BUMBLEFOOT Surgery, HOW-TO and causes of bumblefoot **GRAPHIC PHOTOS**

[ruth]

I wanted to add, since I think it's on my bumblefoot thread, that even though the core/plug pops out easily, when the foot is really swollen like that, there's a lot of "gunk" in there as well (abcessed infection) that needs to be dug out. The core is usually right down the middle of a large hunk of gunk. In other words, the core starts the infection and it grows around the core causing the swollen look. When I finish with a foot, it's usually not looking swollen anymore. Go back and look at my thread and you'll see that the core popped out almost as soon as I removed the black scab, but then I still had to cut and dig to get the gunk out.

Finally, I'm not a big fan of resoaking since I've found that it prevents the foot from being able to dry and heal. That's why I try to get everything out on the first attempt, then apply Neosporin, bandage, leave the bandage on for a few days, then take it off and let the wound air dry/heal from that point.

Glad to hear she's as good as new. Great Job.

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
We actually didn't get any more gunk out from behind the plug even though we dug and cut a little deeper. I'm hoping that it's just b/c we caught it early and not b/c we missed it and it'll be coming back.

It certainly looks as good as new now, so I'm hopeful.

 

[ruth]

I'd settle for as "good as new" any day and twice on Sunday. Best to leave well enough alone.

 

[ADozenGirlz]

The long-term update: Phoebe recovered perfectly well from the surgery, did not have any infection afterwards and has been bumble-free since then!

 

[ADozenGirlz]

**UPDATE** I wrote a blog post on Bumblefoot, the causes and treatment, which can be found here: http://networkedblogs.com/iwh79 It contains graphic surgical photos, so be forewarned. I hope you never need it, but if you do, I hope it helps.

And here is the companion YouTube video that I made by request to show how to bandage a chicken's foot after the surgery: