Bumblefoot - non-surgical options?

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

New chicken owner here. You may have seen my posts in the laat 6 months for various chicken ailments. Well, now we have 1 more to deal with.. I always thought if we had bumblefoot, we'd know. But we didn't know to check their feet! I was watching a video on how to vaccinate chicks for Mareks by the ladies at Cedar Crest Farms and their next video that auto played was about treating bumblefoot. They talked about the black scab on the bottom of chicken feet in an otherwise healthy looking bird, so I got worried and checked my girls out immediately! I found that 2 of my girls had bumbles on both feet!


I did a quick Epsom salt soak and sprayed/flushed the area with veterycin and then sprayed them with Blu kote. Then went to do more research.

I found a few links with people going the non-surgical route, and since these girls don't seem to be in obvious distress, I figured I'd try those methods before bringing them to the vet.

This link talks about using tricide neo, a koi fish antibiotic, as a soaking remedy:
https://ouroneacrefarm.com/2013/11/09/bumblefoot-treatment-tricideneo/

This link talks about soaking in Epsom salt bath until the scab comes off easily, then treating the open wound:
https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment-html/

Has anyone here tried these methods? I'd rather not dig around in an un-anesthatized bird's foot if I can avoid it! I'd rather give the bird's body support in healing itself if possible before going the surgical route.

Also of note, a lot of people seem to pack wounds with neosporin, my vet said he doesn't like to use that because it can cause cross-resistance to other antibiotics. Last time we had an injury he gave me silver nitrate. Any thoughts on this? Are there products that contain silver nitrate instead? (I still have some left from the last wound, just wondering if this can be obtained over the counter in the future when I run out.)

I went ahead and purchased some tricide neo. But while I'm waiting for it to get here, I'm going to continue to soak with Epsom salt baths and cleaning with veterycin.

Appreciate your thoughts and input!

Edit to add- I think a main cause may be that their roost bar is too high, the two that are having issues are a silked easter egger and a cream legbar, the silked EE can't fly so well and probably lands pretty hard when she jumps. I'm not sure about the legbar since she's much lighter, but maybe just that she's a smaller bird so the height is a bit much for her. I plan on lowering their roost bar and hoping that helps. They have a ramp but I think they get a little impatient and just jump for it. Any other thoughts, based on the fact that 2 of them have it on both feet, and the placement of the bumble? Thanks!

 

[chickenlover007]

non surgical intervention is very easy. Tilly's nest does an amazing article on it which I would recommend checking out. It's what I used for my chickens. I personally have never run into a problem with Neosporin, but I'm not a vet. Here are the basic instructions. You will need Epsom salts, An old towel, a bucket, gloves, vetericyn, Neosporin, a tiny band aid pad, medical wrap and medical tape. I got everything I needed at North 40 but there are other places you can acquire said items. First soak the affected foot in warm Epsom salt water for 10+ minutes Take however long you need with this step. Then put the chicken down on its side with its head covered on the towel. This will immobilize the chicken without hurting it. Then using the gloves, Gently work around the scab and try o maneuver it out naturally. It should come out with a bunch of gross dead tissue attached but no blood. Then spray with veterycin and allow it to air dry. Then plug the hole with Neosporin and put the small band aid pad over it. wrap with medical wrap and seal with medical tape. make sure not to cut off bloods circulation to the foot. the end : ) change their bandages as needed. if you want to you can pad their roosts to make it easier on their feet, but they shouldn't really be roosting. if you can, separate them from their flock for a little while till they are semi better. when you change their bandages i would spray on a little veterycin on just to be safe.

 

[CurlyQuail]

Both methods you have can work and they can actually work together. The easiest non-surgical method I know:

1. Wrap the bird in a towel or blanket
2. Epsom salt bath for 10-20 minutes until you can pull the scab off.
3. If a hard white kernel comes off with the scab, you’re done
4. If the kernel does not come out, pull it with tweezers or continue Epsom salt baths/ any kind of drawing solution (tricide neo works) until it comes out or until you can easily take it out with tweezers. If you choose to keep soaking, this should be done over several days, it won’t pop out after ten minutes in Epsom salt
5. Once the scab is off, even if you don’t get the kernel, wrap the foot in vet wrap or any kind of medical/athletic tape with gauze under the open wound. You can pack the wound with neosporin or any kind of antibiotic ointment that doesn’t have pain killers.
6. Check back every day or two to make sure the wound is healing

If you do this for about a week or so and see no progress, you’ll want to go in surgically.

As for cause, because it’s on both feet and the bumble looks the same size on both feet it’s likely because of a high roost bar

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

Thank you both!

 

[Weeg]

Both methods you have can work and they can actually work together. The easiest non-surgical method I know:

1. Wrap the bird in a towel or blanket
2. Epsom salt bath for 10-20 minutes until you can pull the scab off.
3. If a hard white kernel comes off with the scab, you’re done
4. If the kernel does not come out, pull it with tweezers or continue Epsom salt baths/ any kind of drawing solution (tricide neo works) until it comes out or until you can easily take it out with tweezers. If you choose to keep soaking, this should be done over several days, it won’t pop out after ten minutes in Epsom salt
5. Once the scab is off, even if you don’t get the kernel, wrap the foot in vet wrap or any kind of medical/athletic tape with gauze under the open wound. You can pack the wound with neosporin or any kind of antibiotic ointment that doesn’t have pain killers.
6. Check back every day or two to make sure the wound is healing

If you do this for about a week or so and see no progress, you’ll want to go in surgically.

As for cause, because it’s on both feet and the bumble looks the same size on both feet it’s likely because of a high roost bar

This is exactly what I would suggest! I have used this with great success! Good luck, Avery

 

[Weeg]

If you can t get eh scab soft enough to pull out, then you can wrap the foot with Vaseline on the scab for a good 45 minuets and it should be soft enough then!

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

Thank you! A friend of mine used to do wildlife rehab and she said that seabirds that came in with bumblefoot they'd treat with betadine. I actually have some of that, and epsom salt, on hand. The one thing I don't have is vetrap. I just ordered some so hopefully I'll have it on hand soon. I just did some soaks in epsom salt but the scabs didn't seem moveable yet. So I left them and sprayed with veterycin and blu kote until I have all the stuff to properly dress the wounds. I have neosporin and non-adhesive bandaid pads I can cut up. Just nothing to dress their feet with. >_< They are currently inside in a kennel, they don't seem affected by their feet at all. Still doing normal chicken things. So hopefully their infections aren't too far along.

 

[Weeg]

You are doing great! You can probably just wrap some paper towel or toilet pare around there feet for the night, and tape it, just so that you can hold the antibiotic in over night. You caudal also wrap with a napkin and tape, and then put Vaseline on the scab over night so it will be soft in the morning! Keep up the good work, Avery

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

So, haven't been able to get the scabs soft enough yet, there isn't even an edge really to try to pry under -they seem pretty flat to the skin. I keep soaking with epsom salts, and once with betadine. I tried an adhesive tape to try to put a pad with neosporin on their feet, but they pulled it off. Vetrap arrived today, so I just wrapped one of their feet with the neosporin again to see if it will soften. Having a hard time not knowing how long it's been like this. I want to try the tricide neo but it hasn't arrived yet. The tricide neo method seemed to basically keep soaking every day for a week or so. These other soak and pull of the scab method makes it sound like I should have this fixed in one day and then after that it's just healing... But the fact that I haven't gotten the scab soft enough yet is making me feel like I'm not doing too great a job and will end up having to take them to the vet. :/ Anyone have a reference on how long treating this should take? Is it okay to take my time with soaking them? Or is this something that can progress really fast and I need to get out right away?

 

[CurlyQuail]

So, haven't been able to get the scabs soft enough yet, there isn't even an edge really to try to pry under -they seem pretty flat to the skin. I keep soaking with epsom salts, and once with betadine. I tried an adhesive tape to try to put a pad with neosporin on their feet, but they pulled it off. Vetrap arrived today, so I just wrapped one of their feet with the neosporin again to see if it will soften. Having a hard time not knowing how long it's been like this. I want to try the tricide neo but it hasn't arrived yet. The tricide neo method seemed to basically keep soaking every day for a week or so. These other soak and pull of the scab method makes it sound like I should have this fixed in one day and then after that it's just healing... But the fact that I haven't gotten the scab soft enough yet is making me feel like I'm not doing too great a job and will end up having to take them to the vet. :/ Anyone have a reference on how long treating this should take? Is it okay to take my time with soaking them? Or is this something that can progress really fast and I need to get out right away?

If it’s not moving towards the top of their foot or looking green/extremely infected, it can be treated at home.

I’d try to soak and pull for about a week (unless it starts to look worse). Once a week goes by and the scab isn’t coming off, grab some tweezers and see if you can pull. If there’s still no success take a clean safety pin or x-acto knife to the very edge of the scab and pull from there.