I surgically removed my first bumblefoot scab, but can't find the infection - where is it?

[Freia]

I don't ordinarily look at my chickens' feet. Last week, my daughter was holding my big cochin, and I saw the bottoms of her feet. She has a huge, dime-sized black callous/scab. She has slight swelling, no redness, and no limp at all, but it's obvious bumblefoot.

Last night I soaked her foot in Povidone "tea", then cut around the callous with an xacto-knife, and started pulling. The scab came off, and it was a very thick one. I can see one spot where it left a clean-looking deeper, round divet underneath. This is where I would have expected to see the plug, or pus, or cheesy stuff - or something. Anything.I soaked her again, massaging her foot, then tried to squeeze something out again. Nothing.

She'd had enough at this point, so I packed it with ointment and wrapped her up. I thought it would be best to check on here before digging further or messing with her anymore.

Can she have bumblefoot without a plug of oozy, icky stuff in there? If it's in there somewhere, how to I get to it? All I'm seeing is clean flesh at this point.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Well, I'm far from an expert here but I'll chime in with what I know. I've had hens for 3 years and no trouble at all. Then my landscaper put down tan bark and all of the sudden I'm seeing scabs on the bottom of my hens feet. The vet thinks they are getting splinters in there and gave me some topical stuff to put on the scabs to get them to dry up and fall off.

See, there really wasn't much of an infection in there. Yet! There was no redness or swelling. They were not limping. So just getting the scab to dry up and come off was enough to treat my hens.

So maybe you caught this early enough that you didn't have a big infection in there. Getting the scab off so that you can get some antibiotic ointment in there is good. Keep it clean and dry and wrapped up and I'd do that for at least a week or 10 days so it can heal up and be sure to watch it every day to make sure it's not getting worse.

If it gets red, warm or swollen, then she needs oral antibiotics.

 

[theoldchick]

Since she's not limping, I'd leave it alone and allow the foot to heal from the surgery. I don't mess with a lesion unless it's bothering the chicken or obviously infected. If I have a chicken who needs attention, I'll usually do a warm epsom salt soak (20 minute sessions) for several days and palpate for the soft spot and make my incision there. Afterwards, I'll apply strong iodine to the area and bandage if needed for a few days, and keep the chicken in a clean area until healing is complete.

 

[Valkyrie123]

Sounds like you are doing the right thing for the bumblefoot.

The next step is to find out why it happened. Check your perches for anything sharp that could puncture a chicken's foot. Be careful you don't puncture your fingers as you don't want bumble finger. It could be a sliver or a screw or nail head that is sticking through the wood. One little sharp object can affect the entire flock in time.

 

[Stardust33]

I don't ordinarily look at my chickens' feet. Last week, my daughter was holding my big cochin, and I saw the bottoms of her feet. She has a huge, dime-sized black callous/scab. She has slight swelling, no redness, and no limp at all, but it's obvious bumblefoot.

Last night I soaked her foot in Povidone "tea", then cut around the callous with an xacto-knife, and started pulling. The scab came off, and it was a very thick one. I can see one spot where it left a clean-looking deeper, round divet underneath. This is where I would have expected to see the plug, or pus, or cheesy stuff - or something. Anything.I soaked her again, massaging her foot, then tried to squeeze something out again. Nothing.

She'd had enough at this point, so I packed it with ointment and wrapped her up. I thought it would be best to check on here before digging further or messing with her anymore.

Can she have bumblefoot without a plug of oozy, icky stuff in there? If it's in there somewhere, how to I get to it? All I'm seeing is clean flesh at this point.

 

[Stardust33]

Dealing with the exact same thing. I need advice. I will keep a close eye on it but I'm worried the infection will spread

 

[Sally PB]

@Stardust33, this is a very old thread. You might not get any replies, so I suggest you start a new thread. It would really help us help you if you posted pictures of the foot in question, and please tell us what you have done so far.

And,