ok, 7 month hen. noitced a bumble yesterday and did surgery. it was just big enough to start her limping. I check my girls every week or so for them. Last year i had a go around with my year olds. 4 had bumbles (not huge, but big enough for me.) i finally got the last one cured after months of attention, now this one! I can not seem to figure out WHAT is doing this to them. Their coop is meticulous. gets cleaned daily (10 X 8 shed). outside does have a few wets spots, but has straw on it. no standing in water or mud or such. have fresh grass, in a pine bough for shade, etc. any clues? I am so stumped. i wondered if pine cones might have been the culprit last year, so i cleaned them all up under the pine trees. The get out to free range almost daily as well.
It sounds like you are keeping things in good shape for your flock. Do you have Black Locust or other thorny trees in or near the ranging yard? How about their roosts...are the 2x4s or tree branches/poles? Are there splinters/rough areas on the roosts? Do your girls have a ladder to the roosts? Do they fly/jump down from the roost to a hard surface?(I keep at least 6-8" pine shaving where they come off the roost) Just a few thoughts here to get you started. Good luck!
My bad year for bumble foot was last year. Only one girl was limping. Later (well after she'd been doctored/healed), she got bumble again, as did another hen. When I discovered the new cases, I just admin. amoxicillin for several days...no surgery. I've gotten to the point where I don't look for it. If I see someone favoring a leg/foot, I'll investigate. Some MUST heal on their own, as I've seen them in early stages and they haven't progressed and later disappeared. Obviously, some chickens are just more prone to it.?.? All my girls hang out in the same areas, and I've never seen it hit some girls...
dirt, my roosts are a few 2X2's no splinters or rough spots, two 6 inch round posts all smoothed as well, and a hand made ladder of 2X4s for them. the one that i just found the bumble on sleeps on the 2X4 ladder about 4 feet up. I do think she flys down to the floor of the coop instead of taking 'steps'. I only have about 2 - 4 inches of pine shavings on the floor, but have just uped it for the winter season. could the 'to hard' landing be doing it? We do have some hawthorn trees, which is where i thought maybe they came from last year, but the girls do not go up there anymore. teach, yea, i dont do any kind of 'surgery' unless they are limping as well. Although I do soak them if i see a bad one starting and most of the time that works just fine. I dunno.
Anything made of wood that they perch on, I recommend using sandpaper to clear away small burrs or tiny splinters, 3-4 swipes on the wood surface should do the trick. Then wipe it off with an old rag. Lowering roosts will help immensely, about 20" up off the floor, no higher. I lowered mine and havnt had a case of bumblefoot in quite awhile. I use hay as bedding, it cushions their feet/legs when they hop down off the roosts, especially my heavy breed birds and roo.
Hey!! good to hear from ya! yea, i did the sandpaper thing last year. they are smooth as a babies you know what. it think you'r probably right, i need to lower their roosts. they are RSL, GLW, and 2 cochins. the Cochins stay low anyway, not a problem with them at all. i am surprised the GLW is the one that got the bumble. she is flighty though.
Bumblefoot is cause by staphylococcus, and it can live in the ground for quite some time. This means that if your birds get a splinter or small cut on the bottom of their foot and then walk on the infected ground, they will likely contract the staph infection. Sounds like you are doing the best you can to keep it under control. The only way to be 100% certain that your birds won't get it again, would be to move the healthy ones to a completely different piece of your property, and then introduce your other birds once they are showing no signs of infection. Otherwise, just keep fighting the fight and the bacteria will eventually die off Best of luck to you!!!!!
thanks for the advise you guys. i will just keep battling the thing for now i guess. I keep a close enough eye on it, i can get to it early and mostly not have any serious surgeries. grrrrrrr
