Possible bumblefoot; but did I make a mistake?

[birdy_num_nums]

Our "Little Chicken", a Golden Penciled Hamburg, a year old, started limping two days ago. Last night I read all about bumblefoot and other possibilities on here. Just got back in from treating her foot. She had a scab on the bottom of her pad, the pad was puffier than the healthy foot, but not grossly swollen or otherwise infected or whatnot.

Soaked her foot in warm water for several minutes and tried removing the scab. Small pieces of it were coming off (I was using a large needle). Soaked the area some more with a wet cotton ball, poured some hydrogen peroxide over it. After that I could get some leverage under the edge of the scab and it started coming off easily. It didn't leave a huge hole; instead, it was just 'chicken foot meat' in there, looking fairly healthy (I guess! first timer here). I squeezed her pad a bit trying to see if anything was in there deeper that I could drain out. Since there was no hole into the depths of her foot pad, I wasn't comfortable digging around in there. I cleaned the whole area well with rubbing alcohol swabs, put a big glop of antibiotic ointment on it and wrapped it with gauze and taped with surgical tape.

By that time Little Chicken was relaxed and laying with her eyes closed in my 8yr old's lap LOL. I joked about it being a Chicken Day Spa experience for Little Chicken- foot soaks, the works LOL.

BUT, now I'm worried that I just removed a perfectly-working scab for no reason!

I put her back in the hen house and she didn't seem too pleased by her new "sock" and pecked at it a bit. I suspect that when I check on her in a moment the wrapping on her foot will be off already.

Any advice for me? I guess at this point I just keep a very close eye on her? How will I know if I need to do more exploration for a bumblefoot 'core' in her foot?

 

[Judy]

I'm more concerned that you didn't find the core and that you put her back in the hen house. She needs to be in a hospital (like a dog cage) and off the ground til the foot is healed, and it would be much better if you kept a dressing on. You might get some vet wrap to hold it on. You'll just have to see how it looks in a couple of days, to determine whether more digging is needed.

I wouldn't worry about removing a "perfectly good" scab at all; it was the obvious thing to do, being on the bottom of a chicken's foot.

 

[birdy_num_nums]

Quote:
Ok, I was thinking of putting her in a dog crate, but then I was concerned that when she goes back in with the other hens that they'll pick on her (that she'll lose her place in the pecking order), any advice on that? I could put her in a big dog crate in our garage, or in a small one and place that in the hen house. Opinions?

Her wrap is still on thank goodness. But now it seems she's favoring the leg more, even pulling it up and standing on her good leg only

. Not sure if it is because it is more sore since I worked on it, or if her wrap feels funny to her, or what.

I'm going to get some betadine today. I'll change the wrap daily or more often if it gets dirty.

What's a good "digging" tool? Some tweezers? I was using the large needle today. Any other ideas?

 

[speckledhen]

The best tool is an Xacto knife (craft knife) along with a good pair of tweezers.