Bumblefoot recovery help

[nma]

Hi,

One of our beautiful girls has had bumblefoot. I only noticed her foot was swollen yesterday but not bothering her. I picked her up to investigate and found the bottom of her foot like this, looks so sore

I rang around vets but no one would see us as there is an incoming cyclone, everyone’s booked up before they close.

I followed advice I’ve seen on her and from friends and soaked her in epson salt and then removed what I could of the abscess, got this out along with some soft puss and a fair bit of blood. She was really brave, I was impressed.

I then cleaned it, covered in betadine and bandaged her foot and put her in the coop to sleep overnight.

She’s had two cleans today and betadine and this is what it looks like tonight.

My question is, do I need to go at it again to completely remove the black part (this is like a weird soft scab right now that’s formed since we took out the abscess 24 hours ago) or do I keep trying to maintain its cleanliness and hope it starts healing???

Hasn’t stopped her exploring, playing and eating today. Not limping.

She keeps pulling off the bandages during the day but managed to get at least half a day of it being covered and then cleans in between this afternoon. She’s all bandaged up again tonight while she’s in the coop.

Thanks,
First time mum of chickens

 

[casportpony]

Hi,

One of our beautiful girls has had bumblefoot. I only noticed her foot was swollen yesterday but not bothering her. I picked her up to investigate and found the bottom of her foot like this, looks so sore

I rang around vets but no one would see us as there is an incoming cyclone, everyone’s booked up before they close.

I followed advice I’ve seen on her and from friends and soaked her in epson salt and then removed what I could of the abscess, got this out along with some soft puss and a fair bit of blood. She was really brave, I was impressed.

I then cleaned it, covered in betadine and bandaged her foot and put her in the coop to sleep overnight.

She’s had two cleans today and betadine and this is what it looks like tonight.

My question is, do I need to go at it again to completely remove the black part (this is like a weird soft scab right now that’s formed since we took out the abscess 24 hours ago) or do I keep trying to maintain its cleanliness and hope it starts healing???

Hasn’t stopped her exploring, playing and eating today. Not limping.

She keeps pulling off the bandages during the day but managed to get at least half a day of it being covered and then cleans in between this afternoon. She’s all bandaged up again tonight while she’s in the coop.

Thanks,
First time mum of chickens

Welcome to BYC! Wow, great job getting the pus out. Is most of the swelling gone?

 

[MarlaMac]

Hi,

One of our beautiful girls has had bumblefoot. I only noticed her foot was swollen yesterday but not bothering her. I picked her up to investigate and found the bottom of her foot like this, looks so sore
View attachment 4064016

I rang around vets but no one would see us as there is an incoming cyclone, everyone’s booked up before they close.

I followed advice I’ve seen on her and from friends and soaked her in epson salt and then removed what I could of the abscess, got this out along with some soft puss and a fair bit of blood. She was really brave, I was impressed. View attachment 4064017

I then cleaned it, covered in betadine and bandaged her foot and put her in the coop to sleep overnight.

She’s had two cleans today and betadine and this is what it looks like tonight.
View attachment 4064021

My question is, do I need to go at it again to completely remove the black part (this is like a weird soft scab right now that’s formed since we took out the abscess 24 hours ago) or do I keep trying to maintain its cleanliness and hope it starts healing???

Hasn’t stopped her exploring, playing and eating today. Not limping.

She keeps pulling off the bandages during the day but managed to get at least half a day of it being covered and then cleans in between this afternoon. She’s all bandaged up again tonight while she’s in the coop.

Thanks,
First time mum of chickens

Do you think you got all the pus out? If it were my hen I would keep the foot wrapped with either prid or plain neosporin on it until the foot is healed. The extra padding from the self-adhering banage will give her some comfort when walking (not getting sticks/grass/etc poking that hole).

Also, be careful on how tight you bandage her leg up. Too tight will restrict blood and the foot will die.

Hope she is feeling 100% soon.

 

[nma]

Welcome to BYC! Wow, great job getting the pus out. Is most of the swelling gone?

A lot of the swelling has definitely reduced but it was still slightly swollen. Had returned to its normal colour.

 

[nma]

Do you think you got all the pus out? If it were my hen I would keep the foot wrapped with either prid or plain neosporin on it until the foot is healed. The extra padding from the self-adhering banage will give her some comfort when walking (not getting sticks/grass/etc poking that hole).

Also, be careful on how tight you bandage her leg up. Too tight will restrict blood and the foot will die.

Hope she is feeling 100% soon.

I’m hoping I got all the puss out. Fairly certain but was hard to tell as it was bleeding too. If it doesn’t go down completely do you think that means it’s still got some in it?

 

[MarlaMac]

I don't know. I think it could be residual swelling or it could be still some infection in the injury. If it is infection, it will get bigger and you will know and have to start all over.

I measure my bird's recovery by the lack of any form of the bumble (even a scab). When that is healed I know I can stop the treatment. During the last part of the healing I use triple antibiotic ointment, not prid.

When the scab is gone, I know the chicken can walk freely without messing up the wound further, so I always opt for a longer treatment period with bandages.

If you don't want to do that, I would recommend you check her foot daily for signs of healing or further infection.

Hope she is better quickly!