Bumblefoot- lots of blood, cant get gunk out

[LilBizzy]

I read EVERY post on bumblefoot. I got all ready- epsoms salt, gloves, knife, tweezers, neosporin, gauze and vetwrap.
Turns out both feet were affected, one had just a little tiny scab, barely any swelling. The other had a huge scab, swollen, and a little pinkish. I looked at all the pictures. There was no doubt it is bumblefoot.
Laurel was enjoying the foot-soaking. I was outside( because I have parrots, and wasn't taking any chances), set up the surgery on the deck box that used to be her brooder.
After a very long soak in salty water, the scabs were loosening. I peeled it up, and gently cut along the edge, from the side, not straight down. Pulled on the scab. Got the scab off, and underneath is - I dunno. It looks like cottage cheese, almost but not as bright white. I tried to grab with tweezers- nothing was budging. It looked like what is under a persons skin if you watch the surgery showws. Using the knife, I tried to go along the edge- and she started beeding. And bleeding. And bleeding.
Put pressure on it- stopped the bleeding, and soaked some more. Water turned red. I tried again with tweezers, and whatever was under that scab was NOT coming out. Only blood. I gave up- put in neosporin, bandaged her, and gave her some cottage cheese as a treat for being so good.

So, now what? I didn't see a "core" uness it was that huge area of fleshy looking stuff. But that stuff was not coming out- it looked and was firmly attached. The scab that came off was just the scab- there is a hardy an indentation where it came off. All that blood cant be normal..

 

[ranchhand]

I seem to recall that speckledhen has a lot of experience with bumblefoot. She moderating right now, but maybe you could PM her and she can answer when she gets a chance?

Good luck! It's been so wet here I am worried some of my chickens will get it.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Had the same experience. There really was NOT a plug.

We did the best we could, wrapped the foot and put the bird in a cage for 10 days.

She is running the property and the foot is doing just fine.

Can not tell you what to really do, it is just sorta bizzar.

Hope this helps.

rim

 

[pheasantlady]

Heavy breeds tend to get bumblefoot and it's actually a bacterial infection. I've been told that birds lack the enzyme to make pus and that the "cheesy" core is the human equivalent of pus.

This is what I do. I clean and dry the bird's foot and put a liberal amount of ointment over the "callous." I use Corona antiseptic ointment because it's thick, not runny. Probably other antiseptic ointments will work just as well. Then I add more Corona to a cut piece of gauze pad and press that lightly against the callous. I cut strips of vet wrap about 8"-12" long. The width depends on the size of the bird--very narrow for bantams and up to 1/2" wide for peafowl. I then secure the gauze by wrapping the foot with vet wrap. (You may need several strips.) I wait 3-4 days and take off the old bandage. The callous will be softer and partially healed around the edges. I use pointed tweezers to remove whatever part of the callous I can without causing excessive bleeding. I then add more ointment, another piece of gauze and vetwrap, repeating the process. You can add a piece or two of white first aid tape on the bottom to keep poo from sticking to the vetwrap. I repeat the process until I can remove the callous and pull out the yellow plug. The number of times you have to do this depends on the severity of the infection. I have done it as few as 3 times for bantams and up to several dozen times for a peacock. It's work but you don't have blood all over the place. It's a lot less traumatic for the bird--and for you! Good luck!

 

[speckledhen]

I am no expert on bumblefoot so please, no PMs! It presents itself in different ways. Sometimes, there is no actual plug on the bottom of the pad. Just had one I couldn't figure out. She was limping, but I kept checking and had decided the rooster hurt her, maybe she hyperextended her leg sideways or something. Yesterday, I catch her and it looks like a pencil eraser sticking out of the top of her foot. We remove that and it leaves a huge hole. There is a puckered teeny scab on the bottom and my DH uses the xacto and cant get anything, then he pushes. Out through the hole on the top comes another huge plug of garbage! And her foot wasn't really swollen previously, either. So, we encountered an entirely different scenario than we ever had before.

 

[LilBizzy]

Quote:
oops, too late- Sorry- just delete it!

 

[speckledhen]

If you only knew how many PMs I get on this one subject, you'd understand why I say that. And my carpal tunnel makes it hard to type answers alot of times. It isn't that I dont want to help, but I am not the expert that folks think; I just have to deal with it alot and it doesn't always turn out perfectly for me, either.

 

[LilBizzy]

Sorry- I'm not considering you the goddess of bumblefoot LOL- I just know you have experienced many cases- each one different. I was concerned about the bood, and afraid to keep cutting into the gunk because of the blood. And that junk doesnt wanna come out.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
I take the blame for the PM, it was my suggestion. I apologize, speckledhen and LilBizzy.

I didn't know about the carpal tunnel problem. That's a miserable thing to deal with.

 

[speckledhen]

That's okay, but it's always better to address these things in the forum to get the best collection of answers. Some bleed alot, like my Meg. Sometimes, the infection pocket is closer to the top of the foot than the bottom, too. It's hard to know because they can present very differently from bird to bird.