Foot bumps and sick hen :(

[MamaHen_98]

I have a hen named Paulie who I believe has bumblefoot. She has one lump on each foot In the same spot and they were never red and they havent grown since I've noticed them. She never limped or anything but I've been checking the bottoms of her feet and they looked okay until today when I found black scabs hidden in between her toes. She stopped eating and walking a few days ago so ive been syringe feeding her and giving her antibiotics and nutridrench. My other hen Speckles also has these bumps in the exact same spots as Paulie but she's acting totally fine. Does this sound like bumblefoot to you? I soaked Paulie in epsom salt yesterday and I will today too. Should I look into more invasive treatment? If so, any advice? Please help!! My chickies are getting older and I just lost one on Sunday to cancer I really don't want to lose 2 more so any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!!! I'll post some pictures of Paulies feet

 

[MamaHen_98]

The second picture is hard to see but it shows the scab between her toes. You can only see it when you spread her toes very far apart

 

[MamaHen_98]

I did some research on removing the lumps but I still need some advice. Someone suggested using Vetericyn VF as an antimicrobial. I already own a variation of that, Vetericyn wound and skin care for all animals. It says on the bottle it can be used on skin irritations, skin abrasions, lacerations, minor irritations, and cuts but is it good/strong enough to use on a bigger wound? Can I use it if I have to remove the bumble foot?

 

[Glenda Heywoodo]

Well the bumble foot is a harsh hard spot that can abcess and get full of infected fluid.
· ·SOME TIPS ON CUTTING INTO A CHICKEN'S FOOT WITH BUMBLEFOOT?
Glenda Heywood
I was interested in what people did for curing bumblefoot in chickens.
So I went to BYC and got this site infromation.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/…/bumblefoot-spreading-t…/20

...
there were thoughts that are about roosts
(1) a flat 2x4 on wide flat side is best as the chickens can put their whole foot on the surface when roosting.
(2) Also DO NOT USE ANY TREATED WOOD FOR ROOSTS, CAN CAUSE SPLINTERS IN CHICKENS FEET.
(3) Also that the only way to treat chicken with bumble foot is to cut out the plug that is the sore spot.
(4) Also severaly medications is of no use to help the chickenheal
IE:
mypicklebird posted:
Straight Amoxicillin is a poor choice, most staph can break this down. Ciprofloxacin is a second generation fluoroquinolone, this whole class is flat prohibited in food animals (chickens included).

This drug is reserved for resistant organisms, and is used in human medicine as well as veterinary- but banned in food animals. Don't use it. Oxytetracycline is also not useful for most bumblefoot infections.
These are walled off pus filled cavities- and the most important thing is to get the garbage out. Systemic drugs are not very helpful as the pus core has no blood supply- so the antibiotic cannot reach it. Cleaning out the garbage and packing with a topical antibiotic is going to be more effective.
HE ALSO SAID THIS::
(5) Culling a bird with bumblefoot? only if you don't have time and energy to try to help the bird, or if it does not get better with your best efforts- and is in pain (limping).

(6) HERE IS THE OPERATION BY
Speckled Hen who has 73,410 posts and has very reliable information:
Fold a towel lengthwise and use it to wrap her wings close to her body, but don't get it too tight or she can't breathe. That is what we do. I did it once by myself and that helped alot. And you don't slice across the pad, but cut around the scab all the way, sort of in at a 45 degree angle, then try to gently pull the scab out with the plug. If you're lucky, the entire thing will come out. Solidified infection will look like provolone cheese (white and opaque) as opposed to clear yellowish like the fat in her pad. You may have to squeeze the pad a bit after that to bring stuff up to the surface. Every one is a bit different and what happens one time may not happen the same way the next time. Have paper towels if you get bleeding.

Once we used some PVC pipe as a nest landing bar, but to keep it from being slippery, we put a length of non-skid tape on it, which, being like coarse sandpaper, caused the first case of bumblefoot here. So, remove anything rough. And I would not use treated wood on roosts. Splinters from that stuff will start some nasty infections.

 

[MamaHen_98]

Thank you for all that info! I successfully removed the lumps this evening! Although it was not at all what I was expecting to see. There was no blood or pus, just a big black mass in each foot. I started by soaking her in Epsom salts and gently massaging her feet for a while and then I was able to remove the masses with tweezers. One foot took a few tries, I had to scrape at the mass and then re-soak her a few times until I was able to get the whole thing out. After everything was out I cleaned her up, sprayed some vetericyn on her wounds, applied neosporin and bandaged her up. Her feet are still hurting her and she doesn't like to have weight on them but I'm hoping that will heal. She hasn't started eating voluntarily yet. Is there anything else I should be doing? Or something I did wrong? Any advice on how to make Paulie feel better is greatly appreciated!!

 

[MamaHen_98]

Here are some pictures of the removal process. No blood or pus, it seemed like I was just scraping dirt out

 

[veggie723]

was this bumblefoot or something else? i noticed the other day that one of my hens had lumps just like this in the webbing in her feet, one on each foot. i was able to gently pull them out today, no soaking or cutting. i just used my nails and eased them out, no blood or pus. they were almost like two big blackheads. should i dress her feet with ointment or wraps? there aren't really open wounds, just two little almost craters where the lumps were. was it bumblefoot? any advice would be great!