How long should I keep wrapping healing bumblefoot?

[AlectryonKotopoula]

I discovered bumblefoot on one of my hens after seeing some swelling between her toes while foraging (3 weeks ago).

Thanks to all the help on byc I was able to successfully remove the bumble and have been cleaning/rewrapping the foot every 2-3 days.

My question is, how long do I keep a bandage in her? The foot definitely looks like it’s healing, but there is still the pink/tan closed scab on the bottom of her foot. Do I need to keep the foot wrapped until there is no scab at all? I feel like that will still take a while and also feel like I may be cleaning/rewrapping too often already? I really don’t want to have it get reinfected though…

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give me!

 

[Shadrach]

I discovered bumblefoot on one of my hens after seeing some swelling between her toes while foraging (3 weeks ago).

Thanks to all the help on byc I was able to successfully remove the bumble and have been cleaning/rewrapping the foot every 2-3 days.

My question is, how long do I keep a bandage in her? The foot definitely looks like it’s healing, but there is still the pink/tan closed scab on the bottom of her foot. Do I need to keep the foot wrapped until there is no scab at all? I feel like that will still take a while and also feel like I may be cleaning/rewrapping too often already? I really don’t want to have it get reinfected though…

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give me!

It depends a bit on how you keep your chickens. If you free range them I would wrap the foot until the scab is gone. The danger is if the foot is wrapped for a long period of time the bottom of the foot gets soft and is more prone to injury.

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

A picture might be helpful, but I would keep bandaging the foot until completely healed. Even if there is no more infection, the scab is like a bed sore, it can't heal while there is pressure on it, and chickens are always on their feet! If the scab is dry and and the surrounding area doesn't look infected I've gone as long as a week without changing bandages as long as the hen is kept in a dry area (dirt is fine but wet bandaged feet get nasty quickly).

Also, I don't know what you're using to bandage her feet, but those little doughnut shaped corn pads that you can buy at the pharmacy were a game changer for me. If the scab is small enough and in the center of the foot you can just stick the corn pad over it and wrap normally and it keeps the pressure off of the scab so it can heal. After about two weeks I soak off the scab in an epsom salt bath. If it still looks raw/infected underneath a new scab will form (hopefully smaller than before) and I keep bandaging. If I remove the scab and it just looks like new skin, I keep her on soft bedding for a day or so to make sure a scab doesn't reform and to let the new skin toughen up a bit, then cross my fingers and let her back into the yard.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

would it also be ok to simply clean, dry, and rewrap with no ointment/healing cream?

IMO yes, as long as there is no redness and no sign of infection.

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

On that note, would it also be ok to simply clean, dry, and rewrap with no ointment/healing cream? I’m thinking at this point leaving it dry, but still protected for a little while longer would be helpful.

Sounds good to me. My vet suggested I lay off the soaking and cream once the infection was gone as soft skin is more prone to injury and pressure sores. You want your chicken to keep her tough, callused skin.

 

[AlectryonKotopoula]

It depends a bit on how you keep your chickens. If you free range them I would wrap the foot until the scab is gone. The danger is if the foot is wrapped for a long period of time the bottom of the foot gets soft and is more prone to injury.

Thank you, I was thinking to keep it wrapped still, but am certainly trying to hit the right balance to not wrap it for too long… hopefully I can get it right

 

[AlectryonKotopoula]

A picture might be helpful, but I would keep bandaging the foot until completely healed. Even if there is no more infection, the scab is like a bed sore, it can't heal while there is pressure on it, and chickens are always on their feet! If the scab is dry and and the surrounding area doesn't look infected I've gone as long as a week without changing bandages as long as the hen is kept in a dry area (dirt is fine but wet bandaged feet get nasty quickly).

Also, I don't know what you're using to bandage her feet, but those little doughnut shaped corn pads that you can buy at the pharmacy were a game changer for me. If the scab is small enough and in the center of the foot you can just stick the corn pad over it and wrap normally and it keeps the pressure off of the scab so it can heal. After about two weeks I soak off the scab in an epsom salt bath. If it still looks raw/infected underneath a new scab will form (hopefully smaller than before) and I keep bandaging. If I remove the scab and it just looks like new skin, I keep her on soft bedding for a day or so to make sure a scab doesn't reform and to let the new skin toughen up a bit, then cross my fingers and let her back into the yard.

Yes I should have taken a picture before, if I remember to do it on the next bandage change I will post.

Funny you mention the corn pads, I saw those when I was picking up epsom salt and wondered if they would be helpful, now I will definitely go back and grab some, thank you!

Fortunately it has been dry for a few weeks now, so I think I will try going longer being bandage changes.

On that note, would it also be ok to simply clean, dry, and rewrap with no ointment/healing cream? I’m thinking at this point leaving it dry, but still protected for a little while longer would be helpful.

 

[AlectryonKotopoula]

IMO yes, as long as there is no redness and no sign of infection.

Thank you!

 

[AlectryonKotopoula]

Sounds good to me. My vet suggested I lay off the soaking and cream once the infection was gone as soft skin is more prone to injury and pressure sores. You want your chicken to keep her tough, callused skin.

Ah good point, hopefully I haven’t babied her feet too much already then. I think I’d better just clean/dry bandage at this point. Thank you so so much!

 

[AlectryonKotopoula]

I have two chickens (both road Island reds ) that both got bumblefoot on both there feet and I bandaged it today but now its raining and also thinking I'm gonna re rap it tomorrow cause it's rained today but how often after that should I be re rapping?
And do I need to keep putting ointment on it.
It looks glossey cause of the oils I put on it.
Any advice would be great, thankyou!View attachment 3629654
View attachment 3629651

I would keep up with the cleaning/wrapping, especially for the larger bumble that’s healing. However, if you’ve been cleaning/dressing/wrapping for a while already and haven’t seen continued improvement I would suggest cleaning/drying/wrapping without applying ointment. I found my chicken hit a plateau in the healing process and letting the wound dry out helped quite a bit! That is just my experience though, I hope yours heals up soon!