Hen is limping / possible bumble foot

[fivelittlehens1]

Yesterday my 1 1/2 year old olive egger hen began to limp her left leg slightly and it progressed throughout the rest of the day. She has full mobility of her left leg but does not want to put any pressure on it. I washed her feet off today and gave her an epsom salt bath and noticed a scab on her right foot that I believe to be bumble foot. She stands and walks around with her right leg perfectly fine. There does not appear to be any injury on the left foot that she is limping on. She has been eating and drinking like normal.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Yes, that is a typical bumblefoot scab. I would continue to soak her foot daily in warm Epsom salts or Betadine, or a favorite disinfectant. Usually removing the scab and squeezing out a solid yellow kernel of pus will cure it, there are many different methods people use. Some just skip to the surgery. Here are some good articles to read:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning/

https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment-html/

 

[fivelittlehens1]

Welcome to BYC. Yes, that is a typical bumblefoot scab. I would continue to soak her foot daily in warm Epsom salts or Betadine, or a favorite disinfectant. Usually removing the scab and squeezing out a solid yellow kernel of pus will cure it, there are many different methods people use. Some just skip to the surgery. Here are some good articles to read:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning/

https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment-html/

Thank you! Do you think the bumble foot on her right foot is causing her to not be able to stand and walk properly with her left leg?

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Photo of the left foot might help someone see something you missed, but hopefully she has just strained/sprained it. I'd keep her in a crate with soft bedding for a couple days while you start bumblefoot treatment and see how things progress. (The bumblefoot doesn't look too bad to me... I'd start with just soaking off the scab and keeping it bandaged.) I did have a hen with bumblefoot scabs on both feet, but the right was much worse than the left, and yet she always stood on the right. My vet warned me that it could be a sign something else was going on internally on her left side, so that's something to keep in mind, but it doesn't seem too likely in your case given that your hen is quite young and otherwise acting normally.

 

[fivelittlehens1]

Photo of the left foot might help someone see something you missed, but hopefully she has just strained/sprained it. I'd keep her in a crate with soft bedding for a couple days while you start bumblefoot treatment and see how things progress. (The bumblefoot doesn't look too bad to me... I'd start with just soaking off the scab and keeping it bandaged.) I did have a hen with bumblefoot scabs on both feet, but the right was much worse than the left, and yet she always stood on the right. My vet warned me that it could be a sign something else was going on internally on her left side, so that's something to keep in mind, but it doesn't seem too likely in your case given that your hen is quite young and otherwise acting normally.

Thank you so much!

 

[fivelittlehens1]

Here are two new pictures I just took today. The left foot appears to possibly have two very small cuts circled in the picture and there is some dirt or build up around them. I have been soaking both feet in warm epsom salt baths and spraying with vetericyn. Both feet don’t appear to any have swelling and she is still limping on the left leg. She is still eating, drinking, and acting normal. Thank you

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Is the pad on her left foot more swollen than the right? It could be the start of infection on that foot and might feel more sore than the right. Unfortunately leg injuries can take a really long time to heal because chickens are always on their feet, and there isn;t much you can do beyond keeping the feet clean and protected. Make sure you clean out the folds of skin on her feet and keep working at getting the scab off. I recommend bandaging both feet if you haven't been--keeping pressure off the scab is the only way it will heal in my experience, and wrapping only one foot can cause them to walk unevenly. If you haven't wrapped a chicken foot before here is a thorough article about it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-correctly-wrap-a-chickens-foot.77028/ The only thing I'd add to it is that I've found the foam corn pads that you can get at the pharmacy to be very useful in keeping pressure off the hurt part of the foot. Because your chicken has a scab off-center you might need to cut one up to stick on her foot but it's worth a try imo. I'd clean, dry and wrap her feet then check again in a few days. If her feet seem worse you'll need to be more aggressive treating the infection, but most likely it will look pretty much the same, in which case you can rewrap and leave the bandages on for up to a week as long as they stay dry.

 

[fivelittlehens1]

Update
Two days ago she began walking normal. I have been soaking both feet in a warm epsom salt bath, spray vetericyn, placing a small piece of gauze with plain neosoporin on the pads of her feet and wrapping with vet wrap daily. Her left foot appears to have a little purple discoloration underneath the skin where the two small cuts were and look to be healed.
The right foot still has the bumble I’m not sure if it’s healing. Both feet don’t have any swelling or sign of infection. I attached a picture of her right foot with the bumble. Should I attempt to remove the scab tomorrow and clean out the wound or continue to wrap feet until healed? Thank you.

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Update
Two days ago she began walking normal. I have been soaking both feet in a warm epsom salt bath, spray vetericyn, placing a small piece of gauze with plain neosoporin on the pads of her feet and wrapping with vet wrap daily. Her left foot appears to have a little purple discoloration underneath the skin where the two small cuts were and look to be healed.
The right foot still has the bumble I’m not sure if it’s healing. Both feet don’t have any swelling or sign of infection. I attached a picture of her right foot with the bumble. Should I attempt to remove the scab tomorrow and clean out the wound or continue to wrap feet until healed? Thank you.

That's good news! Happy to hear she is on the mend.

The scab looks like it could be ready to come off. I'd do a long soak (15-20 minutes) and see if you can pick the scab off with your finger. If you can pull it off and underneath just looks like new skin you're in the home stretch and I'd wrap for a day or two it without any ointment to just protect it a little while the new skin firms up. If it looks raw and bumpy underneath the scab I'd give the pad a firm squeeze to see if any pus needs to come out then clean and continue with your usual wrapping routine (a new scab should form but it will hopefully be smaller). If the scab is still really attached to the skin I'd just keep wrapping it and leave it alone for another week or so. Forcing or cutting out the scab will just result in a new wound that risks infection and then a new scab that will have to heal just the same as the old one.

 

[VeganSandy]

Yesterday my 1 1/2 year old olive egger hen began to limp her left leg slightly and it progressed throughout the rest of the day. She has full mobility of her left leg but does not want to put any pressure on it. I washed her feet off today and gave her an epsom salt bath and noticed a scab on her right foot that I believe to be bumble foot. She stands and walks around with her right leg perfectly fine. There does not appear to be any injury on the left foot that she is limping on. She has been eating and drinking like normal.

Yes bumblefoot PRID $7 from Amazon will get rid of it in a few days.