Questions about bumble foot (pics)

[Sophie Mae]

My hen was limping. I read everything I could find about bumble foot. This is what I did.

Soaked her feet in epsom salt
This is what I got out of her foot.

And this is how I wrapped her foot.

My questions are...
What causes this?
Are there pre-warning signs?
Do I do the procedure on every hen with a black dot on the bottom of her foot?
What can it lead to? I read something about staff.
Can I let then hen out with the rest or is it best to keep in a crate till totally healed?


Thanks ahead of time for any feed back. I have been getting bits and pieces from many posts. I am enjoying my hens and everything I have learned from every one on this site.

 

[Dar]

What causes this? bumble foot is a staph infection


Are there pre-warning signs? no


Do I do the procedure on every hen with a black dot on the bottom of her foot? maybe... check the foot and if its a dot thats not getting any bigger then no... if its progressing then yes


What can it lead to? I read something about staff. bumble foot is a staph infection... keep sharp objects out of the coop/run area... clean coops often


Can I let then hen out with the rest or is it best to keep in a crate till totally healed? you can let her out.. keep an eye on her and make sure they are not picking at the foot, change the duct tape daily and clean

did you pack the wound with any antibiotic cream?..

 

[kuntrygirl]

Sorry to hear about the bumble foot. You did a great job! Glad to see her looking good. I hope she is feeling better.

 

[Sophie Mae]

Yes, I packed it with neo. Thanks so much. I will check the rest of the hens at night with a flash light. I would rather prevent it before it gets to far. They are a year and a half old and i am still learning new things.

 

[Dar]

Quote:
remember no meds with "caine" lanocaine. lidocaine... its poison to chickens...

you did a great job BTW..

check roosts for sharp points slivers.. I dont know how your roosts are built but run some toilet paper over to look for possible sharp areas check the surrounding area for stuff that may cause a small poke

 

[dawg53]

Excellent job. I use duct tape as well, works great. Bumblefoot can be caused by something penetrating the bottom of their feet causing the swelling, redness, infection. The swelling that you see on top of the foot or toes is where the splinter/sliver has worked it's up into that position, making the surgery a little more difficult. It's like getting a splinter in your finger and getting infected if not dug out, then putting a disinfectant or ointment on it afterwards to prevent bacterial infection from festering. You can use sandpaper to sand your roosts free of burrs and splinters...a couple of swipes will do it. If your yard is full of pine cones and gumballs like my yard is...you just gotta be observant and watch for the slightest limp. No, I'm not cutting my trees down. Sometimes when you see the black scab, it may not be necessary to do minor surgery, sometimes they go away on their own. It's when you see the redness around the scab, the swollen footpad, or limping that you must go in and dig it out. I've done unnecessary minor surgeries stressing the chicken due to none of the signs aforementioned.
You can let the hen out with the others, the duct tape wont come off even it it gets wet. I would change it daily though if you let her out. If you keep her caged, just change it out in 2 days. Usually by the 4th or 5th day it is healed and you can release her (if she's crated the whole time.) I keep mine caged and change the dressing once every 2 days, then release the 4th or 5th day.
Bumblefoot should be treated right away once you see the signs. If the infection gets to the legbone, indicated by a swollen leg, there are no amount of antibiotics that will save the chicken. By then the infection has spread throughout the rest of the body and organs will start shutting down, death follows.

 

[goldeneggtees]

I wrote this on another post yesterday. I had a hen who was limping so I checked her foot and she had what looked to be the beginning of bumble foot. I applied antibiotic cream (no caine) over the course of a few days and it went away. Of course, her case wasn't badly infected and she had no puss or anything underneath but it was for sure the beginnings of it. I was impressed at how quickly and well it healed.

 

[Tina D]

I have a bumble foot question...

I noticed the pic with all the gunk you removed from the foot. My girl was limping a bit, so I checked her foot. Sure enough, a black dot and puffiness to the underside of the foot. No redness, and no hot areas. Using the awesome info on BYC, I performed a little surgery. I scraped away the scab, and removed the core. It was fairly small, hard, and waxy. After I removed it, there was a hole. I soaked her foot again in saline solution. Then I tried working the foot a bit, to squeeze any gunk out. Absolutely nothing came out after the core! I pushed fairly hard on the bottom of the foot. I worked all around it, nothing. She wasn't struggling or anything, and no blood either. I put a bunch of neosporin inside and wrapped her up. A couple days later, I re-checked it, and the hold was totally healed. However, there is still a little bit of puffiness compared to the other foot. It's definitely better than it was, though. Still no redness, and no hot areas to the foot at all.

Should I be worried that I didn't get gunk to come out? Could it be that I just caught her before there was enough to squeeze out? She is still limping a bit, but that could be due to her bandaging. I used vet tape, and it's awesome!

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
Your right, the bandaging will cause her to limp abit. Once you remove the tape, let her go and if she continues to limp a couple days after...you might have to go in and dig around some more...but try soaking her foot in warm saline solution for a longer period of time first before going in. It'll help draw the infection out.

 

[Sophie Mae]

My hen still has a swollen foot even though I got tons of stuff out of it. I am going to bring her in tonight and re soak and squeeze again. I had treats today and for about a half an hour studied every ones feet. It looks like I have one with slight swelling looking at it from the top. I have lots of nut trees and pine trees in my yard as well and although I lock every one up tight at night I do let them roam during the day. It looks like I will have to keep an eye out on the feet and take care of any issues before they get as far as this one did. THANKS again for all the feed back, I love this site!