Bumblefoot

[dreamer5577]

Are any of these hens limping or otherwise favoring their feet?

No. they show no signs of the feet bothering them whatsoever. they walk, run and jump normally with NO issues.

 

[dreamer5577]

I am just curious about why you are so opposed to surgically removing the scab and infected part but it's clear you are not interested in doing that. Are you opposed to using antibiotics as well? Lots of people go that route with cleaning and giving an antibiotic but that can be problematic in a lot of ways (eggs can't be eaten for a while, etc). There is a website with info on an herbal treatment.
http://walkaheadfarms.weebly.com/fa...blefoot-in-chickens-what-we-do-and-why-part-4
I've never tried it personally so I have no idea how effective it would be.

I have a hen right now with bumble foot and I did the surgery myself after soaking her foot in epsom salts for 5 minutes. After I removed the scab and the yucky stuff I irrigated it really well and used an antibiotic gel along with wrapping it. So far it looks great. Good luck...

I'm mostly opposed because I have no help. I feel like I'm not prepared enough or able to do it safely. My birds are SO squirmy. Just soaking their feet for 5 minutes a day is a hassle. I have been looking into it, I just don't think it would be fair to the bird if I screwed up.

I also thought about the antibiotic route, but was not sure where to obtain them. I have no local avian vet and I haven't found a feed store that sells them yet.

 

[Attila the Hen]

I just treated bumble foot, I realize now, in a hen who I have never picked up. She has been limping for over a week. Tonight I caught her and examined the pads. Both looked okay. The problem was on the top of the foot. There was a hardened mass that I couldn't identify.
Anyway, alone, I took her into the bathroom and put her foot in a bowl of warm water with Epsom salts. I am always amazed that the birds don't fight me when I am with them in the bathroom. In fact I was hands off and she just stood there most of the time. I poked the scab with tweezers and it seemed to move. I am squeamish and would say no chicken surgery for me but honestly it was like removing a giant hard blackhead. I put Nu Stock on the would which did not ooze or bleed (that worries me because I would have preferred to see blood indicating I'd got to the bottom of it.) I am sure I will have to keep treating it with soaking and Nu Stock. I will also research treatment tonight.
Another example of how the chickens "behave" once inside the house is my rotten Sultan rooster who flogs me routinely. On at least one occasion I bathed him and then blow dried him with the hair dryer all with no protest!!!!

 

[SeaderHausFarm]

I'm mostly opposed because I have no help. I feel like I'm not prepared enough or able to do it safely. My birds are SO squirmy. Just soaking their feet for 5 minutes a day is a hassle. I have been looking into it, I just don't think it would be fair to the bird if I screwed up.

I also thought about the antibiotic route, but was not sure where to obtain them. I have no local avian vet and I haven't found a feed store that sells them yet.

A couple of ideas...first, I do think you could order antibiotics for animals online without any problem. Maybe even through Amazon but also through somewhere like Hoegger Goat Supply. Also, do you live anywhere near an extension office? Maybe someone at the extension office would know of a 4H kiddo who could help or could tell you who the Poultry person (superintendent) is and they could help.

I will have to say that there was more blood than I anticipated when I did the surgery but everything went fine and it seems to be healing nicely. We wrapped the hen in a towel with just her beak out so she could still breath but so that she was sort of swaddled and she hardly moved.

Do you have a neighbor who might be willing to help?...just some thoughts.

 

[TomandBarbara]

We are currently treating one of our girls for bumblefoot.
There was no limping but she did have a lump between her toes like a bubble.
Hubby and I researched as much as we could and decided to soak her foeet in epsom salts bath then Lance her foot...remove the scab and clear the kernel. .
All went well but instead of a hard lump so many people had mentioned there was a lot of liquid pus! I mean a lot!!
Still we cleaned and dressed her foot every day for 2 weeks the lump disappeared but within 2 days of removing the wraps the pads were back!

This time we have decided not to cut her feet anymore and instead apply a poultice of iodine and sugar on a corn pad and wrap her feet.
A week later one of the pads has gone...
We are still persevering with her other foot.but she is eating drinking laying and walking normally..even though she does have bright yellow 'vetrap boots' on!

 

[Raquel1]

Hi, been reading on this bumblefoot issue. I have a hen that had this huge tumor like thing with the scab, we removed it, and out popped this black/greenish hard chunk. Put her on penicillin, vet thought it was a good idea. The bump is coming back. Someone told me it could be an encapsulated cyst. Anyone have advice? thought the picture uploaded, tried 3 times, but I'm not seeing it, very new to this stuff so bare with me. The thing that came out was rock hard and about the size of a grape.

 

[Amiga]

@Raquel1 that sounds like the description I have read for a number of advanced bumblefoot cases. Could it be there is something still in there? The penicillin is a good idea, though you may talk to the vet to see if it is as good for reaching the extremities as something like Duramycin. That said, the big concern is to keep the infection from going systemic (sepsis). So, I have no qualms about the penicillin. Then there's always the resistance issue, but there we are.

If it were me…. I would do Epsom salt soaks followed with a couple of drops of clear - clear - iodine. Then I'd wait a few days, and do that again. Epsom salt is said to draw things out - I have used it myself for a tiny tiny splinter that I could not get out of my heel. I made an E.s. poultice and wore that for a while. I told folks I had bumblefoot.

That's what I can come up with for the moment. Prayers for you and the hen.

 

[Raquel1]

We cleaned that baby out really good, but I suppose something could still be in there. I will give our vet a call again, and do the soaks. Our vet recommended just keeping it dry and clean, apparently that's not working.

 

[enola]

Bumble foot is caused by a staph infection. Does penicillin treat staph infections? When I operated on my rooster, I also got a horrible hunk of crap out of his foot. But, I never used any antibiotics. Just soaked his foot in betadine and kept him in a cage with a wire bottom to keep him out of the dirt.

 

[Amiga]

There are maybe a dozen different ways I have read to treat bumblefoot. With ducks, because they are in wet, muddy environments, cutting the feet is something I don't like to do. And there are times that the infection can get into the joint, or into the bloodstream, requiring the use of antibiotics. In our flock, I have caught it early, and not had to deal with the concern about systemic infection.