Bumblefoot surgery - with pics and "how to"

Pics
What kind
Idk about anesthesia. I've read not to use antibiotic ointment that contains pain relieve or numbing agent, so I would say don't use anesthesia. No, they don't scream. I've never heard a peep out of mine. That's not to say it doesn't hurt, I'm sure it does. It's just that chickens do a good job of hiding pain. They will try to jerk their foot away, so I'm sure they feel it. But if it has to be done, it has to be done.
I don't dig around alot when I remove one. I soak the foot well to soften the scab, then work the knife or intrusment around the edges of the scab to slowly loosen and then when I'm satisfied I've worked under the edges well, I grab some tweezers and lift and pull out the scab. Use something sterile and squeeze the area and see if there is any kernals or stringy white stuff to remove, but if I don't see it, I don't dig. I put a poultice on the operated foot to draw out any infection that may still be up there and I change that bandage out every couple of days, cleaning off any pus I see, and just continue reapplying the poultice and bandaging until I feel the infection has been removed. I then just apply antibiotic ointment, rewrap and let it close up, changing the bandaging every few days, until I feel they can go without bandaging.


What kind of poultice do you use?
 
Her bumblefoot is now tiny and she is doing well. After looking at video's on the surgery part I almost lost it. Got Miss Bama Mama into the vet. He cut on scab at bottom and put a non needle syringe full of a blue liquid. He gave her a shot of antibiotics. Told me to bring her back in a week. Meanwhile I kept her in and soaked her foot in the blue liq and Epsom salts and rewrapped with a special med applied to wound. . But it wasn't getting any better. Each time I soaked it I had to hold my nose the smell was so bad. I rewrapped as instructed and kept her in the house. Not a lovely thing may I say. POO POO p u. Anyway took back to vet and he said, we needed to get more aggressive. Sooo he cut on her foot and he about lost his lunch. OM goodness the smell was horrible. She bled some and he rewrapped. Took her back three days later, he unwrapped cleaned again and gave me some medicine to apply to the bottom of her foot and said to put her outside but not with others so she can scratch and make it heal faster. Then I had to scoop her up twice a day and apply the med. OK so I did all this stuff and guess what....... she stopped laying eggs and started crowing. NO I AM NOT KIDDING. When I took her back a week later he basically told me there was nothing more to do unless it festered up again and to put her back with the other girls. She crowed for 2 weeks. She has started laying again, so maybe her boy harmones went somewhere else. Had me worried. So to this date she is doing good.. However I learned a lesson to check all 16 girls feet before they go to bed at night. I got her to behave when ever anything was done by putting my minny pins dog sweater on her to keep her wings close to body. I put a tea towel over her head (just draped not tight), and I could turn her on side and do what ever I needed to and she did not move or scream or nothing. I just dreamed that up in my head. I truly did not think it would work but it did. So good luck. I had no support at home for the surgery part, so that is why I opted for vet. It cost me 70.00 for 5 visits. I thought that was reasonable.
 
What kind
What kind of poultice do you use?


Don't soak her foot if you have already opened it up. The salt would sting like heck, plus every time I soak my chickens feet in that warm water epsom salt solution they poop in the water. Every time. So, you don't want the poop water getting back in the wound, thats what likely started the infection in the first place!

After opening it up and cleaning it, if I suspect any infection is left I use a betadine/sugar poultice. Just make a kind of paste out of it. Not too runny or too stiff. A consistancy that will go in but not run off when applying it. Cover it with a guaze pad and then wrap with vet wrap and cover that with athlectic tape or bandaging tape. Water proof kind is best if the bird is going to be on damp ground. They should be kept in a dry enviroment though until healed good. In a couple of days, unwrap, clean out any gunk that may have formed or collected, and apply and rewrap again. When you feel the poultice has drawn out all infection, you can start applying antibiotic ointment to the wound and let it start to heal. Still need to keep it wrapped and clean until it closes up good.

Here are some pics of a recent surgery I did. Normally, I don't find this large of a core either. I did however, do a few soakings of the foot and apply the poultice after each soaking before doing this surgery. Maybe the poultice helped draw down the infection or maybe this girl had a worse case. Usually, I see a black scab with some swelling, but find little underneath it. My thoughts are infections like that either are resolving themselves or haven't really reached a bad stage yet.

Before surgery
700



After some lifting around the edges:
700

700


After lifting I pulled the core out with tweezers:
700

700


The hole left in the foot didn't have much blood. Flushed it with sterile water.
700

700


Bandaged up and ready to go back to pen.
700
 
Her bumblefoot is now tiny and she is doing well.  After looking at video's on the surgery part I almost lost it.  Got Miss Bama Mama into the vet.  He cut on scab at bottom and put a non needle syringe full of a blue liquid.  He gave her a shot of antibiotics. Told me to bring her back in a week.  Meanwhile I kept her in and soaked her foot in the blue liq and Epsom salts and rewrapped with a special med applied to wound. . But it wasn't getting any better.  Each time I soaked it I had to hold my nose the smell was so bad.  I rewrapped as instructed and kept her in the house.  Not a lovely thing may I say.  POO POO p u.  Anyway took back to vet and he said, we needed to get more aggressive. Sooo he cut on her foot and he about lost his lunch.  OM goodness the smell was horrible.  She bled some and he rewrapped. Took her back three days later, he unwrapped cleaned again and gave me some medicine to apply to the bottom of her foot and said to put her outside but not with others so she can scratch and make it heal faster.  Then I had to scoop her up twice a day and apply the med. OK so I did all this stuff and guess what....... she stopped laying eggs and started crowing.  NO I AM NOT KIDDING.  When I took her back a week later he basically told me there was nothing more to do unless it festered up again and to put her back with the other girls.  She crowed for 2 weeks.  She has started laying again, so maybe her boy harmones went somewhere else.  Had me worried.  So to this date she is doing good..  However I learned a lesson to check all 16 girls feet before they go to bed at night.  I got her to behave when ever anything was done by putting my minny pins dog sweater on her to keep her wings close to body.  I put a tea towel over her head (just draped not tight), and I could turn her on side and do what ever I needed to and she did not move or scream or nothing. I just dreamed that up in my head.  I truly did not think it would work but it did.  So good luck. I had no support at home for the surgery part, so that is why I opted for vet.  It cost me 70.00 for 5 visits. I thought that was reasonable.


That's very reasonable. You have a good vet. If I had that many visits to the vet, my bill would be over $300 by now. Likely the first visit alone would be over $100 if they even agreed to see the bird, which I don't believe they would. My vet has her parrot in her office and she knows how easily stuff spreads between bird species so I'm sure she wouldn't allow a chicken in her building.
A towel wrapped around the bird secured with a clothes pin and head draped works great when having to do things alone. Frees up both hands.
Glad your bird is doing better. Sounds like it was a bad case.
 
400

First time we found our franklin have black spot on her black foot and it is bumblefoot
Then I try to do it myself but it's not that easy because I m scare I hurt her or over cut her foot so we take her to vet n cut out all clean up
10 day after cut
https://www.backyardchickens.com/content/type/61/id/6846129/width/200/height/400[/IMG

I think it didn't look very good at all
We did jail her give her yellow water for 5day and every 2 day we change her foot with new cream n new warp

So today I try to open one n see
[IMG]https://www.backyardchickens.com/content/type/61/id/6846136/width/200/height/400
I think those white paste stuff shouldn't be there? So I try to clean n push as much as I could but still feel like she got a lot inside...
Should I keep digging in n check every week? If it still look like this again next week

This is what I use
400


I am going to try paw paw cream as myself my foot got some skin problem I bought the cream for it but it didn't work at all so I try paw paw cream n it fix in two night
So I am going to put paw paw cream on chick and will keep an eye n see how it go
 
400

First time we found our franklin have black spot on her black foot and it is bumblefoot
Then I try to do it myself but it's not that easy because I m scare I hurt her or over cut her foot so we take her to vet n cut out all clean up
10 day after cut
https://www.backyardchickens.com/content/type/61/id/6846129/width/200/height/400[/IMG

I think it didn't look very good at all
We did jail her give her yellow water for 5day and every 2 day we change her foot with new cream n new warp

So today I try to open one n see
[IMG]https://www.backyardchickens.com/content/type/61/id/6846136/width/200/height/400
I think those white paste stuff shouldn't be there? So I try to clean n push as much as I could but still feel like she got a lot inside...
Should I keep digging in n check every week? If it still look like this again next week

This is what I use
400


I am going to try paw paw cream as myself my foot got some skin problem I bought the cream for it but it didn't work at all so I try paw paw cream n it fix in two night
So I am going to put paw paw cream on chick and will keep an eye n see how it go


It can take a couple of weeks to heal up. But if you feel that all the infection was not removed, I suggest a drawing poultice applied to the wound, then wrapped with gauze pad and a bandaging tape. I would change this every two days, clean foot, apply more drawing poultice and reapply bandages. After a few times of doing this, I think most of the infection should be gone and I would just start applying an antibiotic ointment, wrap it up and let it heal.
A good drawing poultice that has been suggested here(and I have tried it myself and it works well from what I have seen) is iodine and sugar paste. Or betadine and sugar paste. Just get a teaspoon of sugar and add the iodine until you get a paste. Not too runny or too stiff. Apply a patch of that directly on the wound, put a gauze pad over it and wrap it up with some good bandaging tape or even athletic tap. I like to put vetwrap over the gauze pad and around the foot and then put the tape over that, but I don't know if you have vetwrap there. It's similar to the sticky ACE bandages but made for horses or livestock. Sticks well to itself.
 
It can take a couple of weeks to heal up. But if you feel that all the infection was not removed, I suggest a drawing poultice applied to the wound, then wrapped with gauze pad and a bandaging tape. I would change this every two days, clean foot, apply more drawing poultice and reapply bandages. After a few times of doing this, I think most of the infection should be gone and I would just start applying an antibiotic ointment, wrap it up and let it heal.
A good drawing poultice that has been suggested here(and I have tried it myself and it works well from what I have seen) is iodine and sugar paste. Or betadine and sugar paste. Just get a teaspoon of sugar and add the iodine until you get a paste. Not too runny or too stiff. Apply a patch of that directly on the wound, put a gauze pad over it and wrap it up with some good bandaging tape or even athletic tap. I like to put vetwrap over the gauze pad and around the foot and then put the tape over that, but I don't know if you have vetwrap there. It's similar to the sticky ACE bandages but made for horses or livestock. Sticks well to itself.


Thank you very much:)
I go local farm shop buy something there get to talk to a guy say just use vinegar mix water soak the feet no cut off

Just found one other chick got little black spot trying this vinegar water soak
Will try talk pic n share n see will that work...?
Or anyone try this b4??
 
Thank you very much:)
I go local farm shop buy something there get to talk to a guy say just use vinegar mix water soak the feet no cut off

Just found one other chick got little black spot trying this vinegar water soak
Will try talk pic n share n see will that work...?
Or anyone try this b4??


No, never heard of that. I do know that salty water does tend to draw infection out. I think that's why many suggest a warm epsom salt soaking of the infected foot. About twenty minutes a day for several days until you are ready to lift the infection out. I do know that when I have been badly bug bitten and the itching is driving me nuts, I have found soaking in a tub of epsom salts relieves the itching and promotes fast healing. A few days of soaking like that and bug bites were dried up and gone! Might try the vinegar on myself next time!
 
Do you directly insert the neosporin into the cleaned out area? And will I be able to let the chicken out with the other chickens afterward?@ruth
 

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