I think it's bumblefoot, can't find kernel!

[ShelleyBurch]

I've been doing lots of research on Bumblefoot on here and on the web. My girl has a very swollen foot. I turned her foot over and it had what I thought was the scab on the bottom of her foot. We washed off her foot and I got to work on removing the scab. But, it was more like a hole in her foot that was filled with dirt, or very black stuff. There was no "kernel" to pull out like I've seen in other videos. I wrapped up her foot yesterday and checked on her again today. She had the black "mud" in the hole again (it wasn't dirt because she was bandaged up). I tried again to get it all cleaned out, but still couldn't find a kernel. I soaked her foot in epsom salt for awhile, and tried again. I spent about an hour trying to clean it out. I don't feel any hard parts in her foot and no puss or blood has come out. It's all been black, tar like. It's still swollen today and she is very lethargic and laying around a lot. I'm not sure what to do. Should I cut her pad open and do the "surgery" to try to get the infection? Should I keep doing what I'm doing and clean it out everyday? Should I take her to the vet? Should I get antibiotics? I'm lost, any help would be appreciated! BTW, I have her separated from the rest of the flock for her safety.

First picture is before I removed the black gunk, the second picture is the hole after I removed the black stuff. Again, there was no hard scab or kernel.

 

[Fanci Feathers Marans]

I couldn't find kernels, either, but they weren't that swollen. I just soaked them in Epsom Salt. They were fine.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi @ShelleyBurch
How is your hen doing?

If you have vet care available that would be best - being lethargic along with the swelling and having a black discharge from the foot sounds like she has an infection.