Help: what to do when bumblefoot removal doesn't go as planned?

[sierraforest]

You have to cut around that entire scab and get it out.

If you mean the one in the photo IMG_1492, we did that, but basically what it amounted to was cutting off a top layer—no kernel popped out and it didn't look like underneath was anything other than normal tissue.

Of all the people I've spoken with and all the research we've done, no one has explicitly said that bumblefoot isn't always a case of a kernel + other infectious matter coming out, but it kind of sounds like there are different presentations of what bumblefoot infection can look like. Does anyone here know that to be true?

I should have labeled the photos. IMG_1492 was before we cut and IMG_1519 was after, with topical antibiotic over it.

 

[Justso]

Some bumbles have no kernel. It just turns into chronic wound. I would say in comparing the two photos it does look like it's getting better. Maybe you're doing all the right thing It's just taking longer than expected?

 

[Justso]

Btw in my bird there was no kernel. There was dead tissue and cheesy material. I think it's important to debride the wound so that new tissue can grow.

 

[coach723]

I have had bumbles with a kernal, some that were stringy or ribbony throughout the foot tissue, and some that were just a shallow scab. Sometimes the shallow scab type seems to take longer to clear up (I've no idea why-seems counter-intuitive). I would continue soaking (epsom salts can help with swelling) and topical ointment and wrapping/booting. Give it some time. If it starts to look worse, then I would consider doing more.

 

[Weeg]

A scab is a good thing, but a bumble scab forming again is not. You are doing everything right, these things just take time. We had a chicken who had a pretty good bumble on his foot and it took a good month before the bumble cleared up. We didn’t fo surgery though.

 

[sierraforest]

Btw in my bird there was no kernel. There was dead tissue and cheesy material. I think it's important to debride the wound so that new tissue can grow.

This actually makes me feel a bit relieved, thank you for responding! In your first post when you mentioned "chronic wound," does that mean she'll be susceptible to bumble in that spot/anywhere on her feet from now on? If so, do you have recommendations for prevention? I've read of course about keeping their area clean, free of hard debris, and avoid allowing them on hard surfaces, but anything else?

 

[sierraforest]

I have had bumbles with a kernal, some that were stringy or ribbony throughout the foot tissue, and some that were just a shallow scab. Sometimes the shallow scab type seems to take longer to clear up (I've no idea why-seems counter-intuitive). I would continue soaking (epsom salts can help with swelling) and topical ointment and wrapping/booting. Give it some time. If it starts to look worse, then I would consider doing more.

Thank you for posting and especially for the detail about what you've seen bumble to be, this is very helpful!

 

[sierraforest]

A scab is a good thing, but a bumble scab forming again is not. You are doing everything right, these things just take time. We had a chicken who had a pretty good bumble on his foot and it took a good month before the bumble cleared up. We didn’t fo surgery though.

Very good to know, thank you. Is there a way to tell what a good scab should look like vs. another bumble scab starting?

 

[Weeg]

Well a scab such as it’s healing will look like if yellow or brown and reddish. On my rooster who had a good bumble, the area that was the bumble, turned red then yellow ounce it stared to heal. But we just used Vetrycin and didn’t do surgery. Another Bumblefoot scab is gonna, be more black and rigid a good scab is flat and flush with the foot. If another bumble scab forms or plug, then you should be able to pick at it and pull it out, with little blood. Good luck! Glad you found this helpful! Avery

 

[coach723]

Is there a way to tell what a good scab should look like vs. another bumble scab starting?

This is a hard one to do in words. A re-occuring bumble will often be black, as opposed to brownish. If there is pus, then you will often see creamy or yellowish patches that just don't look like tissue. Also with pus, when you manipulate it, it just doesn't feel 'normal'. Sometimes it will look 'crumbly' for lack of a better word. A normal scab, over time, will start receding at the edges as new tissue fills in, a bumble will generally do the opposite, and with some of mine the edges of the skin around the bumble will actually be a little detatched from the tissue underneath rather than firm. Not sure if that makes sense in words. A scab will usually be flush, or nearly so, with the skin surface, a bumble may protrude out, or be a little sunken in. This is one that pictures would be way more helpful than words, but I don't think there are too may out there that would be good for comparison. Most pictures just show a bumble before treatment, and then a healed foot. And every wound is different depending on size and depth. You kind of learn by experience and seeing them.