Bumblefoot for the first time- help!

[lexidowney]

I’m dealing with bumblefoot for the first time. I have a total of 6 chickens and 2 of them have it. 1 year and 1 month- both golden comets.

I noticed a significant limp in one girl so checked her feet. I noticed the black scab associated with bumblefoot on the foot she was NOT limping on. I soaked her in Epsom salt and got her clean up where I noticed a smaller scab on the foot she was limping on. Watched a couple YouTube videos and attempted to extract. We got the scab out and explored a little but wasn’t quite sure if we got it all or not. We kept wrapped her up and kept her in for the night. This morning I soaked her again, applied microcyn AH, and neosporin and wrapped her back up and put her back with her sisters. She went right in and laid her egg. She’s eating/drinking like normal, walking but still has a significant limp. She also is occasionally laying in the run. What else should I do? Is it normal that she’s limping? How do I know if I got it all out? Any help is very much appreciated. Pictures included after attempting to remove

 

[Cinnaminute]

I'm still very new to chicken-keeping, but I had a horrible bought of bumblefoot before with multiple hens. My worst was a little girl who ended up having it really bad on both feet, though like yours, she only limped from the one that didn't seem as bad. At one point, I didn't get everything out of her foot and despite my efforts, the infection moved up between the toes to the top of the foot. Then her wound site closed up entirely. I was too squeamish/inexperienced to cut her open with a scalpel, so I popped the wound with a sterile needle. Made sure to get her right in the center of the red swelling. Packed it with PRID drawing salve and it pulled the infection right out. The swelling went down fast. I did end up having to do it a second time to get the rest out. But she recovered nicely.

All this to say, your hen should be fine. It sounds like you're doing great. In my experience, they will still limp until things heal up. She should get increasingly better. Just keep her foot clean & bandaged. I liked to change the bandage every day if possible, but would sometimes miss days. I definitely recommend PRID if you're worried you didn't get everything out of the wound. I'd cover a strip of gauze in it and wrap her foot with it. Then wrap with vetwrap over top. But I think she'll be fine. They often can work the last bit out on their own. At least, that's what it seemed like with a couple of mine.

 

[lexidowney]

I'm still very new to chicken-keeping, but I had a horrible bought of bumblefoot before with multiple hens. My worst was a little girl who ended up having it really bad on both feet, though like yours, she only limped from the one that didn't seem as bad. At one point, I didn't get everything out of her foot and despite my efforts, the infection moved up between the toes to the top of the foot. Then her wound site closed up entirely. I was too squeamish/inexperienced to cut her open with a scalpel, so I popped the wound with a sterile needle. Made sure to get her right in the center of the red swelling. Packed it with PRID drawing salve and it pulled the infection right out. The swelling went down fast. I did end up having to do it a second time to get the rest out. But she recovered nicely.

All this to say, your hen should be fine. It sounds like you're doing great. In my experience, they will still limp until things heal up. She should get increasingly better. Just keep her foot clean & bandaged. I liked to change the bandage every day if possible, but would sometimes miss days. I definitely recommend PRID if you're worried you didn't get everything out of the wound. I'd cover a strip of gauze in it and wrap her foot with it. Then wrap with vetwrap over top. But I think she'll be fine. They often can work the last bit out on their own. At least, that's what it seemed like with a couple of mine.

Thanks so much! I’ll definitely be getting some prid today! I was also nervous when trying to extract with tweezers because I wasn’t sure if I was picking at infection or her flesh… she tolerated it pretty well but I was worried about making it worse. Did you separate yours when going through this? The others were a little curious about her feet being wrapped but I’ve been monitoring her on camera and figured it’d be best to keep her normal routine as she seemed a little stressed last night when she was alone. I’m so worried about her!

 

[Cinnaminute]

Yeah, I tried that method at first too with my first bumblefoot! I only managed to make mine bleed a ton and it was really hard to see how much I got out. Sometimes the core will come out like a plug along with the scab. But that only happened with one particular hen one time. Never got lucky like that again. I'm glad yours was so well-behaved for you!

I honestly just put mine right back outside with everyone. They're happier that way and everyone will come to ignore the wrap pretty quickly. The foot should stay clean, but if you notice it get dirty, you can just swap it out for a clean one (the wrap that is, not the foot lol). For the first few days, my limping girl would just lay on the porch stairs or find a comfy spot in the run to rest her foot.

Do you happen to know how she got this bumblefoot? You'll definitely want to find the cause so this will be the first and hopefully last you have to deal with it.

Both feet on multiple hens sounds like it might be from jumping from some height. I mention this since my issue was a little strange. I had my roost height low enough that jumping down shouldn't hurt my girls. Especially when they all weigh 3-5lbs. Turns out, the floor was slick and they would kick straw around on the regular. So when they'd jump down, they would sometimes slip. The friction caused bumblefoot in 5 of them. The other 3 that got it seemed to get it because they were jumping off a favorite roost location down onto hard packed dirt. When I switched to deep straw bedding in the run and laid down a mat in their coop, the issues stopped.

 

[lexidowney]

Yeah, I tried that method at first too with my first bumblefoot! I only managed to make mine bleed a ton and it was really hard to see how much I got out. Sometimes the core will come out like a plug along with the scab. But that only happened with one particular hen one time. Never got lucky like that again. I'm glad yours was so well-behaved for you!

I honestly just put mine right back outside with everyone. They're happier that way and everyone will come to ignore the wrap pretty quickly. The foot should stay clean, but if you notice it get dirty, you can just swap it out for a clean one (the wrap that is, not the foot lol). For the first few days, my limping girl would just lay on the porch stairs or find a comfy spot in the run to rest her foot.

Do you happen to know how she got this bumblefoot? You'll definitely want to find the cause so this will be the first and hopefully last you have to deal with it.

Both feet on multiple hens sounds like it might be from jumping from some height. I mention this since my issue was a little strange. I had my roost height low enough that jumping down shouldn't hurt my girls. Especially when they all weigh 3-5lbs. Turns out, the floor was slick and they would kick straw around on the regular. So when they'd jump down, they would sometimes slip. The friction caused bumblefoot in 5 of them. The other 3 that got it seemed to get it because they were jumping off a favorite roost location down onto hard packed dirt. When I switched to deep straw bedding in the run and laid down a mat in their coop, the issues stopped.

She is laying down a lot today so it makes me feel better this isn’t an uncommon behavior! I will give her a few extra treats when I get home today inside the coop we have 2 roosting bars and they always jump on the lower one to get to the higher one. I’m thinking they may be too far apart and the impact from jumping is causing it. I checked all the other girls and only 1 other has it on one foot but they are only a year old. I’m going to do some rearranging! Inside the coop is all purpose sand. In the run we also have a roosting bar and some of it is wrapped in twine. I don’t know if that may cause it or if it’s helpful? I’ve read a lot of mixed reviews!

 

[Cinnaminute]

How is she coming along today?

I imagine the sand and twine should be fine. Sadly I don't have any personal experience with either of them, to say for certain. I've given my girls tree branches and they don't seem to have any issue with the rugged surface, so I imagine twine should be a-okay. Perhaps it's the roost bars after all? Maybe some are just jumping from the highest to the ground? I wish you luck with your rearranging! And everyone's recovery!

 

[Laurasb65]

I’m dealing with bumblefoot for the first time. I have a total of 6 chickens and 2 of them have it. 1 year and 1 month- both golden comets.

I noticed a significant limp in one girl so checked her feet. I noticed the black scab associated with bumblefoot on the foot she was NOT limping on. I soaked her in Epsom salt and got her clean up where I noticed a smaller scab on the foot she was limping on. Watched a couple YouTube videos and attempted to extract. We got the scab out and explored a little but wasn’t quite sure if we got it all or not. We kept wrapped her up and kept her in for the night. This morning I soaked her again, applied microcyn AH, and neosporin and wrapped her back up and put her back with her sisters. She went right in and laid her egg. She’s eating/drinking like normal, walking but still has a significant limp. She also is occasionally laying in the run. What else should I do? Is it normal that she’s limping? How do I know if I got it all out? Any help is very much appreciated. Pictures included after attempting to remove

Also could be from the type roosting bar your using. I use 2"x4". The 4" side up, where there feet will rest. It's easier on there feet, this way their not constantly gripping a small board or branch, which can cause sores on the bottom of their feet. Hope they both feel better soon.

 

[lexidowney]

How is she coming along today?

I imagine the sand and twine should be fine. Sadly I don't have any personal experience with either of them, to say for certain. I've given my girls tree branches and they don't seem to have any issue with the rugged surface, so I imagine twine should be a-okay. Perhaps it's the roost bars after all? Maybe some are just jumping from the highest to the ground? I wish you luck with your rearranging! And everyone's recovery!

Thank you so much! I do have a camera inside the coop as well and all of them jump to the lowest one then to the highest. She is still limping but not as severe- we put her back in the coop yesterday and monitored her closely and she did jump on the smallest roost with a little trouble but no trouble to the highest roost last night. I was worried about her jumping down in the morning so went out early and helped her down before changing bandage, applying microcyn and prid. Today she chose to roost in the run instead of lay all day! I’ll continue to do this until she improves. I am a little concerned because when I went out later in the day to let them free range for a little after collecting eggs they all went crazy over something. It was a cracked egg. I didn’t drop one as I only collected 5 and still had 5 in my bag. Hoping one didn’t release a cracked one?! Another thing to worry about monitoring them like crazy! Thanks for all your insight.

 

[lexidowney]

Thank you so much! I do have a camera inside the coop as well and all of them jump to the lowest one then to the highest. She is still limping but not as severe- we put her back in the coop yesterday and monitored her closely and she did jump on the smallest roost with a little trouble but no trouble to the highest roost last night. I was worried about her jumping down in the morning so went out early and helped her down before changing bandage, applying microcyn and prid. Today she chose to roost in the run instead of lay all day! I’ll continue to do this until she improves. I am a little concerned because when I went out later in the day to let them free range for a little after collecting eggs they all went crazy over something. It was a cracked egg. I didn’t drop one as I only collected 5 and still had 5 in my bag. Hoping one didn’t release a cracked one?! Another thing to worry about monitoring them like crazy! Thanks for all your insight.