Bumblefoot?

[brookecostner1]

Hello! I have two pekins and two buff orpingtons. They’re all about 7 months old. I noticed on the pekins they have these spots on their feet. I’ve heard of Bumblefoot and wanted to get your opinions on it. Neither on them have showed any pain or hobbling. Does it look my Bumblefoot, and what is the best home method to help these girls? Also, what causes it? We use wood chips for their run and pine shaving flakes in their coop and don’t know if that’s been too harsh in their feet. Thank you

 

[CHlCKEN]

Yikes! Yes that is bumblefoot. I’ve heard people say it’s more common in ducks but I personally have never dealt with it in mine, just my chickens.

I’d say it might be the wood chips. I use them too for my ducks and my chickens, but my ducks have a very shallow layer which leaves bare dirt exposed most of the time. I’ve had chickens get splinters from it that turns into bumblefoot and that might be what’s going on with yours. If I were you, I would switch to something like sand which shouldn’t be as harsh on those little feet.

These look like they’re at the ideal stage to remove and treat which is good. You’ll need to soak their feet (I usually do about 15-20 minutes) to soften the black scabs. Generally once they are softened they are lose and able to be carefully pulled off. Usually the kernel (the infection itself) will be attached. It should be whitish/yellow in color and it’s actually mostly just pus. You’ll be able to tell when you’ve pulled it out. I treat with several products; first flush out with saline (and may use iodine if there’s any bleeding), then spray Vetericyn Plus Poultry, fill the hollow with Neosporin (WITHOUT pain relief, do not use anything with a numbing agent), then cover with gauze and wrap with vet wrap (someone may recommend a different wrapping process though for ducks). You need to repeat that treatment daily until it has healed. Some people like to give epsom soaks during the healing process too but I honestly don’t think it’s necessary if you don’t want to spend the time.

Hope this helps!

 

[PopoMyers]

I agree with the wood chips. Theil splinter causes an opening in their skin which allows staph to start an infection. My girls got bumblefoot from roughly cut wood used for their coop ramp. Now that it's been 4 years caked up with dirt and probably poo, haven't had any more problems. I put epsom salt in the soaking water, before getting the bumbles out. I have an old dental tool which helped me work around the scab to separate it from the edges, and get under it to pop up the kernel, which is usually firm, unlike human pus.

 

[brookecostner1]

I’ve changed their bedding out from wood chips and have begun the treatment portion. I let her soak in the tub and had my husband hold her while i tried to remove it with cotton pliers. I was able to get pieces out at a time and then applied iodine and some triple antibiotic ointment on a cotton ball and wrapped with vet wrap. Do these pics look okay? It just doesn’t seem like a hole like the others do. I’m going to continue to soak, could it be that i only removed the top layer and the other layers will harden as i continue to soak to remove the core? I just want to make sure what i did was okay?