Bumblefoot surgery - with pics and "how to"

[stangale]

Our sweet "Vanilla" developed what we came to know as Bumblefoot (thanks to this thread).
We attempted to cut off the scab, go in and find "the kernal" as prescribed.
But instead of finding puss/cheesy substance as described in the Bumblefoot thread, the mass is very thick-skinned and fibrous.
Squeezing does very little as the mass is pretty dense.
Went in with tweezers and patiently dug around for at least 15 minutes, but was rewarded with nothing but some blood.
Amazing our hen fussed very little, and ran around like nothing had happened after having been bandaged up (with neosporin).

What does this thick-skinned fibrous phenomenon mean?



One week later:



The infection seems to have spread further up into her foot and we're afraid we're going to lose her. Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you!

 

[donnavee]

I'm no expert but thanks to this forum have done the surgery a couple of times. One of my hens had the puss but another had more of the fibrous consistency you described. Fortunately for me, the surgery was still a success and she recovered nicely. If it's continuing to spread I would think she may need to get on antibiotics. Perhaps someone else has another suggestion but that's my best guess. In the meantime, I would keep soaking it in epsom salt water and applying neosporin.

 

[ADozenGirlz]

That is a pretty well advanced case of bumblefoot and you should really contact a vet for a strong antibiotic at this point. The OTC ones aren't strong enough.
The hard 'core' you found needs to be removed. That is the infection that has solidified dead tissue. Lots more info about bumblefoot with photos and a video here on my blog:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/07/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning.html







Quote:

Our sweet "Vanilla" developed what we came to know as Bumblefoot (thanks to this thread).
We attempted to cut off the scab, go in and find "the kernal" as prescribed.
But instead of finding puss/cheesy substance as described in the Bumblefoot thread, the mass is very thick-skinned and fibrous.
Squeezing does very little as the mass is pretty dense.
Went in with tweezers and patiently dug around for at least 15 minutes, but was rewarded with nothing but some blood.
Amazing our hen fussed very little, and ran around like nothing had happened after having been bandaged up (with neosporin).

What does this thick-skinned fibrous phenomenon mean?



One week later:



The infection seems to have spread further up into her foot and we're afraid we're going to lose her. Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you!

 

[willowbranchfarm]

Our sweet "Vanilla" developed what we came to know as Bumblefoot (thanks to this thread). We attempted to cut off the scab, go in and find "the kernal" as prescribed. But instead of finding puss/cheesy substance as described in the Bumblefoot thread, the mass is very thick-skinned and fibrous. Squeezing does very little as the mass is pretty dense. Went in with tweezers and patiently dug around for at least 15 minutes, but was rewarded with nothing but some blood. Amazing our hen fussed very little, and ran around like nothing had happened after having been bandaged up (with neosporin). What does this thick-skinned fibrous phenomenon mean? One week later: The infection seems to have spread further up into her foot and we're afraid we're going to lose her. Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you!

It almost looks like a tumor. But its just a really bad case of Bumble foot.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/554991/antibiotics-for-bumblefoot


when my Fluffy had bumblefoot I found this pdf very informative too....
http://acbaonline.com/pdf/ACBA Health Bumblefoot or Pododermatitis.pdf

 

[Collybaby]

Thank you so much for this post,yesterday everyone had to be dusted for lice and I found 2 chickens with these and pulled it out and put Vetricin and neosporn pain and wrapped them up, hope it clears up. Read this after and looks like I was on the right track,

 

[opalwednesday]

@collybaby, did you say neosporin pain? Because I've read that chickens aren't allowed to use anything in the 'caine family, like the numbing ingredient in some neosporin. Something to look out for

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Thank you so much for this post,yesterday everyone had to be dusted for lice and I found 2 chickens with these and pulled it out and put Vetricin and neosporn pain and wrapped them up, hope it clears up. Read this after and looks like I was on the right track,

I would caution against using any Neosporin with pain reliever in it as it can have serious, if not deadly, cardiac implications for chickens. If you used Vetericyn, you don't need the Neosporin anyway. Did you excise the staph infection or just apply Vetericyn and Neosporin and wrap it up? I have an extensive blog post with photos and videos of the bumblefoot removal procedure if you're interested: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/07/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning.html

 

[ADozenGirlz]

It almost looks like a tumor. But its just a really bad case of Bumble foot.

Has her bumblefoot improved at all since that last photo? If you can't get her to a vet, I highly recommend Vetericyn VF before and after removing the infection. Here's how we do it (lots of pictures and videos included) http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/07/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning.html

 

[opalwednesday]

Holy cow guys, I pulled out a bumble today that I really should have photographed. It all came out in one piece, huge at the bottom and more narrow at top, like a tooth. It left a hole that I could see through from the top of my girl's foot. Ibdont know how I am ever going to touch food again, I can't believe I didn't hurl. Thanks for the wisdom, I couldn't have done it without this thread.