bumble foot in all my chickens

[rahaf]

hello everyone, im new to having chickens and my chickens seem to all have gotten bumble foot, my question is why dont they seem bothered by it at all? i only noticed when i checked on theit feet but they shown no signs, and as im treating the "kernel" is refusing to get off from one of of my chickens even when i soaked her in warm epson salt bath, and when i seem to scrape off most of the kernel (they only have grade 2 bumble foot) it just wont go away, i spray disinfect and medicine the vet gave me, but i cant tell if im doing something wrong

 

[AidKD]

have you tried cutting it out?

 

[rahaf]

have you tried cutting it out?

i tried to remove it with a tweezer but she keeps kicking a lot whenever i try so im assuming jts too close to her skin its hurting her

 

[maryn7]

We had a hen with it last year - similar to yours - low grade, but wanted it cured before it became a problem. We did the soaks, the spray, the foot wraps. We eventually settled for 10 minute soaks followed by a spray, let her feet hang loose for a minute or two so it could seal over and then turning her loose to free range.

We'd gotten to the place where we were all sick of treating it - including her (especially her) - and that's about the time it resolved.

She's a heavy breed, and I also put more pine shavings along the area where she has to jump down in the morning. I think the extra cushion really helped out. (And this is a good reminder to add some more shavings as I head out to clean the coop.)

 

[rahaf]

We had a hen with it last year - similar to yours - low grade, but wanted it cured before it became a problem. We did the soaks, the spray, the foot wraps. We eventually settled for 10 minute soaks followed by a spray, let her feet hang loose for a minute or two so it could seal over and then turning her loose to free range.

We'd gotten to the place where we were all sick of treating it - including her (especially her) - and that's about the time it resolved.

She's a heavy breed, and I also put more pine shavings along the area where she has to jump down in the morning. I think the extra cushion really helped out. (And this is a good reminder to add some more shavings as I head out to clean the coop.)

can u explain more what u mean by "letting it stand"? and we do use sand in our chickens "coop" (its a room in a roof apartment lol) and im guessing by what u mean a thicker bedding will act like a pillow? and im also guessing they all got it bc of digging in my raised bed with spiky woody material! i removed it and i hope it was the problem, also can i ask were u able to remove the low grade kernel? or do u not have to if its a low grade? ive only been treating for 3 days and seeing little to no improvement or maybe im just not paying too much attention lol, thank u sm!!

 

[maryn7]

I'm not seeing that I said "letting it stand" - do you mean the part about letting it seal? The Vetericyn spray we were using sort of coagulates - like liquid bandage does - so we'd just hang on to her for a couple minutes after the soak/drying feet/applying medicine so that she could run around on the grass again (we free range in the afternoons).

But yes, I added more bedding in front of the roosts so that when she hopped down she had more shock absorption. She's a big girl, so I figured that might be contributing. But sounds like your girls have created their own problems in your raised beds!

About removing the plug, we did pull one of them out with tweezers (the more problematic one) after a good soak, and got some puss out. But I'd like to defer to some of the more knowledgeable folks about that because I've done it a total of one time. It does create an open wound, so you will want to wrap their feet up if you go that route.

But I'd say, if trying to get the plug out is not something you're comfortable with, try the epsom soaks every day for a week and see where you're at. If it looks like it's improving, I'd probably just keep at it, especially since your girls don't seem bothered by it. We noticed ours when she was already limping a little.

It took a couple months to go away completely on our hen (we were not super consistent, if I'm being honest).

 

[rahaf]

I'm not seeing that I said "letting it stand" - do you mean the part about letting it seal? The Vetericyn spray we were using sort of coagulates - like liquid bandage does - so we'd just hang on to her for a couple minutes after the soak/drying feet/applying medicine so that she could run around on the grass again (we free range in the afternoons).

But yes, I added more bedding in front of the roosts so that when she hopped down she had more shock absorption. She's a big girl, so I figured that might be contributing. But sounds like your girls have created their own problems in your raised beds!

About removing the plug, we did pull one of them out with tweezers (the more problematic one) after a good soak, and got some puss out. But I'd like to defer to some of the more knowledgeable folks about that because I've done it a total of one time. It does create an open wound, so you will want to wrap their feet up if you go that route.

But I'd say, if trying to get the plug out is not something you're comfortable with, try the epsom soaks every day for a week and see where you're at. If it looks like it's improving, I'd probably just keep at it, especially since your girls don't seem bothered by it. We noticed ours when she was already limping a little.

It took a couple months to go away completely on our hen (we were not super consistent, if I'm being honest).

yes i did mean the sealibg part!! so ur spray works like a bandage u wont beed to wrap one?
also i did remove the kernel from one kf her feet abd the rest but no pus was out, it was completely dry abd nothing else seemed to be there! i tried to squeeze and soak and spray but nothing seems to comr out, do u think thats a good thing?
and ill try my best to keep up with all of them i have to treat 4 of them everyday no but i also cant leave them like this lol, can i ask one last question? how was ur experiance when u first got chickens, bc im getting a lot of troubleshoots already unlike my ducks who have been here for the same amount of time but havent had any issues yet

 

[maryn7]

Yeah that spray sets up like a liquid bandage - they have it at tractor supply (and elsewhere, I'm sure).

Since you did get the kernel out, I would recommend spray + a bandage for anywhere there is an open wound like that. But if you just want to treat the bumbles that are intact, I felt good about the spray alone. (I'll note that we were turning her loose on grass, which largely wouldn't stick to the feet; I think you said you're on sand so you may want to see what that's like. If it's sticking to the spray, then you'd be sort of creating sandpaper on the bottoms of their feet, which seems bad!)

And I'm sorry your hens are presenting so much trouble! Ours are always fine, until they're suddenly not - and then it's rushing around. It is strange that they *all* got bumblefoot. Maybe have a search around the forums to see if anyone else has such a widespread problem. Maybe they need more landing softness like I discovered, or maybe they're missing something in their feed? I know this is a common problem for chicken-keepers (and duck-keepers, too) so there are lots of posts with different treatments here (you're not alone!)

But yeah, I definitely feel you on it being time consuming, etc. to treat four at once. You might even try just doing the medicinal spray without the soaks for the bumbles that don't seem bad. Good luck out there!

 

[Cgorges]

This threads been dormant a bit, but if really like to know how it turned out.
I have 20 hens and 2 roosters. My flock is a mix of Easter eggers, olive eggers, black copper marans, welsummers, and blue americaunas. This spring I had one girl come down with bumblefoot. I soaked it with Epsom salts, removed the kernel, and coated with vetericyn and vetwrap.

Now I noticed another girl with a red inflamed bumble and inspected the flock. 16 of them have the small black scabbing the center of their pads. They are true free range and have run of the whole properly. The coop is clean and perches are sanded 2x4s. There are so many with scabs its going to be too time consuming to soak treat and bandage them all and do daily rebandaging. I hate to confine them to a run, but I don't know what else to do to prevent the bumbles. I've gotten so much conflicting information. Some have told me that if there is not an abscess eventually the body will push out the kernel and heal itself. One person I know says leave them and if it gets crippling they go in the soup pot (mine turned into pets, that's not an option).

I'm not sure what to do at this point and if free range is a viable option. If hate to lock them up. They are so happy roaming around.

 

[Jenbirdee]

This thread may be your answer
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/found-bumblefoot-cure.1588589/