Bumblefoot

[pfields]

I just recently notice some dark spots on some of my hen's feet. I removed two but there was nothing under it, no pus, nothing. Are all dark spots bumblefoot?

 

[dawg53]

I just recently notice some dark spots on some of my hen's feet. I removed two but there was nothing under it, no pus, nothing. Are all dark spots bumblefoot?

Not all dark spots are bumblefoot. There have been instances that I've seen the telltale scab on the footpad and done surgery without finding infection....needlessly stressing the bird. If there is redness, swelling, and/or limping with a scab....time for surgery. Otherwise it's best to leave it alone and the scab usually disappears on its own in time.
Other dark spots could also mean that birds are kept on moist or damp litter causing Footpad Dermatitis.

 

[egghead@1265]

Great work! Wow, and you even got the photo uploaded!

I hope your hen does well!

Keeping it clean and infection free is always a challenge!

What a lucky hen!

 

[pfields]

Not all dark spots are bumblefoot. There have been instances that I've seen the telltale scab on the footpad and done surgery without finding infection....needlessly stressing the bird. If there is redness, swelling, and/or limping with a scab....time for surgery. Otherwise it's best to leave it alone and the scab usually disappears on its own in time.
Other dark spots could also mean that birds are kept on moist or damp litter causing Footpad Dermatitis.

Thank you so much for the reply. My poor hen, I thought I was doing the right thing. We applied triple antibiotic cream (the no pain kind) and wrapped her foot. The coop floor is covered with lots of shavings, not damp at all and very clean. The only damp place in our backyard is under the trees where I have the mister going. They spend a lot of time there during the hot part of the day. I turn the mister off around 7-8 pm and by morning that ground is dry. They do like to dig out little shallow holes to sit in. This morning I put a fine layer DE on the ground under the trees. Is that okay?

I sift out the poop on the poop boards (covered with PDZ) every morning and pick up any poop that gets on the shaving on the floor which isn't much at all. They come in to lay eggs/roost and are outside the rest of the day. They also have a fan going inside the coop day and night. I change the position of the fan during the day to blow lower and higher at night when they are on the roost.

Again, thank you so much, you spared my chickens needless pain.

 

[kychickengal]

My hen has a crooked toe and on the side where her toe bends she has a black scab. At first I thought it was something stuck but when I tried to pull it off it seemed to hurt her. The next day the black was gone but now, about two weeks later it is back. Is this bumblefoot? If so, what should I do about it?

 

[Raquel1]

Enola, I got meds today for staph infections, it's just one injection. I don't think people where I live hear about this stuff, so I have a lot of people poking around now on the internet learning. Most people just say ah, it's just a chicken and do away with it. Anyway, we shall see now in a few days or so how things are going, hopefully this takes care of it. I'm assuming I should keep up on the salt soaks? or not?

 

[enola]

I think the soaks might help. I soaked in betadine.

 

[Betsy57]

Have a rooster with bumblefoot. He is also very thin so I don't know if something else is going on with him or what. I am concerned. I did remove the scab and cleared out what gunk I could. Then I found this page. I may try this too.

http://ouroneacrefarm.com/bumblefoot-treatment-tricideneo/

 

[egghead@1265]

the ointment could work...it sure sounds good!

However, when we had it, we just used human triple antibiotics gel on her!

If you knew our son, he is typically a minimalist in treatments and applications, and often not overdoing has seemed to be quite effective, overall.

It is difficult to keep a chicken foot clean! Good grief! I mean, how difficult?!? Extremely!

But, we did soak it a few times, kept her isolated during the healing, and wrapped her foot daily! I can't even believe we did that! My husband performed her surgery, and she was so good!

She did recover from it!

We had another with it, in a later flock, and chose not to treat her. She lived, and her foot did heal quite normally.

Your rooster being thin, is he thinner than previously, or just a skinny guy?

Eat well?

I know some treat for parasites, but we have not.

Using DE can help in many ways for this as well, and we have used that sporadically

Let us know what happens.

Good luck!

 

[StelleKitten]

I have a slight emergency. Does anyone have a white leghorn hen I could buy? My nephews favorite chicken(and my only white leghorn) died today. He won't be back for a bit so it's not a dire emergency but I don't want him to know she got out again and the hawk got her.