Bumblefoot surgery - with pics and "how to"

[gckiddhouse]

See, this is what I expected.
http://media.photobucket.com/image/bumblefoot treatment chickens/ireneafit/tibak.jpg
It just didn't end up like that at all.
Please help.

 

[ruth]

Quote:
You will have to use a blade of some sort. You can't pull it out with tweezers - at least not easily and all in one piece. Use a single edge razor blade and cut all the way around the scab - just to the outside of the scab. In other words a tad larger. Then you will have to dig around in the hole and keep soaking, squeezing, mashing, digging. The "fleshy white stuff" that is coming out of the hole all needs to be dug out and removed including all pieces of the scab.

In the case of the foot with the thorn there may not be a plug - it could have just gotten infected and abcessed from the thorn. Just clean it out as best possible, pack with Neosporin and wrap to heal.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
Hi Carol - mine didn't look at that picture either. I did use a scalpel, but the whole procedure was much harder than I expected. It was harder because I always felt like there was more in there, but I couldn't find it, too much blood, felt like I was hurting the hen, etc.

I found my first cases of bumblefoot before this thread came about - I still have a few cases to redo. Hopefully, it'll be easier now. You might want to check your other hens feet, even if they are not swollen. I think it's much easier to fix while the bumble? is still small.

I have rocky, deserty areas in my yard and I know you do too (AZ landscaping) and I'm wondering if that contributed to them getting it. If only one of your hens has a scab on the bottom of her feet, then that's not the reason.

 

[ruth]

It is much harder than it sounds or looks. It normally takes me about an hour per foot. There is a lot of bleeding so I keep the foot under a slow-running faucet while I dig or prod about so that I can see what I'm doing.

In fact, I just finished "operating" on a rooster - took from 11 p.m. till mid-night (don't I know how to have a good time). I noticed him limping/hopping about today, holding one foot up. He didn't have bumble foot but it appears he cut the top of the middle toe, near the top where it joins the foot - pretty deep - and it had gotten infected and there was a huge swelling in between the first two toes. I followed the same procedure - soaked foot - removed the scab that had formed over the wound, squeezed out all puss. There was no plug since it wasn't bumble foot. Then I used a razor blade to make an incision in the large swollen area between toes. A huge glob of white cheesy puss came out. I had to rinse and dig around a bit to get all the remaining gunk.

I'm glad everyone finds this thread helpful. It may sound easy but it certainly isn't. I get queezy after the fact every time and it's usually late at night when I have to do these various medical procedures because they all free range and I don't notice who's injured till they start coming back to the coop or yard for the night then I have to wait till they have gone to roost to catch them. So I normally wait till after dinner so I don't lose my appetite.

 

[rosesgoats]

I have a 3 year old Polish hen with what I think is bumblefoot. She had a black spot on the bottom of her foot like the first picture. I dug it out but got no pus, blood, or anything else. On the top of her foot was a hard spot under the skin. I cut through the skin and found it to be very hard, almost boney, white stuff. Is this the "plug"? How do you get it out? Do you cut it out? How much cutting are you supposed to do on the foot? The pad on the bottom of the foot is swollen and the top of the foot has this boney stuff stuck under the skin.

 

[AmyRey]

A couple of questions:

What exactly IS the "plug"? Is it a foreign body or some sort? Scar tissue?

Secondly, what signs indicate a chicken has this ailment? Do they limp? Pick at their feet?

 

[lovemychix]

I just did two of my heavy hens for bumble. It always seems to be the heavy ones. I hope I got all the gunk. I have done this before and sometimes it's easy and sometimes not.

They are in their own area. At least they have each other company. Buffy needed to be away from my roo anyway. He's her favorite.

Saddle and wing protector and a bald neck.

My girls are not happy about being away from the flock.

 

[ruth]

Quote:
I've found I don't really have to separate them. Just wrap the foot well and let them go and check it every day to be sure it's not too tight or the foot not swollen. Remove, clean and reapply after two-three days. Can probably be removed completely in a week. My hens are up on their high roosts in the rafters with wrapped feet. The way I wrap them still allows them to use their claws/toes.

 

[rosesgoats]

I got the kernel out of the hens foot last night. It was pretty large. I didn't have luck getting anything else out of there. There wasn't any cottage cheese or pus, just hard wads of flesh. I will try soaking it tonight for a while and see if that helps. What else should I do? Once the kernel is removed will it get better? Does she need tetracycline? I wrapped the foot with neosporin and vetwrap.

 

[ruth]

Quote:
She should be fine. You got the most important thing out. Good job.

Isn't it amazing how large and hard those kernels/plugs can be? It's like a foreign object that gets imbedded in the foot pad and takes on a life of its own. Kind of like a pearl in an oyster but I don't think I want to save any of these to make a necklace.