New to Bumblefoot

[hsk1977]

My husband and I are fairly new to chickens. We got our first flock of baby chicks last June. We have learned a lot in the last year! Unfortunately we are now learning about bumblefoot…

I noticed a lump between our Buff Orpington, Ginger’s, toes and remembered seeing articles about bumblefoot on Pinterest. I’ve since been reading articles about what to do to help her, which have made me a little nervous…and very queasy. I have a pretty weak stomach. I have called our vet and was told he doesn’t really know much about chickens.

So…before I proceed with anything I wanted some opinions/advice from all of you, please. Here are some pics we took of Ginger's feet yesterday. The one that has the lump does have a black scab on the bottom, but we noticed when we picked her up to look at that foot that the other one looks like it has a large growth/bumble?? on it as well. I’m posting pics of both feet.

I also want to note that she is eating and acting fine. I’m feeling super guilty after seeing this now and not noticing it before.

Here is the foot we were concerned about to begin with.

And here is the one that looked normal until we saw the bottom.

I have purchased epsom salt and Vetericyn Plus and have some gauze and tape. Do we need to try to soak her feet and remove both of those? Do we have to separate her from the flock? I don’t really have anywhere to keep her other than a large dog crate with a 1/4 hardware cloth bottom that I currently have in the run because I was using it as a broody breaker cage for a couple of the others recently. I could fill it with pine shavings & put her in it if I need to.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. She’s such a sweet girl. I want to get her better!!

 

[JNC]

Do you think you or your vet is comfortable to perform Bumblefoot surgery? It might not even need surgery but I’m not an expert so I don’t know how sever this is.

I do know something you can do. You have soak her feet with warm water and epsom salt to help kill the bacteria.

Sorry I wasn’t much help but hopefully some more people can give you advice but good luck with your chicken!

 

[624444]

I am sorry you have to deal with bumblefoot…It is very annoying, as it can come back!

Hopefully these articles will help you with the surgery………

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...our-chickens-with-surgery-graphic-pics.47705/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/bumblefoot-treatment.72887/

Since your hen’s feet are swollen, you might want to read this post, and even reach out to the poster….


Post in thread 'Swollen Foot PLEASE SOMEONE'
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/swollen-foot-please-someone.1488843/post-24823367

Make sure to read a few articles like this, so you can get a good understanding about what is involved in this procedure.

All the best, and good luck!!

 

[hsk1977]

Do you think you or your vet is comfortable to perform Bumblefoot surgery? It might not even need surgery but I’m not an expert so I don’t know how sever this is.

I do know something you can do. You have soak her feet with warm water and epsom salt to help kill the bacteria.

Sorry I wasn’t much help but hopefully some more people can give you advice but good luck with your chicken!

I am going to talk to him about it further today. My husband said he would help me if we have to do it ourselves. Thank you!

 

[hsk1977]

I am sorry you have to deal with bumblefoot…It is very annoying, as it can come back!

Hopefully these articles will help you with the surgery………

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...our-chickens-with-surgery-graphic-pics.47705/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/bumblefoot-treatment.72887/

Since your hen’s feet are swollen, you might want to read this post, and even reach out to the poster….


Post in thread 'Swollen Foot PLEASE SOMEONE'
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/swollen-foot-please-someone.1488843/post-24823367

Make sure to read a few articles like this, so you can get a good understanding about what is involved in this procedure.

All the best, and good luck!!

Thank you! I will be sure to read those articles.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My husband and I are fairly new to chickens. We got our first flock of baby chicks last June. We have learned a lot in the last year! Unfortunately we are now learning about bumblefoot…

I noticed a lump between our Buff Orpington, Ginger’s, toes and remembered seeing articles about bumblefoot on Pinterest. I’ve since been reading articles about what to do to help her, which have made me a little nervous…and very queasy. I have a pretty weak stomach. I have called our vet and was told he doesn’t really know much about chickens.

So…before I proceed with anything I wanted some opinions/advice from all of you, please. Here are some pics we took of Ginger's feet yesterday. The one that has the lump does have a black scab on the bottom, but we noticed when we picked her up to look at that foot that the other one looks like it has a large growth/bumble?? on it as well. I’m posting pics of both feet.

I also want to note that she is eating and acting fine. I’m feeling super guilty after seeing this now and not noticing it before.

Here is the foot we were concerned about to begin with.

View attachment 2818616

View attachment 2818617

And here is the one that looked normal until we saw the bottom.
View attachment 2818618
View attachment 2818619

I have purchased epsom salt and Vetericyn Plus and have some gauze and tape. Do we need to try to soak her feet and remove both of those? Do we have to separate her from the flock? I don’t really have anywhere to keep her other than a large dog crate with a 1/4 hardware cloth bottom that I currently have in the run because I was using it as a broody breaker cage for a couple of the others recently. I could fill it with pine shavings & put her in it if I need to.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. She’s such a sweet girl. I want to get her better!!

I think I would try soaking, then see if those will loosen up.
Before you do any cutting, try a more non-invasive approach. https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment-html/

You may have to do a soaking a couple of days in a row.

After you get the scabs/kernels/debris out, pack any holes with triple antibiotic ointment and wrap.
I wrap the whole foot up the leg a bit so wrappings stay in place. Cut your Coban/VetWrap into approx 1" wide strips - much easier to maneuver around toes. Not too tight though!
Let the hens into the run with the flock, they'll walk funny for a minute, but get the hang of it fine.
Depending on how wet/soiled the wrappings get, change daily or every other day.

 

[InterestingChickens]

My husband and I are fairly new to chickens. We got our first flock of baby chicks last June. We have learned a lot in the last year! Unfortunately we are now learning about bumblefoot…

I noticed a lump between our Buff Orpington, Ginger’s, toes and remembered seeing articles about bumblefoot on Pinterest. I’ve since been reading articles about what to do to help her, which have made me a little nervous…and very queasy. I have a pretty weak stomach. I have called our vet and was told he doesn’t really know much about chickens.

So…before I proceed with anything I wanted some opinions/advice from all of you, please. Here are some pics we took of Ginger's feet yesterday. The one that has the lump does have a black scab on the bottom, but we noticed when we picked her up to look at that foot that the other one looks like it has a large growth/bumble?? on it as well. I’m posting pics of both feet.

I also want to note that she is eating and acting fine. I’m feeling super guilty after seeing this now and not noticing it before.

Here is the foot we were concerned about to begin with.

View attachment 2818616

View attachment 2818617

And here is the one that looked normal until we saw the bottom.
View attachment 2818618
View attachment 2818619

I have purchased epsom salt and Vetericyn Plus and have some gauze and tape. Do we need to try to soak her feet and remove both of those? Do we have to separate her from the flock? I don’t really have anywhere to keep her other than a large dog crate with a 1/4 hardware cloth bottom that I currently have in the run because I was using it as a broody breaker cage for a couple of the others recently. I could fill it with pine shavings & put her in it if I need to.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. She’s such a sweet girl. I want to get her better!!

Triple antibiotic cream is best and is per-scripted by most vets. If you wrap her well with vet - wrap she should be okay to go in with your other chickens. Just make sure her environment is extra clean. Be sure to check your other chickens for bumble foot, if you haven't already. For prevention remove any rubble and check her roosts are clean, smooth and wide enough. (5 by 10 cm) or 2 by 4's (inches) with either side up work best.

 

[oldhen2345]

My husband and I are fairly new to chickens. We got our first flock of baby chicks last June. We have learned a lot in the last year! Unfortunately we are now learning about bumblefoot…

I noticed a lump between our Buff Orpington, Ginger’s, toes and remembered seeing articles about bumblefoot on Pinterest. I’ve since been reading articles about what to do to help her, which have made me a little nervous…and very queasy. I have a pretty weak stomach. I have called our vet and was told he doesn’t really know much about chickens.

So…before I proceed with anything I wanted some opinions/advice from all of you, please. Here are some pics we took of Ginger's feet yesterday. The one that has the lump does have a black scab on the bottom, but we noticed when we picked her up to look at that foot that the other one looks like it has a large growth/bumble?? on it as well. I’m posting pics of both feet.

I also want to note that she is eating and acting fine. I’m feeling super guilty after seeing this now and not noticing it before.

Here is the foot we were concerned about to begin with.

View attachment 2818616

View attachment 2818617

And here is the one that looked normal until we saw the bottom.
View attachment 2818618
View attachment 2818619

I have purchased epsom salt and Vetericyn Plus and have some gauze and tape. Do we need to try to soak her feet and remove both of those? Do we have to separate her from the flock? I don’t really have anywhere to keep her other than a large dog crate with a 1/4 hardware cloth bottom that I currently have in the run because I was using it as a broody breaker cage for a couple of the others recently. I could fill it with pine shavings & put her in it if I need to.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. She’s such a sweet girl. I want to get her better!!

I can only speak from my experience, so right or wrong, here it is. I noticed my hen limping and found she had a big bumble foot on her right foot And small one on the left. There was a large growth on top of the web between two toes as well as a hard black spot on bottom. I soaked it in epsom salt, sprayed it with Veterisyn II and put Neosporin on it. It did not improve, so I gathered my nerve and did surgery ( been a nurse for 45 yrs, so felt confident). They would improve some, but then get bad again requiring more surgery. After 3 weeks of doing this with no real improvement, I bought some Tera Vet and some insulin syringes. I have given her 2 IM injections of 0.2 ml/ lb. And continue cleaning and dressing the feet - no more surgery. The hardness is 80% gone, no redness and the black core (eschar) looks dry. She started laying eggs again and walking around and scratching so I guess it worked. The eggs of course are disposed of.

 

[hsk1977]

Thank you, everyone! I thought I would give an update on Ginger. We had a rough start trying to treat her and get the scabs off her feet, but yesterday we were finally able to. I wrapped her in a towel and held her in a dishpan of warm water with Epsom salt for 15 minutes. My husband was then able to get the scabs off. Nothing really came out but there was a small hole left in the foot that is the worst. We sprayed it with Vetericyn plus and then used neosporin and covered in gauze and wrapped with vet wrap. Here are some pics of the bad foot before we wrapped it. You can’t really tell due to the Vetericyn, but there was a hole.

I kept her in a cage separate from the rest last night so she wouldn’t roost but today have let her be out in the run with the others. Her bandages still look good.

Our plan is to do the whole process again this evening, soaking, removing the scab if there is one, and using the spray and neosporin again.

I was thinking of trying a sugardine poultice instead of the spray and ointment tomorrow, to help pull out the infection. Thoughts? Nothing really came out last night other than a tiny string or two that we pulled out.

I'm sorry for all the questions. This is all new to us and we are worried about our girl!

 

[hsk1977]

Another question…should we be squeezing on the foot to try to get anything out? My husband did a bit last night but it seemed to hurt her so much, he stopped and we went ahead and wrapped it up.