Bumble Foot Soaking Trick!

[Stephine]

Just finished successfully (finally!) removing the kernel from my bumble footed hen. She had it on both feet. I had so much trouble getting the skin on her feet to soften up with soaking them. Yesterday I kept her standing in Epsomsalt water for half an hour (I have tried many 10-15 min soaks before that did very little) and finally managed to remove the plug from one of her feet. The secong one was still rock solid and now I had a new problem, because now I would have to soak just one foot! I thought I‘d try soaking a cotton ball (just used water and a little castile soap) and bandaging the dripping wet ball to her foot with vet wrap. Put her in the sick chick crate for an hour, and then worked on her foot. It had soaked so much better than in the bath and it was so much easier on me and her. Finally managed to get that secong plug out and now we are ready to start her healing! Yayyy!!!!
Anyway: maybe try just bandaging a wet cotton ball to your chicken‘s foot instead of the whole stand in a bath thing. No need to hold on to your bird for half an hour or longer, no splashing all over, no wet hen in cold weather (mine always laid down in the tub). Easy peasy!

 

[gtaus]

Just finished successfully (finally!) removing the kernel from my bumble footed hen. She had it on both feet. I had so much trouble getting the skin on her feet to soften up with soaking them. Yesterday I kept her standing in Epsomsalt water for half an hour (I have tried many 10-15 min soaks before that did very little) and finally managed to remove the plug from one of her feet. The secong one was still rock solid and now I had a new problem, because now I would have to soak just one foot! I thought I‘d try soaking a cotton ball (just used water and a little castile soap) and bandaging the dripping wet ball to her foot with vet wrap. Put her in the sick chick crate for an hour, and then worked on her foot. It had soaked so much better than in the bath and it was so much easier on me and her. Finally managed to get that secong plug out and now we are ready to start her healing! Yayyy!!!!
Anyway: maybe try just bandaging a wet cotton ball to your chicken‘s foot instead of the whole stand in a bath thing. No need to hold on to your bird for half an hour or longer, no splashing all over, no wet hen in cold weather (mine always laid down in the tub). Easy peasy!

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I'm always looking for better ways to do things.

 

[CCsGarden]

Just finished successfully (finally!) removing the kernel from my bumble footed hen. She had it on both feet. I had so much trouble getting the skin on her feet to soften up with soaking them. Yesterday I kept her standing in Epsomsalt water for half an hour (I have tried many 10-15 min soaks before that did very little) and finally managed to remove the plug from one of her feet. The secong one was still rock solid and now I had a new problem, because now I would have to soak just one foot! I thought I‘d try soaking a cotton ball (just used water and a little castile soap) and bandaging the dripping wet ball to her foot with vet wrap. Put her in the sick chick crate for an hour, and then worked on her foot. It had soaked so much better than in the bath and it was so much easier on me and her. Finally managed to get that secong plug out and now we are ready to start her healing! Yayyy!!!!
Anyway: maybe try just bandaging a wet cotton ball to your chicken‘s foot instead of the whole stand in a bath thing. No need to hold on to your bird for half an hour or longer, no splashing all over, no wet hen in cold weather (mine always laid down in the tub). Easy peasy!

I may have to try this! My Hens have Bumble foot.
Thank you for sharing this advice!

Dose this look like it's healing?

 

[Lillith37]

Thank you @Stephine that’s a good trick to know! Especially when only one foot is affected. The epsom salt soaks are great but they soften the whole foot/skin which isn’t ideal.

 

[Lillith37]

@CCsGarden those wounds look pretty raw but not necessarily infected. I’m not seeing any discolouration, excessive swelling or inflammatory tissue. I would personally stop the soaking now. They just need to be kept clean and protected so they can scab over and heal. Clean them each night and then apply honey or vetericyn and wrap with gauze and vetwrap. When they scab over, leave them alone until the scab comes off.

 

[CCsGarden]

@CCsGarden those wounds look pretty raw but not necessarily infected. I’m not seeing any discolouration, excessive swelling or inflammatory tissue. I would personally stop the soaking now. They just need to be kept clean and protected so they can scab over and heal. Clean them each night and then apply honey or vetericyn and wrap with gauze and vetwrap. When they scab over, leave them alone until the scab comes off.

Thank you very much! I will stop soaking them and clean them every evening.

 

[Lillith37]

Thank you very much! I will stop soaking them and clean them every evening.

You’re welcome. Best of luck. Sometimes home treatment of bumblefoot can take several iterations. You’ll know when the new scab falls off if it’s healed or if there is still something in there. You’re welcome to also make your own post about this issue in the emergencies section if you want some more opinions on how to approach it.

 

[Stephine]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I'm always looking for better ways to do things.

You’re welcome ! I‘m always happy to try and help make life a little bit easier on everyone.

 

[CCsGarden]

You’re welcome. Best of luck. Sometimes home treatment of bumblefoot can take several iterations. You’ll know when the new scab falls off if it’s healed or if there is still something in there. You’re welcome to also make your own post about this issue in the emergencies section if you want some more opinions on how to approach it.

This is the second time they get bumble foot it is quite hard to care for. thank you for your help.
if I need any more opinions or advice I will make a thread.