Bumblefoot?

[schambo]

I'm guessing this is bumblefoot, at least on the right side? This is on my 1.5-2y/o bovans brown. She's moving around well, and fairly active, but she does seem to be having a hard time jumping down from the perch and out of the nest box (each about 1' off the ground).

I'm relatively new to chickens, and this is my first case of bumblefoot. Can anyone confirm that that's what I'm looking at, and point me towards some good treatment resources? Should the chicken be separated from the others? Thanks!

 

[RubelliteRose]

I'm going to quote myself from earlier today, but yes, that does appear to be a small bumblefoot spot on the right foot.
She does not need to separated from the flock while being treated

That is bumblefoot, but it is pretty minor and easily treated at home . I would do the soak in warm epsom salt bath for about 10 minutes. Then wrap your chicken in a towel - it also helps to have a second person. Remove the scab and core with flat tweezers. Rinse the hole left by the core with vetericyn or an iodine solution. Let dry a bit, then fill the hole with non-painkilling triple antibiotic ointment. I usually cover the spot with a small piece of gauze and wrap the foot with vet wrap. Make sure not to wrap the foot too tightly. Check the spot every couple of days and change the bandage if needed or if it gets wet from rain.
This is a good article on bumblefoot: https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment-html/
I've found that some of my chickens seem to be more susceptible to bumblefoot and will have to be treated again while others have never had it. We do periodic bumblefoot checks on all our chickens just to be safe.

 

[coach723]

That is very small and doesn't appear to have any swelling. So for those I generally treat topically. I'd soak it in epsom salts to soften it up, remove the scab, flush it with chlorhexidine (hibiclens), apply plain neosporin or plain triple antibiotic ointment, cover with a small piece of gauze or telfa pad, and wrap with vet wrap or co wrap (not too tight) to keep it clean. Change the wrap and reapply the ointment daily until you see it's healing, then go to every other or every third day. I usually keep the foot wrapped until it's healed completely. Even the little ones can take some time to heal, so patience and perseverence is good.

 

[schambo]

I'm going to quote myself from earlier today, but yes, that does appear to be a small bumblefoot spot on the right foot.
She does not need to separated from the flock while being treated

Thanks!

 

[schambo]

It seemed to go very well, but maybe too easy? I pulled the scab off, and it had just a teeny kernel, but the exposed tissue looked so healthy that I didn’t want to disturb it. There was no blood at all, and she tolerated it really well. I’ll keep watching it, but does it look okay? I feel like I must be missing something.

You can just barely see the little pit where the eschar was. The tissue underneath is very pink and healthy, but it’s a little blurry.





Now she’s spending the evening alone in the "recovery suite" because the younger pullets annoy her and she deserves a night off haha

 

[RubelliteRose]

It looks good! Often the tiny kernels don't bleed. I usually don't go digging around in the hole. I would rather repeat the soaking and wrapping rather than cause damage to healthy tissue. Hope she heals quickly

 

[coach723]

Sometimes with the small ones there is nothing really there but the scab. Removing it and cleaning/flushing it out helps remove some of the bacteria. Looks good. I would just watch now, change bandages, it should slowly get smaller/better. I'm not sure how to describe it, but a healing healthy scab just looks different than the bumble lesion, so you will probably see the difference. Sometimes if they are very superficial, I just clean them off, apply the ointment and wrap. Every foot is different. The earlier and smaller you catch them, the easier they are to treat.