Advice for Bumblefoot Treatment

[The Chick Addict]

Hey Y'all! I know a lot about treating bumblefoot but I wanted some extra advice that I did not find. How should I sterilize the X-acto knife that I will be using to remove the scab and corn? And does it cause pain to the chicken? Thank you!

 

[azygous]

Don't cut into the pad any deeper than the normal serum and blood beneath the outer layer. Some bumblefoot lesions are very shallow because you were lucky enough to catch the infection before it drilled any deeper. Clean it up with soap and water and spray with Vetericyn every day until it's healed. It might be best to bandage it until a thin scab forms. This scab will bot be black like bumblefoot, but a healthy tan.

When the infection goes deep, there is a kernel of hard pus that usually adheres to the scab and comes out when you pull the scab off.

 

[Lillith37]

Blood indicates healthy tissue and is a good sign. Don’t ever keep digging around if there’s blood. You don’t want to accidentally introduce new infection into otherwise healthy tissue.

You can also use honey as a drawing salve in place of PRID.

The best thing you can do is keep the wounds/scabs clean and protected. If the infection spreads you will know because there will be tenderness and discolouration at the site.

 

[azygous]

It looks good to me. Run your thumb over the scab. Is it thin and very flat? If so, it's healing. If in doubt, soak it and lift off the scab. It won't hurt it to check for pus developing again under it. If you find healed tissue instead of pus, you're on the home stretch.

 

[The Chick Addict]

You can put your tool in water with a little bleach in it, let it sit there for a minute, then air dry it.

We happen to have 99% Isopropyl Alcohol, but most don't. I've used that, but the bleach is just as good.

The scab and core is dead so that doesn't hurt the chicken.

Good luck!

Thank you so much! I just realized that my X-acto knife has rust so will tweezers work? Some bad news: I found that 6 other hens have Bumblefoot, one more advanced than the first chicken I found with bumblefoot. They do have high roosts, about 5 ft. 2 or 3 in. from the ground. Is that the reason for this bumble outbreak? How should I fix this? I can't lower the roosts and any staircases from the roosts would be caked in poop from the night. Thank you!

 

[Debbie292d]

Thank you so much! I just realized that my X-acto knife has rust so will tweezers work? Some bad news: I found that 6 other hens have Bumblefoot, one more advanced than the first chicken I found with bumblefoot. They do have high roosts, about 5 ft. 2 or 3 in. from the ground. Is that the reason for this bumble outbreak? How should I fix this? I can't lower the roosts and any staircases from the roosts would be caked in poop from the night. Thank you!

What do you use for bedding that they are landing on? Unless it's hard, like concrete, or has nails or sharp stones or something on it to cause injuries, I doubt the roost height makes too much difference. I've seen people have ladder roosts to the top of their barns. I'm just going off that since so many have it, it might be something causing their feet to get scratched or cut. We use horse pellets so that helps keep their feet cleaner as there isn't any poop they can walk in and it's dry as a bone.

As for will a tweezers work, it might help pull out the core, but don't you have to cut to get to the core first? Also, do you have PRID? It's a drawing salve. I've heard people try that first If the bumblefoot isn't too advanced. You could try soaking their feet in Epsom salt, then apply the PRID and wrap their feet with vet wrap, changing twice a day. If it's pretty bad though, you're going to have to do what you intended to do.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I use the type of utility knife where the blades break off every 1/4" or so, so I can snap a piece off as I'm done each time. And old tweezers. I just use alcohol to sanitize.

Epsom salt soak, dig out the scab, tweeze out the core if there is one, then I use Neosporin w/o pain relief, pack it in, and bandage up. I use Vetricyn like a sterile rinse to clean around the area as I go. Repeat daily as needed.

If you can't find the core then don't dig around, it may surface later on (and you can remove it at that time) or there may not be a noticeable core at all. I think it's fairly rare for me to find cores at all, most of the cases of bumblefoot I treat are fairly minor and there's not a lot of swelling or any limping.

How deep is your bedding? If the bedding isn't very thick the birds could be having a hard landing when they come off the roosts.

 

[Debbie292d]

@Debbie292d
@Eggcessive
@azygous

I need some help. I am treating one of my hens with bumblefoot right now. I just removed the black scab and inside, the wound is very shallow. It is a peachy/yellow color but there is no corn and there is a fleshy material that is bloody which I believe is her flesh. It was bleeding a little bit and I had to put pressure for it to stop bleeding. Does there have to be a corn for a successful treatment? I'm sure that if I go deeper, she will bleed a lot and there is only skin in flesh in the wound hole. I need this info asap. Thank you!

@rosemarythyme pretty much answers your questions so I'd follow what she suggests.

If you ever can get some PRID, it's cheap and can help in some minor cases of bumblefoot your other chickens may have. You wouldn't use it on an open wound though.

 

[The Chick Addict]

@Debbie292d
@azygous
@rosemarythyme

Here is a picture of the bumblefoot about a week after surgery on Waffles' wound. Is this healing?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hmm doesn't look noticeably swollen to me but unfortunately it's hard to tell from photos sometimes unless it's very obvious. How's she walking on it?

Problem when it starts bleeding heavily around the wound is it makes it impossible to see anything to excise, so sometimes you need to give up for the time being and continue soaking and bandaging and let it heal up, give it a few weeks, and try it again. Optimally when you check again the scab if should be smaller and tighter with less swelling around the area.