Bumblefoot surgery - with pics and "how to"

[JLaw]

I was told my chicken has bumble foot but I don't have a plug. The pad of my chickens foot looks like a cracked callus and is split sorta into three different parts with a hole in middle. Where would I look for the kernel or infection. So far I washed it and put some rubbing alcohol on it cause its all I had on hand last night. I plan on messing with it tonight I just don't know where to dig the gunk out of her foot and don't want to cut into her foot with out a plan. This will be my first time doing any of this.

 

[roxysmydog]

I too noticed the bumblefoot when I noticed one of my hens had swelling between her toes a couple days ago. So I did some research and was able to perform the surgery tonight. Her one foot was horrible. The infection was on both the upper and underside of her foot. I think I got all the infection out. Unfortunately her other foot had bumblefoot as well only it wasn't as bad. So she now has two wrapped up feet. She still wanted to perch on the roost tonight though even though I tried putting her inside the house I keep the babies in. So since everyone was sleeping and easy to catch, I decided to check the rest of my girls. Turns out two more had bumble foot. The other two only had it on one foot each. One looked like the foot 'might' have something starting but I cleaned that foot as well and put some cream on the surface. I didn't want to go digging for nothing yet. Once I got the scab off my one girl's foot, there really wasn't anything else inside. I hope not anyways. I went digging a little and it just seemed like foot meat. She was bleeding a lot and no puss or infection was coming out. I put triple antibiotic ointment on each foot and wrapped them all up. Fingers crossed they all heal without an issue. I really don't understand why 3 out of 9 hens have bumblefoot. They get to free range in our backyard every day and aren't locked in a pen. They sleep in their coop but don't hang out in there. I do the deep litter method and clean it every couple months, it really doesn't seem to need it more than that, plus they don't really hang out in there. They even (choose to) go out during rainy or snowy weather. We did have the roosts up kind of high so we put a ladder type roost in today and hopefully they don't jump from the top one all the way to the bottom. I hate when my girls are sick. :'(

 

[Janet Pesaturo]

I too noticed the bumblefoot when I noticed one of my hens had swelling between her toes a couple days ago. So I did some research and was able to perform the surgery tonight. Her one foot was horrible. The infection was on both the upper and underside of her foot. I think I got all the infection out. Unfortunately her other foot had bumblefoot as well only it wasn't as bad. So she now has two wrapped up feet. She still wanted to perch on the roost tonight though even though I tried putting her inside the house I keep the babies in. So since everyone was sleeping and easy to catch, I decided to check the rest of my girls. Turns out two more had bumble foot. The other two only had it on one foot each. One looked like the foot 'might' have something starting but I cleaned that foot as well and put some cream on the surface. I didn't want to go digging for nothing yet. Once I got the scab off my one girl's foot, there really wasn't anything else inside. I hope not anyways. I went digging a little and it just seemed like foot meat. She was bleeding a lot and no puss or infection was coming out. I put triple antibiotic ointment on each foot and wrapped them all up. Fingers crossed they all heal without an issue. I really don't understand why 3 out of 9 hens have bumblefoot. They get to free range in our backyard every day and aren't locked in a pen. They sleep in their coop but don't hang out in there. I do the deep litter method and clean it every couple months, it really doesn't seem to need it more than that, plus they don't really hang out in there. They even (choose to) go out during rainy or snowy weather. We did have the roosts up kind of high so we put a ladder type roost in today and hopefully they don't jump from the top one all the way to the bottom. I hate when my girls are sick. :'(

How did your chickens do?

 

[roxysmydog]

It's actually been quite a battle with the bumble foot. The hen that had both feet infected actually looks the best. I just finished soaking feet and bandaging and I have decided to not bandage her feet at all. I was able to keep her one foot bandage free two days ago. But both wounds are almost healed and she is doing well. I think because she had it so had, that it was easy for me to locate the infection and get all of it out. My two other hens didn't fair the same fate. Both are still needing bandages. I feel like infection is still in both. One hen is looking better than the other but still not sure how everything is going to heal. I have been trying to get soaking in as much as possible but I work nights and also have a child so it's been like every other day. I am thinking of trying the Tricide Neo, I think that's the name, for the soaks but need to get some. I also added penicillin shots because I know I didn't get all the infection out and I didn't want to take chances. So far they have had 5 days worth of penicillin. I think I will be able to stop the PCN with the hen that looks almost healed, but I am going to do a couple more days for the other two. It was difficult to get the infection out of the other two because there wasn't really any obvious ball of infection. I was worried that I was picking at the meat of the foot vs infection. The first hen had a classic case and it was easy to spot and dig out. So we are trudging through. I am hoping everything will eventually heal and I won't have to worry about my girls any longer. We made adjustments to the roosts and I cleaned the coop very thoroughly. Hopefully that helps prevent further injury, at least a little.

 

[megan80568]

I am.very worried. My one hen had been limping for about 2 days. Brought her inside gave her a bath and saw the trademark black scab. Read everything on here about It before removing the scab and soaking. For two nights j have looked for the plug in the hole But nothing. Can this be normal?

 

[24279102]

Is it possible for them to have Bumblefoot without the telltale black spot? I have a hen that is limping badly and she doesn't have the spot that you normally see. She did have a scab between her toes but after soaking her and pulling this off it was superficial only. Her foot and whole leg has very "alligator like" skin compared to the other one. I've been putting Vaseline on it to try and soften it up but am at a loss as to what to do. She is very lame but I don't want to cut her up if it's not Bumblefoot.

 

[BeccaSmith]

Is it possible for them to have Bumblefoot without the telltale black spot? I have a hen that is limping badly and she doesn't have the spot that you normally see. She did have a scab between her toes but after soaking her and pulling this off it was superficial only. Her foot and whole leg has very "alligator like" skin compared to the other one. I've been putting Vaseline on it to try and soften it up but am at a loss as to what to do. She is very lame but I don't want to cut her up if it's not Bumblefoot.

Alligator like skin makes me think of scaly leg mites, could this be the problem? From my understanding it is quite irritating and can be painful to the chicken, someone correct me if I am wrong please! Please post a picture if you can!

 

[24279102]

I thought so ,too, but up close the scales are not raised. After looking at the sole of her foot better there are big cracks where her toes join the sole. They are raw. It would seem that she has a bad case of dry, cracked skin - only on that foot. I have been putting bag balm on it twice daily and washing it once a week as I didn't want to keep getting it wet. It is softening up but she is still limping and holds it up a lot. I'm hoping that it will heal soon. Otherwise I have no idea what to do for her.

 

[Beefcake15]

We just finished the surgery on our Rhode Island Red rooster. We got a descent sized nugget out, but how do we know if we got it all?

 

[GretasFlock]

Ahem...didn't need to see that right after dinner...

Useful info, though. And @Beefcake, I guess you would just watch for re-infection? Any experienced members want to verify that?