Bumblefoot

[Melissa in the PNW]

Hello BYC community!! I’m struggling with my chickens. We have 28 chickens and 3 ducks. We clean the coop regularly, have soft bedding, railings for them to get up and down from the roosts and even cleaned out rocks/sticks/debris from the yard. Our birds get bumblefoot roughly every 3 or 4 months at this point and I can’t figure out what else to do to stop it from happening. Please send help I am running out of ideas.

My husband and I have almost perfected treatment for it at this point so we’ve got that part covered!! Just need help with prevention!

Thank you for taking the time to read this!!

 

[thecatumbrella]

That sounds so frustrating. My understanding of bumble foot is that it's almost like a pimple that keeps popping up in the same spot... the skin just becomes compromised in that area, making it more susceptible to repeat infections. Is it the same birds that keep getting it?

It sounds like your chickens free range. That makes it very hard to control the environment and what they're going to rake their feet through. Ideally, everything is dry. No gravel or sharp objects (even wood chips can be problematic), and anything they can jump on is very low to the ground to minimize impact when they jump off.

Hopefully someone has more helpful advice, though I'd love to hear your tried and true bumblefoot treatment!