Bumblefoot surgery - with pics and "how to"

[AQHAchick22]

I put her back out with the slikies and she is doing fine.but no change on toes.

I'm 99% sure it's frostbite. My fayoumi had all his toes turn black and fall off last winter when it was freezing. He is absolutely fine now and he was the only one in the flock. They all shriveled up and fell off. He's also the only moron that stands in the snow for hours and roosts without covering his toes.

Point is, it's not bumble foot and she will be absolutely fine

 

[Eggcessive]

I'm also positive that looks like frostbite. If you do a search at the top of this page on "frostbitten toes" or "frostbite in feet" you will see many pictures of the swollen stubs left after the black toe tips fall off, as well as different stages. I experienced this last year in a milder case with my bantam rooster who may have gotten his toes wet in the water bowl during out rough winter. It takes sometimes a month or so for the black tips to fall off.

 

[Pennychickens1]

Thank you she is outside and doing fine talks to me when I go out every time. She is a sweet bird in friendly.

 

[soozannah]

OH GOD.... please help my Molly bird! She's been limping worse and worse over about a year. She had this huge pus sack on one foot and another on the middle toe closest to the center. Mom (me...stupid me) got the pus sack and I started looking for a core. I pulled a big curved like knife out of her poor foot and there were so many more I kept digging and cutting them out and it hurt her it was weird, she would like go to sleep then yank her foot from me and I know she was in a lot of pain. We ended up with this big hole in her foot and her toe. Her yanking (I had a friend but my friend was getting faint) made me slip a couple of times and cut deep. Will her foot ever heal? I pulled like 7 knives - nails out of her poor foot but God, I just hope I didn't cut her tendon or something. These things were really thin - like little nails and I could see why she was limping so bad. It got to the point where she couldn't put any weight on that one leg. But now - Oh God! I FEEL SO BAD even though all those nail-like things are gone, there is such a big hole and I filled it with Neosporin and gauze and vet-tape wrapped it. I checked on her in her coop about 30 min after it was done and there wasn't like whole lot of blood like there was when I was cutting those things out of her foot but I am just so worried. I read on another site that sometimes these things can be stringy and you just have to keep trying to get all of it. I'm so worried I overdid it... Oh God! I FEEL SO AWFUL FOR MY POOR BIRD! There wasn't any big black thing - just a huge pus sack like size of my thumb. She has another one on her other foot but I'll never do this again...

 

[wildsam]

OH GOD.... please help my Molly bird!  She's been limping worse and worse over about a year.  She had this huge pus sack on one foot and another on the middle toe closest to the center.  Mom (me...stupid me) got the pus sack and I started looking for a core.  I pulled a big curved like knife out of her poor foot and there were so many more I kept digging and cutting them out and it hurt her it was weird, she would like go to sleep then yank her foot from me and I know she was in a lot of pain.  We ended up with this big hole in her foot and her toe.  Her yanking (I had a friend but my friend was getting faint) made me slip a couple of times and cut deep.  Will her foot ever heal?  I pulled like 7 knives - nails out of her poor foot but God, I just hope I didn't cut her tendon or something.  These things were really thin - like little nails and I could see why she was limping so bad.  It got to the point where she couldn't put any weight on that one leg.  But now - Oh God!  I FEEL SO BAD even though all those nail-like things are gone, there is such a big hole and I filled it with Neosporin and gauze and vet-tape wrapped it.  I checked on her in her coop about 30 min after it was done and there wasn't like whole lot of blood like there was when I was cutting those things out of her foot but I am just so worried.  I read on  another site that sometimes these things can be stringy and you just have to keep trying to get all of it.  I'm so worried I overdid it... Oh God!  I FEEL SO AWFUL FOR MY POOR BIRD!  There wasn't any big black thing - just a huge pus sack like size of my thumb.  She has another one on her other foot but I'll never do this again...

If you got all of it out she should start to heal. BUT, you need to bring her inside and out her in a separate crate or similar for she doesn't move too much on her foot and to keep it clean!!! Otherwise infection will get right into the open wound and it can turn REALLY ugly.

Plus, Neosporin alone is not good enough IMO. Soak her foot at least once a day in Epsom salt (DONT let her drink it! It will make her sick!), and I would also a use Vertricyn to spray and clean the wound at least once daily.

Again, limit her ability to get it dirty and walk on it, and with the right care she should bounce back and heal in no time.

 

[soozannah]

Thank you so much for getting back to me. I got little sleep last night, so worried. I'm keeping her in her coop and WILL clean her every day as you say. I have Betadyne, if I make a spray of it, is that like VERTRICYN (I've never heard of it)? Where do I get it? Should I keep using the Neosporin?

 

[MrsBachbach]

OH GOD.... please help my Molly bird!  She's been limping worse and worse over about a year.  She had this huge pus sack on one foot and another on the middle toe closest to the center.  Mom (me...stupid me) got the pus sack and I started looking for a core.  I pulled a big curved like knife out of her poor foot and there were so many more I kept digging and cutting them out and it hurt her it was weird, she would like go to sleep then yank her foot from me and I know she was in a lot of pain.  We ended up with this big hole in her foot and her toe.  Her yanking (I had a friend but my friend was getting faint) made me slip a couple of times and cut deep.  Will her foot ever heal?  I pulled like 7 knives - nails out of her poor foot but God, I just hope I didn't cut her tendon or something.  These things were really thin - like little nails and I could see why she was limping so bad.  It got to the point where she couldn't put any weight on that one leg.  But now - Oh God!  I FEEL SO BAD even though all those nail-like things are gone, there is such a big hole and I filled it with Neosporin and gauze and vet-tape wrapped it.  I checked on her in her coop about 30 min after it was done and there wasn't like whole lot of blood like there was when I was cutting those things out of her foot but I am just so worried.  I read on  another site that sometimes these things can be stringy and you just have to keep trying to get all of it.  I'm so worried I overdid it... Oh God!  I FEEL SO AWFUL FOR MY POOR BIRD!  There wasn't any big black thing - just a huge pus sack like size of my thumb.  She has another one on her other foot but I'll never do this again...

I'm not sure I would soak a foot with an open wound. Espom salt will sting like heck in an open wound. Plus, I haven't met a chicken yet that didn't poop in that warm water! And you sure don't want the bacteria from that getting back in that wound! Now, if you want to make a poultice of iodine and sugar and pack the wound with that, then wrap it up good, that will draw out remaining infection. I would do that a few days in a row and then back to the neosporin. But keep her in a cage on clean ground and bandage her foot with gauze and vet wrap and athletic tape to keep stuff out of the wound.
I don't know what those hard knifes were you were describing. Never seen anything hard or described as a knife coming out of bumblefoot. Sure hope it wasn't ligaments.

 

[soozannah]

I sure hope not also. Thank you so much for your advice. I will get the iodine and of course already have the sugar. Thank you. I'm so worried. Oh God I'll never ever do this again.

 

[soozannah]

Also do you think Betadyne would work? I have that too already. I thought I'd give her a little bit of aspirin for the pain. Maybe 1/2 tab in her water? What meds can I get for her, both to clean out the foot and for pain - without seeing a vet? I have no money, otherwise I would have taken her and have them take care of this. Thanks so much for your advice.

 

[wildsam]

Also do you think Betadyne would work?  I have that too already.  I thought I'd give her a little bit of aspirin for the pain.  Maybe 1/2 tab in her water?  What meds can I get for her, both to clean out the foot and for pain - without seeing a vet?  I have no money, otherwise I would have taken her and have them take care of this.  Thanks so much for your advice.

Not sure if I would put betadyne on it. Some things are not good to use with poultry but can't remember if that was one of them. And that would sting too I'd think.

Yes sorry. Forgot about the open wound part. That sure would sting. And Vetericyn should be found at your local feed store. It's a liquid (a couple of them at least) in a blue bottle and our store has it with horse meds. Costs around $28. It gets used to clean wounds (open or not) and to prevent infection.

Usually pain meds are not really recommended for poultry but I remember reading on one of the many forums that they did give their bird some. Try to google pain med dosage for poultry. Should get you some of the results from BYC. Good luck with her!