possible bumblefoot? suddenly 4 limping chickens

[velvet13]

I noticed yesterday that one of my 10 week old chicks was limping and figured she may have been stepped on, it is a little swollen. Then as I was doing my chores I noticed another hen and another...so far 3, 2yr old hens and the chick are limping with swelling in one of their feet. Could this be bumblefoot? I have never had this and it does not look as inflamed as the pictures I have found on the internet.

 

[rebrascora]

As soon as more than one chicken goes lame in short order, my first thought is Marek's disease, especially with juvenile birds.
Have you added any new birds to the flock in the past few months?
It may be entirely coincidental that 4 have suddenly all got bumblefoot at the same time but unlikely. Can you post photos of their feet and/or video footage of them limping?

 

[Kiki]

Can you please post a few pictures of your chickens feet including the bottom of the foot

 

[velvet13]

As soon as more than one chicken goes lame in short order, my first thought is Marek's disease, especially with juvenile birds.
Have you added any new birds to the flock in the past few months?
It may be entirely coincidental that 4 have suddenly all got bumblefoot at the same time but unlikely. Can you post photos of their feet and/or video footage of them limping?

I have had experience with Mareks disease in several presentations and I am quite sure it is not that as there is certainly swelling in foot and does not seem to be usual nervous system symptoms, I will try to get some pics. I had wondered about the likelihood of bumblefoot in that many birds suddenly at the same time. Does mareks present with swelling? or are there other foot problems that are highly contagious?

 

[Eggcessive]

The pictures would really help. Bumblefoot is pretty obvious, and causes a scab, redness, and swelling usually on the footpad, but sometimes on toes or between toes on top of the foot. It can happen especially when there are sharp rocks that cause tiny cuts in feet. Mycoplasma synovitis (MS) can cause swelling of one or both foot or leg joints. It is a bacterial infection of the joints and can sometimes cause respiratory symptoms. It can be treated with Tylan 50 and some other antibiotics, but is a chronic disease. Another thing that can cause swelling in feet is articular gout which has many causes.

 

[velvet13]

I'm sorry I haven't gotten any pictures yet but I inspected one of the hens and it looks to have a tiny black scab that has developed, the other hen does not have a scab and the young chick seems to have recovered from whatever it was she had. So weird it all seemed to develop in the same day but I think it must be bumblefoot. As such is it necessary to surgically remove it or has anyone had any luck with say a regular treatment of triple antibiotic polysporin?

 

[Eggcessive]

People treat bumblefoot in different ways. If you have time, it can be handled sometimes with soaking feet in Epsom salts, use of products like Tricide Neo for fish, watching it, or doing the surgery to remove the plug of hardened pus. I have seen alot of it since my soil has some many sharp rocks, and after doing several surgeries, I tend to only do it if there is limping or severe redness/swelling and an obvious scab. Here are some good links to read with pictures of various types of bumblefoot:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/07/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning.html
http://ouroneacrefarm.com/bumblefoot-treatment-tricideneo/
https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment-html/