Bumblefoot?!

[Chicken0223]

Hello chicken friends! This is my first post on this site. We have 7 chickens (2 Easter eggers, 2 barred rocks, 3 green queens) and they are about 10 months old. All of them have black scabs on the bottoms of their feet. Most are small. After researching and watching 30+ YouTube surgery videos we realized it is bumblefoot. 2 of the green queens had big black scabs and were very swollen and obviously infected. we did surgery and removed the scab and cleaned out as much infection as we possibly could. It was disgusting. We’ve been wrapping with vetwrap and applying vetercyn and Neosporin for a week now. They seem to be healing. Any thoughts on the surgery or anything pertaining to this subject would be greatly appreciated. We also soaked in epsom for a week.

Also should black scabs always be removed even if an infection doesn’t seem to be present? Will the black scab always become infected? Will it ever go away on its own? I’m just trying to figure out how much intervention in need to give or if I should just wait and watch. I have been spraying all of their feet with vetercyn. I don’t want it to get to the point of my green queens bc that was traumatic for all involved. Thank you in advance for any thoughts!

I can add some pics if needed.

 

[dawg53]

Sometimes the scabs go away on their own. The only time you need to do bumblefoot surgery is when there's redness and swelling.
You can reduce the risk of bumblefoot by sanding down roosts to eliminate splinters and burrs. Also consider lowering roosts especially for heavy breeds. Remove items in your yard where birds can jump down from high places, such as; lawn chairs, trash cans etc...
If you have pine trees, rake up the pine cones.

You've done a great job with the surgery. You dont have to change the dressings on a daily basis. Just change the dressing every third day until completely healed. I use duct tape instead of vet wrap. It'll keep the wound dry in wet weather, preventing reinfection from nasty mudpuddles. Also, if you use duct tape, ensure it's not put on too tight. When you remove it, it's easiest to slice it vertically down the leg and peel it off. Make sure you wrap the hen in a towel and cover her head temporarily while slicing and removing the duct tape and it might be best to have someone hold her in that position while the tape is being sliced and removed. I use a razor blade to carefully slice the tape. No problem.

 

[Chicken0223]

Thank you for your reply! Good to know that I don’t have to remove the scabs unless they are Infected. I’ll keep spraying them with vetrycn to help with healing. The thought of doing surgery on all of the chickens to remove the black scab is overwhelming so I’m glad I can take the wait and watch approach!

 

[dawg53]

It's really not necessary to spray the scabs, they normally disappear on their own in time. But, that's up to you.
A long time ago I did surgery on a hen with a scab. There wasnt any redness, swelling, nor limping. There wasnt any infection at all. That means I did an unnecessary surgery, not to mention stressing the bird out. Lesson learned.

 

[Chicken0223]

Thank you! I appreciate your advise.