Bumblefoot Question

[GoldDogsMom]

one of my hens was limping last night so I checked out the bottoms of her feet and both of them had small round black spots-is it common for them to get bumblefoot on both feet identically? No signs of redness or swelling and today she is walking fine but...

maybe I am just being over cautious? She seems to be walking fine today! Just to be on the safe side, I dipped her legs in olive oil in case she had some leg mites but her legs looked clear to me...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Nambroth]

Every single of of my hens got bumblefoot in both feet this summer. I have 7 hens so that's 14 feet with bumblefoot. Ugh. I have been taking care of it for the last two weeks. I suspect it's due to the VERY wet June (most rainfall on record for June, here) we had here in the northeast-- sopping wet + warm is a very good breeding ground for foot problems, even in very clean chicken runs.

So yes, they sure can!

Only one of mine had swelling and a hard kernel. The rest I caught early enough that it was just 'cheesy' infection, and a few were so minor that medicated dips have healed them. So they don't always limp or show swelling or redness until it's advanced further.

 

[GoldDogsMom]

Thanks Jennifer! I have been keeping an eye on her and she is not limping and the spots on her feet don't seem to be changing...

 

[GoldDogsMom]

Thanks Jennifer! I have been keeping an eye on her and she is not limping and the spots on her feet don't seem to be changing...

 

[Nambroth]

If you want to try some non-invasive treatment, you can give her daily or every-other-day epsom salt soaks in warm water. This will not "CURE" bumblefoot but it can help you to get a better idea of what you have going on, and clean her feet up super well. It's pretty cheap to do and if you have one hen to treat will only take 8-10 minutes a day. I've found this helps me clean the foot up really well, and after a few days I can judge just by how the scab looks if there is infection underneath or not. I use an old toothbrush and a towel to clean the feet after a soak, and have a good look at them. The scab can sort of look as if it's 'pushing out' in a way. Hard to describe. I've found that this combined with the medicated soak has allowed me to pull the scab and easily dig out the infection without cutting after about 3-5 days of daily soaks. By this time I can also tell if I'm going to need to do the surgery on anyone. I only had to do one this time, thank goodness.

If it does not get better after a few weeks, or gets worse, or limping/redness/swelling/a kernel is felt, then you might want to prepare for the surgery, otherwise it can go systemic over time.
I know you mentioned limping before-- if she limps again you should probably suspect the worst (an infected bumblefoot). The limp might be subtle.

Good luck! It sounds like you caught it early.

 

[GoldDogsMom]

Still no change but...in preparation for the day I need to start treating an actual case...how long do you soak their feet in the epsom salt mixture? I am guessing 5-10 minutes?

 

[Nambroth]

Still no change but...in preparation for the day I need to start treating an actual case...how long do you soak their feet in the epsom salt mixture? I am guessing 5-10 minutes?

Yep-- that's what I do. If I am preparing for surgery I do 10-12 minutes. If I'm just cleaning and medicating I do around 5.

 

[whitt910]

I have had hens that came up lame or limping for a day or two and then were fine. I got worried, panicked and thought bumble foot too. When I picked them up there was never anything noticeable or different really so I just waited it out to see what was going on. I live in Southern California and it's been really dry this year so I think what happened was she got poked by something and just had a sore foot because nothing ever came of it. I think the best idea is to keep an eye on it that way if it does turn out to be something like bumble foot you catch it early.