Is this Bumblefoot? Or growths?

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Hey everybody! I’ve had bumblefoot in my flock before, and I’ve been able to do surgery successfully (Thanks BYC and YouTube!). A neighbor asked for help with her hen who had bumble foot. I asked for pictures, and she sent the first two below. It seemed like caked on poo more than anything, but I told her I’d come by to help.

We soaked the hen’s feet, and I tried to remove some of the brown stuff, which seemed to have some loose edges now. It almost seemed liked large callouses, that had some poo on them. There was a little bleeding, but not much. Also, whereas bumblefoot usually presents as an internal foot problem, this was mostly an outward growth. The only thing I have seen similar to this is a bad planters wart (on a human foot, I am a nail technician).

The growth underneath was almost stringy, or like stretchy pieces. The third photo is after I had excised most of the brown external growth. There did not seem to be a “core” as is usually found with bumblefoot. After I removed a fair amount, we put antiseptic on a bandage and taped up the foot.


She said this is the only chicken to have this issue, and it is a beautiful healthy looking Swedish flower hen, with no other issues other than some lice. The owner does have all large gravel in the run, but since this happened, she is adding softer material.

Have you guys ever seen an outward growth like this? Do you think it’s still bumble foot?

 

[azygous]

This is a most amazing coincidence! I just treated a Silver Cuckoo Marans hen for this very thing.

It was callouses. I have very rocky clay soil and it is extremely astringent, drying out tissue like nobody's business. I'm constantly treating my own hands for this problem. So this hen had the same tissue build-up that your photos show. It was to the point, I was concerned it would begin to cause lameness walking on those lumps.

I treated her in exactly the same way, soaking, and then trimming the callouses down to where they just began to bleed. I sprayed Vetericyn on her feet, let it dry, then put on a thick layer of triple antibiotic ointment, then bandaged her feet with a non stick gauze pad on each foot and then wrapped each foot well with Vetrap to keep out the dirt.

I turned her loose to go back to her digging and scratching, and after three days, I removed the bandages at roosting time, sprayed Vetericyn on the feet and put her back on her perch. The feet have a thin scab and are healing very well.

I think we both did a smashing good job!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would probably call the Footpad Dermatitis or
Pododermatitis - but I would probably treat the same as Bumblefoot. Since you removed the calluses or scabs, then I would continue as you have been doing and see how it goes.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

This is a most amazing coincidence! I just treated a Silver Cuckoo Marans hen for this very thing.

It was callouses. I have very rocky clay soil and it is extremely astringent, drying out tissue like nobody's business. I'm constantly treating my own hands for this problem. So this hen had the same tissue build-up that your photos show. It was to the point, I was concerned it would begin to cause lameness walking on those lumps.

I treated her in exactly the same way, soaking, and then trimming the callouses down to where they just began to bleed. I sprayed Vetericyn on her feet, let it dry, then put on a thick layer of triple antibiotic ointment, then bandaged her feet with a non stick gauze pad on each foot and then wrapped each foot well with Vetrap to keep out the dirt.

I turned her loose to go back to her digging and scratching, and after three days, I removed the bandages at roosting time, sprayed Vetericyn on the feet and put her back on her perch. The feet have a thin scab and are healing very well.

I think we both did a smashing good job!

That is quite a coincidence! I’m glad to hear it was only callouses. It’s just odd that this is her only chicken affected. The owner had original put the small rocks/large gravel in the run because it wasn’t covered. Now that it is, she is adding more mulch, soil, etc. I’ll be sure to advise her to continue that.

 

[Leenidia]

Please help! Is this bumblefoot?

 

[azygous]

Please help! Is this bumblefoot?

Yes, likely it is.