Bumblefoot surgery - with pics and "how to"

[baredrock101]

Can someone pleas help me find out if this is bumblefoot

 

[MrsBachbach]

Can someone pleas help me find out if this is bumblefoot

Have you soaked the foot in epsom salt water yet? A little lukewarm water in a bucket and let them sit about 10 minutes in it. It will help wash any dirt off the foot and be easier to see. Need a closer up pic of that foot to tell anything, but I don't see any swelling. It could be the beginning of it though. If so, best to start treating right away and you would avoid extensive surgery.

 

[baredrock101]

ok thanks I will start that immediately

 

[SCOUT123]

Does this look like bumblefoot to you guys?









The top of the foot looks perfectly normal and there's no swelling. She doesn't limp at all. She's not favoring that foot; however, for the past two days or so she's been lifting that foot and using her beak to "check" on it (maybe once or twice a day in the past two days)
Today when she was running towards me she sort of galloped over, which is what led me to inspect her foot. She walks perfectly fine, though, and she only did that once today. But I have another hen that did the galloping-running thing about 2 weeks ago but walked fine. In the evening hours that hen reverted back to her old running style (thankfully). From my pov, it just looks like the old skin at the foot pad is flaking away. I didn't squeeze it though.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Does this look like bumblefoot to you guys?









The top of the foot looks perfectly normal and there's no swelling. She doesn't limp at all. She's not favoring that foot; however, for the past two days or so she's been lifting that foot and using her beak to "check" on it (maybe once or twice a day in the past two days)
Today when she was running towards me she sort of galloped over, which is what led me to inspect her foot. She walks perfectly fine, though, and she only did that once today. But I have another hen that did the galloping-running thing about 2 weeks ago but walked fine. In the evening hours that henreverted back to her old running style (thankfully). From my pov, it just looks like the old skin at the foot pad is flaking away. I didn't squeeze it though.

The pictures are a bit blurry, but the pad does look slightly swollen. It is possible that it could be along with a callous. I just treated a rooster and I have one hen with similar presentation. Why don't you give that foot a good scrub and see if there is a black scab anywhere.
If so I think you should follow same advice I gave to other posters. Soak in epsom salt at least 3x a week. After each soaking put antibiotic ointment on pad or what I think is more effective is an iodine/sugar poultice paste. Just take a little bit of sugar and add drops of iodine to it until you have a paste like consistency. The poultice helps draw infection down and after several applications like this the scab is usually ready to lift off without much cutting or digging involved. So after each soak, apply your choice of treatment, put a piece of gauze on it then secure that with Vetwrap (sold in horse section of farm stores) cut in long strips(easier to wrap around foot and toes that way). I usually slap a piece of the wide 1inch waterproof tape on the bottom of that bandage. It helps keep the morning dew or mud out. So a few weeks of this type of routine and you can usually lift the scab with any infection attached right off after a soaking. I don't do much digging around deep into the foot after lifting the scab off. If I see any white nearby I will try to remove it. Just make sure the foot is well prepared and clean, your tools are sanitized and you are wearing gloves when playing with that scab. Afterwards, put some triple antibiotic ointment on, apply gauze, vetwrap and I put some bandaging tape on top of that and then put the bird in a cage with clean shavings for about three days so the wound won't get dirt in it while it closes. After it closes, you can continue to change her bandages every few days but can usually turn them loose if your weather is dry. Don't remove the bandages until it is well healed. Here are some pics of one bird I once worked on. She had a pretty large one, but the smaller scabs like yours are usually less involved and easier to treat with just soakings and bandages. It take several weeks and some work on your part though, but the bird gets around fine with the bandages and you help prevent the spread of it by the bandaging.


After a few weeks of soaking and apply the poultice the scab seemed ready to come off. I think it even grew larger. I soaked it to soften it then I started lifting around the edges.



It left a huge hole but very little bleeding. The infection seemed to be attached to the scab. It was more of a plug I lifted out. I may have cleaned out around it if I saw anything. Small scabs won't leave any hole like this though.




The hole actually closed up quickly, only a few days. But I still kept her bandaged for a couple of weeks.

 

[SCOUT123]

The pictures are a bit blurry, but the pad does look slightly swollen. It is possible that it could be along with a callous. I just treated a rooster and I have one hen with similar presentation. Why don't you give that foot a good scrub and see if there is a black scab anywhere.
If so I think you should follow same advice I gave to other posters. Soak in epsom salt at least 3x a week. After each soaking put antibiotic ointment on pad or what I think is more effective is an iodine/sugar poultice paste. Just take a little bit of sugar and add drops of iodine to it until you have a paste like consistency. The poultice helps draw infection down and after several applications like this the scab is usually ready to lift off without much cutting or digging involved. So after each soak, apply your choice of treatment, put a piece of gauze on it then secure that with Vetwrap (sold in horse section of farm stores) cut in long strips(easier to wrap around foot and toes that way). I usually slap a piece of the wide 1inch waterproof tape on the bottom of that bandage. It helps keep the morning dew or mud out. So a few weeks of this type of routine and you can usually lift the scab with any infection attached right off after a soaking. I don't do much digging around deep into the foot after lifting the scab off. If I see any white nearby I will try to remove it. Just make sure the foot is well prepared and clean, your tools are sanitized and you are wearing gloves when playing with that scab. Afterwards, put some triple antibiotic ointment on, apply gauze, vetwrap and I put some bandaging tape on top of that and then put the bird in a cage with clean shavings for about three days so the wound won't get dirt in it while it closes. After it closes, you can continue to change her bandages every few days but can usually turn them loose if your weather is dry. Don't remove the bandages until it is well healed. Here are some pics of one bird I once worked on. She had a pretty large one, but the smaller scabs like yours are usually less involved and easier to treat with just soakings and bandages. It take several weeks and some work on your part though, but the bird gets around fine with the bandages and you help prevent the spread of it by the bandaging.


After a few weeks of soaking and apply the poultice the scab seemed ready to come off. I think it even grew larger. I soaked it to soften it then I started lifting around the edges.



It left a huge hole but very little bleeding. The infection seemed to be attached to the scab. It was more of a plug I lifted out. I may have cleaned out around it if I saw anything. Small scabs won't leave any hole like this though.




The hole actually closed up quickly, only a few days. But I still kept her bandaged for a couple of weeks.

Thanks for all the useful information!

I'll be getting the epsom salts today. Is it okay to soak a hen that's perfectly healthy along with this hen? I only have two, and they're inseparable

Could I use a pad and this type of bandaging to replace Vetwrap?

 

[UGLYFOOT]

Thanks for all the useful information! 
I'll be getting the epsom salts today. Is it okay to soak a hen that's perfectly healthy along with this hen? I only have two, and they're inseparable   
Could I use a pad and this type of bandaging to replace Vetwrap?

 

That will work great! I would cut it in half lengthwise to fit between the toes.

I would not soak the other hen, you don't want to infect her if she has any kind of cut or abrasion the infection could get in. But bring her in to keep the other calm if needed.

 

[abipen]

My chicken Poppy had clear signs of bumble foot so I watched many videos and decided to try to excise it myself. When I pulled the big black scab off I was puzzled to not find any pus or cheese like plug. I cleaned it well with Epsom salt soaks and filled the little hole I had dug with antibiotic ointment, gauze, and vet wrap. Two days later this is what it looks like. Any tips and advice are welcome, I feel terrible that her foot is swollen and looks worse than it did to start with.

[/IMG]

 

[SCOUT123]

I couldn't find regular epsom salts, so I had to get lavender scented epsom salts. Will the fragrance affect the chicken? Also, do I soak the whole body or just her leg?

 

[MrsBachbach]

Thanks for all the useful information!

I'll be getting the epsom salts today. Is it okay to soak a hen that's perfectly healthy along with this hen? I only have two, and they're inseparable

Could I use a pad and this type of bandaging to replace Vetwrap?

If it sticks to itself, sure, but VetWrap comes in a huge roll (which you will use alot of) and is much cheaper I'm sure. When you soak their foot just put a few inches of lukewarm water in bottom of pail. I have a laundry basket that fits over my pail just fine and confines the bird to the pail of water, so she goes nowhere and can still get air and I'm not left there holding her in it. I don't recommend putting another bird in there with her. Bumblefoot is contagious and birds will usually poop in the water when sitting there. Another reason that I don't soak the foot after surgery!