Is this bumblefoot??

[Palinor]

My two year old wyandotte (Clover), has this spot on the bottom of her foot. She has a smaller one on the other foot.
She's free range and spends all day roaming about our property. She does cross our small private, gravel road to visit the neighbors. Other than that she's on grass or pasture land. She is locked in a coop at night. Their coop gets messy fast and I try and clean it as it does but during the school semester, it can be challenging.
Her feet seem to be tender in the morning, she's slower and limps a bit. After a couple of hours, she seems fine though and runs around with the rest.
I soaked her feet in warm water yesterday but unsure how long/often to do so. I wonder if it's bumblefoot or did she get some gravel stuck in there.
There doesn't seem to be any redness or fluid leaking from them
any advice will be most welcome. she's been with our family since she was a baby and we want to make sure she's taken care of. She's the ring leader of our four birds.

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

It certainly looks like Bumblefoot with some swelling in her foot pad. How does the top of her foot look? Any swelling between the toes? Does it feel warm to the touch?

Regarding soaking, so long as the water is warm you can leave her to soak for 30 minutes. I think most people do 15 to 20.

 

[Palinor]

It certainly looks like Bumblefoot with some swelling in her foot pad. How does the top of her foot look? Any swelling between the toes? Does it feel warm to the touch?

Regarding soaking, so long as the water is warm you can leave her to soak for 30 minutes. I think most people do 15 to 20.

The top of her foot seems to look ok and there doesn't seem to be any swelling between her toes. The problem is she isn't one of my friendly girls and we have to catch her so to get her in the water someone has to hold her in. I"m wondering if I should take her to the vet.

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

Glad to hear there's no swelling between her toes. That will make treatment that much easier. If the vet is an option for you, please take her. Bumblefoot can be a nightmare to deal with.

 

[Palinor]

Glad to hear there's no swelling between her toes. That will make treatment that much easier. If the vet is an option for you, please take her. Bumblefoot can be a nightmare to deal with.

A vet might be the only option. Feed stores aren't allowed to carry antibiotics anymore and I cannot and will not cut into her foot like I've seen on some info sites.

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

It's the same on the East Coast regarding antibiotics. It's quite annoying, but I understand there is an extreme overuse which is creating super bugs.

After soaking her, did you touch the scab? If it's loose you can try to pull the kernel out. It's not too painful for the bird - I've had to do it once. It leaves a hole in the foot that would need to be packed with Neopsorin and wrapped and changed frequently.

Since there is swelling, she's limping and that's a sizable scab, I suspect there may be pus that would need to be flushed out. If you don't get all the infection out, Bumblefoot keeps coming back. It's a staph infection so you're vet may need to lance, drain/flush.

I've never done the surgery because I think it's barbaric and cruel, particularly when veterinary care is an option.

Do keep me posted.

 

[Palinor]

It's the same on the East Coast regarding antibiotics. It's quite annoying, but I understand there is an extreme overuse which is creating super bugs.

After soaking her, did you touch the scab? If it's loose you can try to pull the kernel out. It's not too painful for the bird - I've had to do it once. It leaves a hole in the foot that would need to be packed with Neopsorin and wrapped and changed frequently.

Since there is swelling, she's limping and that's a sizable scab, I suspect there may be pus that would need to be flushed out. If you don't get all the infection out, Bumblefoot keeps coming back. It's a staph infection so you're vet may need to lance, drain/flush.

I've never done the surgery because I think it's barbaric and cruel, particularly when veterinary care is an option.

Do keep me posted.

I palpated the scab after soaking it and it didn't seem to loosen at all. We're going to try and soak it again this evening. I sent an email to a vet today asking their opinion, our vet only does cats and dogs so I need to search out a chicken vet.
I'll let you know what happens. I'm worried about her. I'm a nursing student so dealing with humans is my business but I lose all composure when dealing with my fur and feather babies.

 

[coach723]

You do not necessarily need to cut to remove it. Soaking will help loosen it, but it may take some manipulation and squeezing, or digging with blunt tweezers to work it loose. It may take repeated soakings to get it all out. Many people do surgery because it is quicker and can be finished in one time, but every foot is different and many will do fine without actual surgery. You can also apply some decolorized iodine and wrap the foot overnight and that will often soften it considerably, may work better than just soaking. Obviously, if you have a vet option that is always best, but many simply don't have it as an option for a chicken. Avian vets are few, and some won't see a chicken. If you have one that sees exotics that is probably your best chance, but some still won't see a chicken. Chicken pus is very firm, some describe it as cheesy, so it can take a bit of force to get it out or worked loose.
This may help with more info: https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment.html/?spref=pi
I use a curette similar to this to help remove the core, it doesn't cut just scrapes :

 

[Palinor]

You do not necessarily need to cut to remove it. Soaking will help loosen it, but it may take some manipulation and squeezing, or digging with blunt tweezers to work it loose. It may take repeated soakings to get it all out. Many people do surgery because it is quicker and can be finished in one time, but every foot is different and many will do fine without actual surgery. You can also apply some decolorized iodine and wrap the foot overnight and that will often soften it considerably, may work better than just soaking. Obviously, if you have a vet option that is always best, but many simply don't have it as an option for a chicken. Avian vets are few, and some won't see a chicken. If you have one that sees exotics that is probably your best chance, but some still won't see a chicken. Chicken pus is very firm, some describe it as cheesy, so it can take a bit of force to get it out or worked loose.
This may help with more info: https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment.html/?spref=pi
I use a curette similar to this to help remove the core, it doesn't cut just scrapes :
View attachment 1793765

The problem is that she's hard to catch. She one of our more un-tame girls. Just to soak her foot the one time a friend had to come over to chase her around the yard. I managed to catch her a month ago and got a pic of the same foot. It has definitely gotten worse in the last month. The dark spot has gotten a lot larger and she seems to be in pain. We live rurally so there are some livestock vets.

 

[WindingRoad]

A vet might be the only option. Feed stores aren't allowed to carry antibiotics anymore and I cannot and will not cut into her foot like I've seen on some info sites.

I wonder if drawing salve would work. We used to have it on the farm. I was a black salve and you put it on a tough scab it. I think it was moist even to kind of soften the scab making it easy to get out later on. Let me poke around I think I saw some on the net. I would put it on and then vet wrap it. TSC probably has vet wrap. One thing you might also try is getting a large fishing net, sturdy to try and catch her.
How old is she. Also check for scaly leg mites. I like Bag Balm. They have a web site. That stuff is a great moisturizer. If it will cure cow udders it will cure anything. Heck the bag balm people are making soap and lip balm now. I'll get back to you if I find something. A ten ounce can lasts forever. We used to keep a can on the bathroom windowsill and when ever we had a cut, sliver, are abrasion my sister would say put some bag balm on it. The next door neighbor has an older black lab with a big sore on her back side. I'm tempted to put some bag balm on her. She's too old to chase my chickens and visits me most days. Unless she happened to corner one of mine she wouldn't be able to catch them. Mine are low flying but they can fly a fair distance. When they feel threatened they head for the run and up into the coop. She can't get in there.