Bumblefoot?

[Adey65]

Im assuming this is bumblefoot. The black mark is on both pads but the swelling on only the one. Its not a hard scab, so hopefully Ive caught it early. Ive bathed her feet in epsom salts, dried her and applied vetericyn. Ive ordered some triple antibiotic ointment, a picture if which I have attached. Ill use it for when I have to remove the scab. Ive got vet tabe Its just a case of waiting for the ointment before I remove the scab. Any advice?

 

[Loving my girls]

Hi, The swelling is quite major so probably a lot of puss ( ?)
Here are my guidelines for removing bumblefoot. If you have any other questions I will keep an eye out for you on the forum
Hope all goes well for you

• Invasive

Think of a bumble as a dandelion, it has a root. What you see is the flower and you are removing the flower but the root continues to produce more flowers…and the root grows.

So, in my opinion you cannot cure bumblefoot (or kill the dandelion) without removing the root.

So; Before you start, fill a sink /bowl with Luke warm water and betadine liquid so it looks like weak tea. Keep her feet in the water solution for no less than 20mins to soften the scab.
Use a sterilised (I use betadine) scalpel (Amazon) to cut out the bumble. Also do not just remove the scab remove a little bit of skin, slightly, around the scab. And make a dent as you cut out the root or as much as you can.
I always found that this would leave a dent in the bottom of the foot, a dimple if you like. Fill this with neosporin cover with a dressing with neosporin on it, bandage preferably with a grippy bandage. Keep her in a cage for a week reducing her walking. Put her on antibiotics during this week.

Change the dressing and repeat with the neosporin after four days. Depending on whether it looks healthy either put back for another week or remove the bandage with fingers crossed.

Don’t be surprised if it comes back and you have to do it again but it looks like you have caught it early so good luck.

—-

• Non Invasive (Copied - i haven’t tried this)

Here is what has worked for me without cutting into the foot as that can cause more damage and irritation.

Soak in water with iodine for at least 10 min. (longer is better). Apply prid (or other drawing salve) and and antibiotic ointment place a piece of gauze and wrap with vet wrap. Leave for 3 days unless it falls off before that. Then, repeat the process checking every 3 days. At this point, it will be easy to just pick at the scab with a gloved finger. Most likely once you soak the 2nd time, it will become soft enough to pick at. Only pick at it so much, as you don't want to cause pain. Regardless what people say chickens do feel pain. Once all of the staph is removed you will see a hole. I still soak and apply antibiotic ointment at this point. The skin will start healing and once that happens, you can stop the soaks. You can spray with vetrycin or another poultry aid if you want, but it's not necessary.

If bumble is caught early enough, softening with a spray has been all that is needed to pick the scab off.

Look up Non-invasive ways to treat bumblefoot. The blogger Tilly's Nest has a good write up and there are a few good you tube videos demonstrating the method I've described.

 

[Adey65]

Will the swelling go down on its own once the bottom of the foot is treated? Ill try invasive first.

 

[Loving my girls]

It should do, the puss will come out and the meds will clear any infection
It is possible that the swelling is simply that and there is no puss but either way the antibiotics should sort it out
Hugz

 

[Adey65]

It should do, the puss will come out and the meds will clear any infection
It is possible that the swelling is simply that and there is no puss but either way the antibiotics should sort it out
Hugz

I have been soaking her feet in epsom salts, spraying her with vetericyn and applying triple antibiotic ointment and prid, after which she is bandaged with vet wrap. She is walking and running around, when previously she was limping and resting a lot. She's eating and drinking fine. It look like the treatment is working thankfully. I have two question, if thats okay. First, how long should I keep the dressing on before I change it and repeat the treatment. Should I change it after 2 days or 3. Secondly, and I think I already know the answer to this one, does the kernel under the scab have to come out, or will the antibiotic ointment resolve the issue completely without that being necessary? Thank you for your help.

 

[Down Under]

This is a good video and explains more than I can:

 

[Adey65]

This is a good video and explains more than I can:

Ive watched a few of hers. Very informative.

 

[Loving my girls]

I have been soaking her feet in epsom salts, spraying her with vetericyn and applying triple antibiotic ointment and prid, after which she is bandaged with vet wrap. She is walking and running around, when previously she was limping and resting a lot. She's eating and drinking fine. It look like the treatment is working thankfully. I have two question, if thats okay. First, how long should I keep the dressing on before I change it and repeat the treatment. Should I change it after 2 days or 3. Secondly, and I think I already know the answer to this one, does the kernel under the scab have to come out, or will the antibiotic ointment resolve the issue completely without that being necessary? Thank you for your help.

Did you cut it out ? Or go for the non cut out version ?
If the first it needs to come out, like the root of a dandelion. It will regrow otherwise. To be honest I’ve never managed it first time. It always helps but a year later I have had to do it again. Perhaps I leave it too long Remember Any teeny tiny bit left in the foot springs it back into action.

If the non cut version, sorry I have never used this version of treatment so I don’t know.

 

[coach723]

I usually do the non invasive treatment first. If it doesn't resolve then I will cut. Some prefer the cutting method as it can be faster healing. Bumblefoot treatment in general requires patience. It's kind of personal preference and personal experience with what you are used to and what has worked for you. I've done both. Sometimes the infection is not just a concentrated kernal that can be easily removed. I've had them be more ribbony and through out the foot. Those ones are much harder to treat, and may need to be lanced in more than one place. Every foot is a little different. For some really, really stubborn cases I have used sugardine (a paste of plain white sugar and betadine), and had very good results. It saved my roo that I thought I was going to have to put down. I will link to one site that explains the non invasive method that I usually try first (you still have to clean out all the pus, gunk, kernal or it will regenerate), and another link to a post I did on using sugardine which has a picture of the foot I treated with it, what I did, and a video on what sugardine is and is commonly used for (video by a vet). It's very inexpensive and readily available. You can often feel the bits of pus/infection in the foot as you are feeling around as small hard or firm spots that shouldn't be there. Sometimes it can take a fair amount of manipulation and squeezing to get it all out. I also use an oral syringe and either diluted betadine or hibiclens to flush the area out really well.
For bandaging, I start with changing bandages every day until I know it's healing up well. Sometimes you have to clean out and retreat repeatedly at the beginning. Once it's healing I will go to every other or every third day. It really depends on the foot and what you are seeing. If you use sugardine, it needs to be done daily until you know it's healing up. I keep the foot bandaged and protected until it's completely healed.
If you have a bird that just won't put up with the soak to soften it, I will use decolorized iodine (any pharmacy in the 1st aid section, not the same as betadine) applied to the lesion and then wrap it over night. That also works well to soften it up for removal.

https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment.html/?spref=pi

See post #8 here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/bumblefoot-not-healing.1443809/

 

[Marsha DeVaughn]

It should do, the puss will come out and the meds will clear any infection
It is possible that the swelling is simply that and there is no puss but either way the antibiotics should sort it out
Hugz

Where do you get antibiotics for bumblefoot? I’ve been treating my girl for two months and she’s not well yet! Foot still swollen and area around the hole that’s trying to act like it’s healing is still very hard!