Is this bumble healing?

[porokelle]

Warning - I've kept the thumbnails small because the wounds are quite gross.

One of our girls (2 yr old Orpington blue), had a bumble we thought we took out pretty well. But two weeks later the black plug came back larger, so we soaked for a few days and took it out again and it looked like photo #1 with photo #2 as the plug. It bled a tiny bit, but we cleaned and packed it with iodine and antibacterial ointment. We have been changing the dressing every day with new ointments.

Photo #3 is two days later (today). The wound is coming together but looking yellowish. I've tried touching it with saline on a q-tip to see if the yellow is pus and easy to remove, but it's not.

Anyone know if this is healing tissue or if we should soak again and try to remove until only pink tissue? I'm reluctant because she's clearly in pain. We've been giving her a low dose of meloxicam to help. There is still some 'bumble's on the top of the foot, they are pink but not hot. The swelling in the foot pad has gone down a lot.

Thanks!

 

[BobStuart]

Just keep the foot clean keep a plaster on it to keep germs or unwanted bacteria out. I pray she gets well soon.

 

[Lillith37]

The yellow is inflammatory tissue indicating that infection is still present. Sometimes with bumblefoot it can be hard to get rid of, the infection keeps coming back and it turns into this caseous kind of stuff. Blood indicates healthy tissue so you want to be careful not to dig around in there lest you introduce infection further.

In order to keep the rest of the skin on her feet hard and calloused like a chicken foot should be, you can soak a cotton ball in epsom salt water and wrap it to the bumble area, then crate her for half an hour. That will target the actual issue and not comprise the integrity of the rest of her skin, which can increase risk of cuts and scrapes. Then I recommend using a drawing ointment like magnoplasm/PRID/epsom poultice/honey. Repeat daily and see if you see any improvement.

Any redness or discolouration, heat, swelling around the site or on the foot/ankle indicates the infection is spreading and you will need to consider antibiotics/vet.

 

[Eggcessive]

Yellow color can also be fat, and not always pus. One good way of treating bumblefoot, especially since you have already done the surgery, is to use a sugardine paste plaster on the foot and keep it bandaged. That is to take Betadine/povidone iodine and mix it with sugar in a container. Every 2-3 days, coat the foot pad and apply a padded dressing (2x2 gauze pad folded and kept in place with vet wrap.) I would think about opening the swollen area on the top of the foot between toes. Here is a link about how sugardine works:
https://www.americanfarriers.com/ar...-mess-that-works-when-treating-wound-injuries

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a good article about bumblefoot, and at the end, there is a picture and a video of applying the dressing:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning/

 

[porokelle]

We think it's healing. Yesterday the skin over the wound was pink with a tiny bit of black (most was dirt, she loves trying to take off the dressings). I'm taking photos of the top of the foot to make sure that swelling goes down there as well.
It's not warm, but she is standing off from the other girls and sleeping more. Not sure we have enough painkiller for her; I might make a bit of a puffy heal using a pool noodle or similar since she is huge and putting so much weight on the wound.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have never used these, but they might be helpful:
https://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Bootie-Standard-Chickens-•-Leopard/dp/B01B8Y3EKY?th=1

 

[Lillith37]

I have never used these, but they might be helpful:
https://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Bootie-Standard-Chickens-•-Leopard/dp/B01B8Y3EKY?th=1

I used something similar to this when my hen had recurring bumblefoot and I ended up taking her to the vet to get it debrided and stitched up. It was made from similar wetsuit material but without the individualised toes. I think it made a significant difference during the rainy muddy weather. Her bandage underneath still got a bit wet but nowhere near as muddy and when I changed it the wound looked clean. But in the dry weather when the earth is dry it wasn’t necessary.

Some people use those human corn donut pads to alleviate pressure on the site. I did try that with my hen. She hated it, but it did cause her to hold her foot up off the ground which I suppose was good because then there wasn’t the constant pressure.