Stubborn, Painful Bumblefoot - No Core

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

My 4 y/o GLW, Drucie, has struggled with bumblefoot on and off for most of her life. Whenever we finally get her to heal up, she always gets it back--and, notably, it always flares up during peak laying season (as if the act of laying causes system-wide inflammation).

Anyway, a couple weeks ago, we noticed she had mild bumblefoot beginning in both foot pads. Her left foot looks like a classic bumble, which has been working its way to the surface for removal. That foot is not bothering her. Her right foot pad, however, is merely inflamed looking--not swollen, but a bit angry and pinkish/purplish/red, with NO CLEAR CORE. Nothing is surfacing that indicates a core and as such, I feel treatment isn't reaching the infection. Also, that foot is clearly bothering her: she retracts it during treatment and tries not to use it to get around (mild limp, often holding it up). There isn't any red streaking or swelling spreading to her leg yet, but she's clearly uncomfortable. She wants so badly to keep up with the others and is still eating/drinking/laying--so the energy is there, she's just limpy.

What are my options? I've been soaking her in chlorhexadine solution and wrapping with a mixture of drawing salve, silver honey, and triple antibiotic. We plan to do this every other day--and I can take pictures the next we re-do her bandages. I've also started her on baytril last night, hoping it might work from the inside, since there isn't a bumble to work with. I worry about a deep infection that might affect her bone, but have no way to access that infection other than hoping my treatment draws it to the surface over time.

 

[coach723]

Pictures would be really helpful.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Pictures would be really helpful.

Yes, I will take them next we bathe/rebandage. This evening or tomorrow.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Pictures would be really helpful.

Both feet. The one with a clear bumble isn't bothering her but the other one is. The green is from green vetwrap residue.

This is the worst one. It's not hot to the touch but just inflamed and a bit swollen looking. She holds it up when she can, and will walk on it with a minor limp. She retracts it a lot when wrapping, indicating it's painful.

This is the other foot she favors. I'm thinking this one we can tackle, but the other has me concerned.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

@coach723 not sure if you saw, but I've added pictures. She's still favoring one foot though she will walk around with a mild limp to eat/drink/lay and do chicken things (scratching around).

 

[coach723]

Sorry for the delay, I've been off line dealing with several chicken issues of my own. When it rains it pours!!
I can't see much, if any, swelling in the foot you say is bothering her more. I'm wondering if she's tweaked it, maybe from favoring the other? I would be inclined to just watch it for now, see if anything developes or if it resolves. I'd be reluctant to do anything like cutting or digging at this point since there is nothing obvious. I have had birds that have had injuries that continued to behave for a time after recovering, as if there was still a problem, even when there wasn't. Prime example was a hen that got tangled up in the straps of her saddle. She wasn't injured, but was convinced for a day and a half that she couldn't walk. Then she figured it out. I think their brains don't always reset right away. you can soak it in epsom salts daily if you have the time, see if that helps with pain.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Sorry for the delay, I've been off line dealing with several chicken issues of my own. When it rains it pours!!
I can't see much, if any, swelling in the foot you say is bothering her more. I'm wondering if she's tweaked it, maybe from favoring the other? I would be inclined to just watch it for now, see if anything developes or if it resolves. I'd be reluctant to do anything like cutting or digging at this point since there is nothing obvious. I have had birds that have had injuries that continued to behave for a time after recovering, as if there was still a problem, even when there wasn't. Prime example was a hen that got tangled up in the straps of her saddle. She wasn't injured, but was convinced for a day and a half that she couldn't walk. Then she figured it out. I think their brains don't always reset right away. you can soak it in epsom salts daily if you have the time, see if that helps with pain.

I completely understand. I'm going through one of those downpours, too. While giving Dru her foot bath/rewrap yesterday I noticed another hen in distress who was egg bound and had to scramble to help her afterwards (happy ending, thankfully). I hope all are doing well/feeling better on your end!

I appreciate your insights. They give me hope. It's possible she tweaked it, but hard to tell. It's also possible that her previous bandages weren't done well and maybe put too much pressure on a certain area or something.

I know from vets who worked with Dru that the type of bumblefoot she gets is "stringy" and presents as inflamed tissue more than anything (which makes surgery difficult). This time I worried about osteomyelitis, but suppose there'd be more visible swelling/redness/heat.

I'm hopeful, because today she seems to be limping less (it's still there but very slight) and she seems like she doesn't want to let that hold her back from doing everything with her flock. It makes me wince to watch her run, but I don't want to limit her mobility if she seems to be having fun. I'm going to continue with the baytril course, since I am seeing improvement. I'm also going to continue with the baths/wraps every other day--except I'm going to try out the donut/pool noodle method. I think taking pressure off her foot pads might be just the thing she needs to heal and allow any infection to the surface.

Thanks again for taking time to respond when you have so much going on!

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

View attachment 3481712
Both feet. The one with a clear bumble isn't bothering her but the other one is. The green is from green vetwrap residue.

View attachment 3481714
This is the worst one. It's not hot to the touch but just inflamed and a bit swollen looking. She holds it up when she can, and will walk on it with a minor limp. She retracts it a lot when wrapping, indicating it's painful.

View attachment 3481721
This is the other foot she favors. I'm thinking this one we can tackle, but the other has me concerned.

I'd try some corn pads like these:

They were a game changer for me in dealing with bumblefoot. My girl went from hobbling around the yard to charger across it like wonder woman. I think she was actually sad when her feet healed up and I took off the wraps.

The problem with frequent foot soakings (per my vet) is that it can actually soften up the skin too much, making it hard for the scab to heal and easy for the new skin to break. The corn pads help push any kernel/pus to the center of the foot and keeps pressure off the scab so it can heal better.

I'm not sure how well it would work for the foot with general swelling but you could try padding the edges of her foot pad with bits of the cushion and see it if help. Just stick on the padding and wrap as usual with vetwrap. As long as it stays dry you can leave it on for several days before rechecking and changing.

I'd also consider giving her some extra vitamins if you haven't been. Vitamin A deficiency can contribute to bumblefoot and she may be using more laying eggs than she is absorbing. You can also try putting a cushion down in the nest box to give her feet a rest if she spends a lot of time in there, but be warned that I completely failed in convincing my girls to use the boxes with cushions (they would lay on the floor of the coop rather than the cushioned nest box if that was the only option ).

 

[coach723]

The corn pads are a good idea, I've used homemade ones on occasion (made from pool noodles or craft foam from the dollar store), they can help take the pressure off the area.
I have a roo that has had a couple of really nasty bouts with bumblefoot that is the stringy/ribbony kind, so I know how difficult that is. His first bout took about a year to resolve. At one point I was concerned about osteomyelitis, I lanced what I thought was a pus pocket and hit bone. I did a long round of a combination of clindamycin and SMZ-TMP, dosing was my guess based on lots of research, and I adjusted it several times. I would watch his droppings and if they changed, I would change the dose, until he was tolerating it well. Second time I used sugardine, since nothing else was working. Because, yes, it is really hard to clean that kind of bumblefoot out and get it all. It was that, or euthanize as I'd decided that enough was enough and I wasn't going to cut into his poor feet again. So I cleaned it out as well as I could, and packed it with sugardine (which is not expensive and is easy to do) and I repacked it every day, cleaning out any visible pus each time and flushing. It took awhile, but it slowly started to heal up. This thread has a picture, and explains what I did, post #8 in this link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/bumblefoot-not-healing.1443809/#post-23973555
He is still with me (He's 8 years old now) and has not had another bout since I got the last one cleared up, and it's been several years. Knock on wood! I check his feet regularly since he has a history of issues.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

I really appreciate this! I was planning to try something similar with the pool noodle/pipe insulation donuts to cushion her foot pad. This seems similar, and perhaps, easier.
I'd not been soaking until her recent flare-up, and then, only 1x weekly with new wraps (unless she got wet). Since she started the limp a few days ago, I've gone back to once every other day--if only so that we can keep an eye on it and re-do her bandages/dressings more frequently. Is that too much?

Also, thanks for the vitamin A suggestion. What's a good source for getting that in her?