Severe bumble foot, Treatments not working, help!

[ajgajtkowski]

I have a chicken with a severe case of what we believe to be bumblefoot. We discovered she had a very swollen foot with a bumble scab about 4 months ago. In response, we soaked her foot in Epsom salt water, removed the scab and the core, and bandaged it up with a bacitracin antibiotic. Ever since then, we have been in a constant cycle of soaking, bandaging, thinking she was on the mend, putting her back in the coop, and discovering that she needs treatment again. It was looking much better a week or so ago. The foot was still swollen, but the wound had healed, deflated, and closed up nicely, so we put her back in with the rest of the flock. Today we went to check on her, and her bumble spot looks like it's going to burst with black, infectious ooze. What else should we be doing to help her out? This has been going on for months now, and any progress forward seems to turn right back around. I'm a bit at a loss as to where to go from here and could really use some suggestions.

The swollen scabbed picture was from 4 months ago, and the black swollen picture was taken today.

 

[Bawkbok]

That doesn't look like typical bumblefoot to me especially with it being on the top of her foot. Not sure what that is so seeking help from others for you.......
@Wyorp Rock @coach723 @Eggcessive

 

[coach723]

It could be bumblefoot, the first picture looks like it. It can happen from any kind of injury that breaks the skin and lets bacteria in. The rescent one looks like it may contain blood/fluid, and I may be seeing some veins. Those could be just in the skin, or it could indicate a tumor. If she were mine, I would try a needle first to see if you get fluid or blood, if it empties, then I would make a bit larger incision and flush it out really well with diluted betadine or chlorhexidine, removing any pus and pack it with plain antibiotic ointment and wrap, just like any other bumblefoot. Disinfect the area before poking or incision, and use a sterilized needle and or blade, and wear gloves. Pictures once you clean it out would be good.

 

[ajgajtkowski]

Thank you so much for your input! We tried lancing it, and instead of pus, it was mostly blood that came out. There seems to be a fleshy sort of mass inside the incision point. How would I know if what I'm dealing with was actually a tumor? That whole foot is kind of large and bulbous, and I had just attributed that to bumble foot. Are these tumorous growths instead?

 

[coach723]

Is vet care an option? That would be the best bet to know for sure. The biggest difference is tumors will have a blood supply, an infection will not. When cleaning out infection any bleeding will come from the surrounding tissues that are damaged from infection or from manipulation of cleaning.