Bumblefoot healing

[SunnyRue]

I noticed one of my easter eggers had bumblefoot on both feet, so we took her to the vet (yes I know we could have treated her at home but we're all inexperienced, squeamish city people). The vet debrided her feet and gave us some antibiotics and pain killers. We've been giving her the medicine for a week now, but I'm not sure that she's healing, as I've never dealt with this before so I don't know what the timeline is. The pads of her feet are much less swollen than before, but they are still slightly larger than normal and there are scabs. Could someone with more experience help me understand if this is the normal healing process or if I can do something else to help her heal better?

 

[lbgreenfield]

Hi! Sorry to hear about your EE. I’ve had multiple cases of bumblefoot with my flock. If you post some pictures of her feet, that would help! I’m glad you have a vet to take her too, as well!

As for the treatment and healing process, it does take time (weeks and even months) with or without surgery. Be patient : )

For future refernceI have found the best, non-surgical treatment for bumblefoot is twice daily soaks of distilled water and Tri-Cide Neo powder for ~10min each soak. The Tri powder is a koi fish medicine and can be purchased here (it is expensive but will last a while):
https://www.koiacres.com/featured/tricide-neo.html

You’ll have to mix the powder with distilled water only, and you can do small batches at a time to not waste powder. I had to treat one of my hens for 3 months before the bumbles completely went away, so I know it works.

Good luck, I’d be happy to share more of my experience with bumblefoot, feel free to send me a PM!

 

[SunnyRue]

Hi! Sorry to hear about your EE. I’ve had multiple cases of bumblefoot with my flock. If you post some pictures of her feet, that would help! I’m glad you have a vet to take her too, as well!

As for the treatment and healing process, it does take time (weeks and even months) with or without surgery. Be patient : )

For future refernceI have found the best, non-surgical treatment for bumblefoot is twice daily soaks of distilled water and Tri-Cide Neo powder for ~10min each soak. The Tri powder is a koi fish medicine and can be purchased here (it is expensive but will last a while):
https://www.koiacres.com/featured/tricide-neo.html

You’ll have to mix the powder with distilled water only, and you can do small batches at a time to not waste powder. I had to treat one of my hens for 3 months before the bumbles completely went away, so I know it works.

Good luck, I’d be happy to share more of my experience with bumblefoot, feel free to send me a PM!

Thank you so much for your response! I had heard about the tri-cide neo before, but I was hoping that if we took her to the vet the process would be a lot quicker and less work for us, however I will keep that in mind if she does not heal.

Here are some pictures of what her feet look like today. The black spots are much bigger than before we took her to the vet. She has not been limping and she has been eating, laying eggs, and sleeping on the roost. She honestly doesn't seem to be in any pain but I know that with chickens they hide it pretty well.

 

[lbgreenfield]

Thank you so much for your response! I had heard about the tri-cide neo before, but I was hoping that if we took her to the vet the process would be a lot quicker and less work for us, however I will keep that in mind if she does not heal.

Here are some pictures of what her feet look like today. The black spots are much bigger than before we took her to the vet. She has not been limping and she has been eating, laying eggs, and sleeping on the roost. She honestly doesn't seem to be in any pain but I know that with chickens they hide it pretty well. View attachment 2526677View attachment 2526680

I know quite a few people on BYC don’t treat bumblefoot unless symptoms show, and I have done that myself as well. The hens that I treated all had visible limps and were picking at the scabs. You know your hen best, so do what you feel is the right decision (continue to use vet treatment, monitor, do nothing, etc).

Looking at your EE’s feet, I would recommend trying warm epsom salt soaks to try and soften the bumbles, to see if you can gently scrape off the scab(s) and spray with Vetricyn or Betadine. Don’t for forget to dry her feet/legs if it is cold where you are, you don’t want frost bitten feet!

If after a few weeks or months the bumbles are still there and she is starting to act off, I’d really recommend the Tricide Neo. Keep us posted and good luck! Feel free to send me a PM : )

 

[coach723]

Did the vet not recommend wrapping the feet? I would soak them and clean them off and then apply plain neosporin and wrap them with vet wrap or co wrap to keep them clean until you know they are healing well. Bumblefoot can sometimes take quite a while to heal, but if dirt/droppings/bacteria are getting into where the bumble was removed you will be going in circles. I usually reapply ointment and re wrap daily until I know it's healing well, then go to every other or every third day, based on how it looks. I don't leave the bandages off until it's healed. The tricide neo is a good soak, I've found it works best for smaller, shallower lesions.

 

[SunnyRue]

Did the vet not recommend wrapping the feet? I would soak them and clean them off and then apply plain neosporin and wrap them with vet wrap or co wrap to keep them clean until you know they are healing well. Bumblefoot can sometimes take quite a while to heal, but if dirt/droppings/bacteria are getting into where the bumble was removed you will be going in circles. I usually reapply ointment and re wrap daily until I know it's healing well, then go to every other or every third day, based on how it looks. I don't leave the bandages off until it's healed. The tricide neo is a good soak, I've found it works best for smaller, shallower lesions.

The vet wrapped her feet and the bandages stayed on for a week, but she did not specify for us to re-wrap them once they fell off.

 

[SunnyRue]

I know quite a few people on BYC don’t treat bumblefoot unless symptoms show, and I have done that myself as well. The hens that I treated all had visible limps and were picking at the scabs. You know your hen best, so do what you feel is the right decision (continue to use vet treatment, monitor, do nothing, etc).

Looking at your EE’s feet, I would recommend trying warm epsom salt soaks to try and soften the bumbles, to see if you can gently scrape off the scab(s) and spray with Vetricyn or Betadine. Don’t for forget to dry her feet/legs if it is cold where you are, you don’t want frost bitten feet!

If after a few weeks or months the bumbles are still there and she is starting to act off, I’d really recommend the Tricide Neo. Keep us posted and good luck! Feel free to send me a PM : )

thank you for the recommendation! I will get some vetricyn and try that out soon.

 

[MissMindy]

Hi! Sorry to hear about your EE. I’ve had multiple cases of bumblefoot with my flock. If you post some pictures of her feet, that would help! I’m glad you have a vet to take her too, as well!

As for the treatment and healing process, it does take time (weeks and even months) with or without surgery. Be patient : )

For future refernceI have found the best, non-surgical treatment for bumblefoot is twice daily soaks of distilled water and Tri-Cide Neo powder for ~10min each soak. The Tri powder is a koi fish medicine and can be purchased here (it is expensive but will last a while):
https://www.koiacres.com/featured/tricide-neo.html

You’ll have to mix the powder with distilled water only, and you can do small batches at a time to not waste powder. I had to treat one of my hens for 3 months before the bumbles completely went away, so I know it works.

Good luck, I’d be happy to share more of my experience with bumblefoot, feel free to send me a PM!

Ibgreenfield Your method worked with my hen, it was a pain, but way better than surgery in my opinion. It did take a couple of months. I also used a herb ointment that I got from my acupuncturist to help the healing. Thank you so much!

 

[lbgreenfield]

Ibgreenfield Your method worked with my hen, it was a pain, but way better than surgery in my opinion. It did take a couple of months. I also used a herb ointment that I got from my acupuncturist to help the healing. Thank you so much!

You’re welcome, I’m glad the Tricide Neo worked for you!