now. Earlier this morning, before taking her back to the same vet, was the first time since 12 days ago that she was able to stand on her bumble foot. For the past 11 days, she was on the ground, and only hopped around for a minute if she had to. Her appetite and water intake has been drastically reduced for the last 12 days, and she also stopped laying 12 days ago.

I called the vet yesterday and told them I need to get her back in because I strongly feel there’s something else going on with her because her foot does not look like it’s just only bumble foot. To clarify this, when we got her back from the first visit with the vet, I also told the technician over the phone that I felt something else was wrong but that the vet only thought it was only bumble foot, so to give it time with antibiotic. I didn’t know what else to say…

Fast forward to earlier today, they called me, letting me know the vet now thinks there’s something else going on with her. The vet thinks there’s blood clot and her foot doesn’t get the blood flow, and eventually it’ll die off. So to make it short, she’s dying.

She’s roughly 1.5 years of age and I got her as days old chick from another chicken keeper who had hatched her at home along with about two dozen eggs.

I’m beyond distressed. I wonder if they had done something the very first time I dropped her off, then maybe they could have figured out there’s definitely something else going on besides just bumble foot(?)

Please, I need your help to figure out what oils be the case with her foot. I know this community has a huge number of chicken keepers and experts so if you know someone, can you please help share and tag this thread?

I’m attaching a few pictures of her foot that I took a few days ago.

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