Bumblefoot

[mlshalack]

We removed a large kernel from a sore on the bottom of this hen's foot a couple days ago. She still has a spot of swelling on the top of her foot near her toes. Should I continue soaking & treating hoping it will come to a head or go ahead and open it up? Thanks for any help! This is my first time dealing with bumblefoot.

 

[alinas2010]

Sorry she is going through this. Bumblefoot can be a really long challenging treatment process sometimes.

I do not recommend any cutting or surgery, but some people do it successfully. I have seen way too many chickens lose feet here from it. Can you post pictures of the bottom of her foot? It’s possible that you may just need to keep soaking to get the infection totally drawn out. It takes a lot of soaking and drawing the infection out. Do you have Prid drawing salve by chance? How long have you been treating?

Also welcome to the site.

 

[mlshalack]

Sorry she is going through this. Bumblefoot can be a really long challenging treatment process sometimes.

I do not recommend any cutting or surgery, but some people do it successfully. I have seen way too many chickens lose feet here from it. Can you post pictures of the bottom of her foot? It’s possible that you may just need to keep soaking to get the infection totally drawn out. It takes a lot of soaking and drawing the infection out. Do you have Prid drawing salve by chance? How long have you been treating?

Also welcome to the site.

Thanks so much for the response! Below are pics of her foot after soaking this morning. I feel like I'm starting to see some improvement. It seems like she's starting to put more weight on it.I have PRID & used that until we removed the scab & got the kernels out. I started treating May 23. The kernel was removed June 3. I included a pic of what came out. I had been putting Silver Honey on it after kernel removal, but last night I used Neosporin (without pain relief). My plan is to continue soaking & hope the rest works its way out soon. Thank you for your help & advice!

 

[alinas2010]

Sometimes when they get bumblefoot the infection can “travel” or “tunnel” and even tho the entrance is in one area, an area of pus, or infection, can pop up a bit away from the entrance. Looks like that may have happened here. I had a very similar experience with one of my hens.

It sounds like you’re doing every correctly. It will probably just take time. I would keep soaking, treating with ointment or prid and wrapping, to keep the area soft. Then if you feel up to it you could apply a bit pressure to the top of the swelling on her foot and push towards the point where you extracted the kernel. See if you are able to extract any pus out of the entrance. Again, this may take a lot of time, but keep at it and don’t be discouraged. If at anytime things start to look worse, though, don’t hesitate to seek out veterinary care if possible.