Bumble Foot?

[CrockChickens9]

I’m assuming this is bumble foot? It doesn’t appear to be deep or too painful for her. It seems like I could pull the lesion off but it may bleed if I do. Should I soak this and try to remove it? What should I put on it and do I wrap it? She’s not limping. She’s a Brahma and she is very heavy. I clean the coop and run daily. Sand is my substrate. It has been a rainy summer so far. I would appreciate any guidance since this is my first flock and first experience with bumble foot. Thanks in advance!

 

[alinas2010]

I’m assuming this is bumble foot? It doesn’t appear to be deep or too painful for her. It seems like I could pull the lesion off but it may bleed if I do. Should I soak this and try to remove it? What should I put on it and do I wrap it? She’s not limping. She’s a Brahma and she is very heavy. I clean the coop and run daily. Sand is my substrate. It has been a rainy summer so far. I would appreciate any guidance since this is my first flock and first experience with bumble foot. Thanks in advance!

Yes, that is bumblefoot.

Although it may seem easy and painless to remove, I would soak her foot in an Epsom salt bath with a little bit of dish soap first. This will clean her foot up and help soften the plug. Ideally you’d want the scab to be soft enough to pull out and not have to force out too much. If it doesn’t want to release after soaking, you can wrap with some ointment and try soaking again and to remove tomorrow. It may take a few days to soften enough to remove. You may get less bleeding if it’s softer to remove and doesn’t rip as much skin around the entrance.

Once the plug is removed, you will want to get as much pus out as possible as that is the infection. Feel all around the hole for hard material (as chicken pus is hard like cheese) and try to remove all of it. Again, more soaking may be needed to get the pus material to come to the surface once the plug is removed.

Once the pus is removed, or if you need to try soaking and removing more tomorrow again, pack the hole with a triple antibiotic ointment (w/out pain relief) such as neosporin or something such as prid drawing salve. I usually pack with both. Then place a little gauze over the hole and wrap the foot very carefully with vet wrap. You will need to be sure to check very carefully that circulation is still in tact and the foot isn’t wrapped too tight. We’ve seen chickens lose parts of their foot when wrapped too tightly. Also do not leave the wrap on for more than a day as they slip and shift easily and can cut off circulation that way, too.

This whole process may take weeks or even months to get to a completely healed foot. Some chickens are just more prone to bumblefoot due to size or other health issues.

 

[CrockChickens9]

Thank you so much! I appreciate it! I will start treating her tomorrow.

 

[McChooky]

Bumble foot can spread to the bone.Its a very serious and painful condition that can take months to treat and completely heal.None of my chickens have bumble foot but I have treated it before

 

[alinas2010]

Thank you so much! I appreciate it! I will start treating her tomorrow.

You’re welcome. Keep us updated.

 

[CrockChickens9]

I soaked her foot for 10 minutes in epsom salt and dish soap. Cleaned the foot and the scab peeled right off. It is an open little wound now. I tried squeezing around to get anything out but nothing came out. It doesn’t feel hard at all or too swollen. I didn’t want to cause too much pain. I put bacitracin on it and gently wrapped it. I ordered the salve and better wrapping but not here yet. Is there always some pus or hardness that needs to come out? I can’t see anything that doesn’t look like tissue. Thanks in advance!

 

[McChooky]

I soaked her foot for 10 minutes in epsom salt and dish soap. Cleaned the foot and the scab peeled right off. It is an open little wound now. I tried squeezing around to get anything out but nothing came out. It doesn’t feel hard at all or too swollen. I didn’t want to cause too much pain. I put bacitracin on it and gently wrapped it. I ordered the salve and better wrapping but not here yet. Is there always some pus or hardness that needs to come out? I can’t see anything that doesn’t look like tissue. Thanks in advance!

One I treated a couple years ago limps and has a swollen foot but she has no obvious signs of bumble foot anymore.Soaking it doesn't reduce the swelling. I'm sure there's something else going on with her.I hope your heals correctly and doesn't do like mine(my others chickens that were treated have healed completely)

 

[alinas2010]

I soaked her foot for 10 minutes in epsom salt and dish soap. Cleaned the foot and the scab peeled right off. It is an open little wound now. I tried squeezing around to get anything out but nothing came out. It doesn’t feel hard at all or too swollen. I didn’t want to cause too much pain. I put bacitracin on it and gently wrapped it. I ordered the salve and better wrapping but not here yet. Is there always some pus or hardness that needs to come out? I can’t see anything that doesn’t look like tissue. Thanks in advance!

Did anything come out with the plug, any white cheese curd material? It’s possible the infection was localized around that and it peeled out with it. Also possible that was just the entrance and there is infection up between the toes or something, I have encountered that, so check well in areas not near the entrance, either. Just keep an eye on it and ensure the wound is healing well with pink healthy tissue showing. Any swelling should shrink if there isn’t any infection present.

 

[McChooky]

I soaked her foot for 10 minutes in epsom salt and dish soap. Cleaned the foot and the scab peeled right off. It is an open little wound now. I tried squeezing around to get anything out but nothing came out. It doesn’t feel hard at all or too swollen. I didn’t want to cause too much pain. I put bacitracin on it and gently wrapped it. I ordered the salve and better wrapping but not here yet. Is there always some pus or hardness that needs to come out? I can’t see anything that doesn’t look like tissue. Thanks in advance!

I had to soak my chickens feet weeks to make the plug come out easy.It basically fell off when I tugged at it.It still took a couple weeks of putting a dressing on it because the wound was slow to heal.According to Mercks Vet Manual Staph all it takes to get bumble foot is to have a lesion or laceration on the foot