Need bumble foot help!

[ruth]

When I operated on my first chicken with bumble foot I thought the same thing - looked fine under the scab. I had to keep soaking her foot in warm epsom salt water, cutting into with razor blade and squeezing before "stuff" finally started coming out of foot. When the core popped out it looked exactly like a zit and popped out - small white hard core.

I've had the great fortune

of recently having to operate on both of Ruth's feet for same thing. The first foot was same as other hen, had to repeatedly soak, cut, dig with tweezers, squeeze, repeat but finally a HUGE core popped out - looked and felt exactly like a hard, dry kernel of corn. I wash with Betadine, stuff hole with neosporin, wrape with vet wrap, give 1/2 - 1 cc of penicillin for a couple of days. The next day I operated on her other foot. Got two "corn kernels" out but could still feel a hard one between her toes in that swollen spot that would not come out through the pad no matter what I tried. So I made a slit right across the top and out it popped, no blood, no gaping hole - much easier. She had three of those huge hard things in that one foot - no wonder she was walking like her feet hurt and picking them up and putting them down.

I remove the vet wrap the second day and wash again with betadine and found by third day they were healed.

What we won't do for our chickens. If you told me a few years back that someday I would be regularly operating on chicken's feet on my kitchen counter I would have called you crazy. Thus far, it's been procedures for bumble foot, egg bound, water-filled, stitched up and the list keeps growing.

Good luck. I did find they are really calm especially if you put a towel over their head so they can't see. Then they lie quietly on their side while you cut away at their feet - it's really amazing - they must have a high tolerance for pain or little or no feeling in their feet.

 

[Cheryl]

Thanx Ruth, you understood what I was explaining, even though I didn't quite know what it was! Oh, it is definately bumble foot, and the knobs on top need to be cut out! But it looks like I may have to do something with the bottom as well. I was hoping that when I pulled away the scab, it would be an open wound that I could squeeze, that is not the case.

 

[ruth]

Normally it is ONLY the bottom that needs to be opened and it will need to be no matter what cause there will be a plug in there somewhere. The only reason I went ahead and opened the swollen area, from the top, in between toes of one of Ruth's feet is because I could feel the hard kernel in there and couldn't get it out through the bottom. In the case of all other swollen between-toes areas, I didn't feel any hard "thing". The plug in the pad always seemed to start showing up and coming out just as I was about to give up and think there wasn't anything in there. There is - just keep at it. I made a sort of "X" slit in pad, across where the black scab was and had to repeatedly soak in warm Epsom water before anything started coming out. So it is a little misleading when you pull back the scab and nothing happens.

Initially, I too thought puss would start coming out or I would see something. I even cut out the dried plug under the scab thinking that was "it". But keep at it and you'll be surprised at what finally will literally "pop" out. Try squeezing and soaking. I never saw what looked like liquid puss. I did find something that looked more like melted string cheese that I could pull out with tweezers. But what you are really going for is that hard core plug that is in the pad somewhere. As I said, one of Ruth's feet had two in pad and the third in between her toes.

Keep us posted - it helps everyone else who encounters this to know what to do.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Some people get out cheesy goo and others find a hard "core". Any ointment you put on the chicken's foot should not include a topical pain treatment, as this is toxic to chickens.

Good luck & keep us posted!!

ETA - based on what I've read from other posts here, you should remove the goo from the bottom first, trying from the top only as a last resort.

 

[speckledhen]

Some topical pain relievers are not "caine" types and might be okay. For instance the triple antibiotic ointment I buy, which I believe is comparable to Neosporin, contains something entirely different and works fine, but it's probably best to just forgo the pain relieving part of it.


***the pain reliever in it is Pramoxine or Pramoxidine Hydrocloride or something like that.

 

[Cheryl]

Go some assistance actually LOTS from Chickn and her vet tech friend. (I stood back and watched from afar!) The Chicken was fairly well behaved. Couldn't really get anything out of the bottom of her foot, just the scab, a couple of lumps came off of the top and today when i changed her bandages, another one is there.

Tried to peel off yesterdays scabs, but didn't have any luck! Put on new bandages and managed to dribble some antibiotic down her throat! Will work on her again tomorrow!