First time dealing with bumblefoot

SniperGoose

Crowing
5 Years
Apr 15, 2018
309
1,153
287
Central PA
When I was out feeding my chickens today, I noticed one had some swelling on their foot. I picked her up to take a look and it's bumblefoot! In all my years raising poultry, I've never had any with bumblefoot till this one. I've seen bumblefoot surgery done at home before, and it seems simple enough to do. I currently have her soaking her feet in some epsom salt water while I'm typing this.

So, for surgery, what all should I know? From what I've seen, you cut the infected part of the foot open, drain it, and remove the plug. Then flush it. Should I flush it with peroxide? or just flush it with water? Also, do I need to pack it with antibiotic ointment or something? I've also seen that done in videos. Afterwards, obviously I'll bandage the foot up. But I'll probably keep her inside for a few days so I can keep an eye on it and change her bandages. It's been raining for quite a few days here now, and if I put her back out with the other chickens again, her bandages won't last long I think. So about how long does that take to heal up then? My parents aren't going to like me keeping a chicken in the house for too long, but I wanna make sure she's healed enough before I release her back with the others.

I want this to go as smoothly and as painlessly as possible for her. So any tips/help/etc are greatly appreciated!
 
Do you have photos of the foot?
Depending on how bad, you may need to perform "surgery" as described in the following link.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning/

If the scab is small, then alternatively you can go with a less invasive method as described here.
https://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2012/03/bumblefoot.html

It would be good if one or both of your parents can assist you when dealing with her feet, this way you get a second or third opinion of what needs to be done.
 
I don't have photos of it. She's still soaking her feet in epsom salt water right now. But it's very similar to this photo here, but there's slightly more swelling:
https://poultrykeeper.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Bumblefoot-chicken.jpg

So I'd say it's a fairly larger scab, and would most likely require surgery. She's one of my least friendly chickens, so I'm having my mom hold onto her while I do surgery here in a bit. Thank you for the links!
 

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