Treating bumblefoot…what did I miss?

[BriannaR]

Hello all!
I have a 1.5 year old Easter egger hen who recently developed bumblefoot. I saw that she was limping, noticed a pea sized black scab on the bottom of her right foot, and isolated her in a brooder in our house right away as she was being attacked by the rest of the flock.
So far my treatment regimen has been:

1. Daily soaks with epsom salt and iodine, 10 minutes.
2. Dry foot thoroughly, apply neosporin to kernel and cover with gauze.
3. Secure with vet wrap.

Repeated this x 3 days, then I tried to remove the kernel. The black part came off pretty easily, but when I got that removed all I could see underneath was some bleeding and solid skin? I couldn’t visualize any of the abscess material, and I was hesitant to try and dig any deeper for fear of hurting her or making it worse. I resumed soaking and wrapping today.
Is there anything else I should be doing to try and get the abscess to the surface more? I’m just worried that the infection might be progressing if I can’t get the abscess material out. I have included pictures of what it looked like after removing the black material. She is still limping and doesn’t seem like she has felt any relief from removing what I did.
Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[alinas2010]

Hello all!
I have a 1.5 year old Easter egger hen who recently developed bumblefoot. I saw that she was limping, noticed a pea sized black scab on the bottom of her right foot, and isolated her in a brooder in our house right away as she was being attacked by the rest of the flock.
So far my treatment regimen has been:

1. Daily soaks with epsom salt and iodine, 10 minutes.
2. Dry foot thoroughly, apply neosporin to kernel and cover with gauze.
3. Secure with vet wrap.

Repeated this x 3 days, then I tried to remove the kernel. The black part came off pretty easily, but when I got that removed all I could see underneath was some bleeding and solid skin? I couldn’t visualize any of the abscess material, and I was hesitant to try and dig any deeper for fear of hurting her or making it worse. I resumed soaking and wrapping today.
Is there anything else I should be doing to try and get the abscess to the surface more? I’m just worried that the infection might be progressing if I can’t get the abscess material out. I have included pictures of what it looked like after removing the black material. She is still limping and doesn’t seem like she has felt any relief from removing what I did.
Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!

Sorry to hear about her bumblefoot. It can be so frustrating to treat. What I found helpful when I treated my chicken for bumblefoot and I couldn’t figure out where the pus was, was to feel all around her foot. Check every crevice looking for a solid nodule. Her foot should be squishy but where there is pus will be solid feeling. And the pus can be located a distance from the scab, too, keep that in mind. Feeling for it will give you an idea of where it is if you need to work it out eventually. You might need to draw the pus up to the opening you’ve created by removing the scab. The epsom salt soaks will help with that. Drawing salve like Prid helps draw pus out, also. How long have you been trying to treat? It can take weeks of soaking sometimes day after day to get the infection cleared, even months in bad cases.

 

[BriannaR]

Sorry to hear about her bumblefoot. It can be so frustrating to treat. What I found helpful when I treated my chicken for bumblefoot and I couldn’t figure out where the pus was, was to feel all around her foot. Check every crevice looking for a solid nodule. Her foot should be squishy but where there is pus will be solid feeling. And the pus can be located a distance from the scab, too, keep that in mind. Feeling for it will give you an idea of where it is if you need to work it out eventually. You might need to draw the pus up to the opening you’ve created by removing the scab. The epsom salt soaks will help with that. Drawing salve like Prid helps draw pus out, also. How long have you been trying to treat? It can take weeks of soaking sometimes day after day to get the infection cleared, even months in bad cases.

Thank you! I have only been treating her for about a week, so it sounds like I was maybe expecting more results too quickly? I will definitely try the prid! Just found it on Amazon.
Is it ok to continue to keep her separate from the rest of the flock if it ends up taking weeks to months to treat? Just wasn’t sure if she would get depressed or if there’s anything I could do to make her happier while isolated.
Thank you so much!!

 

[alinas2010]

Thank you! I have only been treating her for about a week, so it sounds like I was maybe expecting more results too quickly? I will definitely try the prid! Just found it on Amazon.
Is it ok to continue to keep her separate from the rest of the flock if it ends up taking weeks to months to treat? Just wasn’t sure if she would get depressed or if there’s anything I could do to make her happier while isolated.
Thank you so much!!

You’re welcome! Yes I know, I expected faster results, too. You see such satisfying videos and pictures online of people removing plugs and pus popping out and the plug coming out and pus coming out with it, but unfortunately that just isn’t the case sometimes! For this reason some people end up doing “surgery” to go in and dig pus out. I’ve seen quite a few of those cases end up in major infections and the foot eventually auto amputates, so although it sucks going this slow route of soaking and drawing the infection out, I highly recommend this over digging around too much.

As far as keeping her separated, I really wouldn’t bother as long as she isn’t getting picked on she’ll be happier with her flock and you won’t have to worry about reintegration. Just be sure you aren’t wrapping her foot too tightly because the vet wrap can and will slip when she goes about daily activities. Check it a few times throughout the day if you aren’t changing and soaking every day.

 

[alinas2010]

Ooh I just saw you said she was being attacked…hmm. Sorry I missed that at first I was so focused on the bumblefoot. In that case, you may be better off keeping her in the brooder inside if that is your only option to keep her safe. It sucks it will be a bit longer than you hoped for, but perhaps she can have supervised visits outside everyday for a while. You can also bring a friend in to visit if she has a hen she gets along with well. But if you have some sort of set up to do a see no touch method out side in the run that would be good, too. A large wire dog kennel can work well for this.

 

[BriannaR]

You’re welcome! Yes I know, I expected faster results, too. You see such satisfying videos and pictures online of people removing plugs and pus popping out and the plug coming out and pus coming out with it, but unfortunately that just isn’t the case sometimes! For this reason some people end up doing “surgery” to go in and dig pus out. I’ve seen quite a few of those cases end up in major infections and the foot eventually auto amputates, so although it sucks going this slow route of soaking and drawing the infection out, I highly recommend this over digging around too much.

As far as keeping her separated, I really wouldn’t bother as long as she isn’t getting picked on she’ll be happier with her flock and you won’t have to worry about reintegration. Just be sure you aren’t wrapping her foot too tightly because the vet wrap can and will slip when she goes about daily activities. Check it a few times throughout the day if you aren’t changing and soaking every day.

Yes I was definitely worried about doing too much digging and doing more harm than good!
Ok I think I will let her back out tomorrow and do the soaks and wrap daily. She free ranges on about 1/2 acre that is all grass, so I’m sure it will get loose or wet daily.
Thank you so much for all your help!!! I will settle in for the marathon treatment instead of a sprint .

 

[Liam H]

Yes I was definitely worried about doing too much digging and doing more harm than good!
Ok I think I will let her back out tomorrow and do the soaks and wrap daily. She free ranges on about 1/2 acre that is all grass, so I’m sure it will get loose or wet daily.
Thank you so much for all your help!!! I will settle in for the marathon treatment instead of a sprint .

Just to add a little to the excellent advice you´ve already had from @alinas2010, I´ve had a few case of bumblefoot where just doing soaking, cleaning, antiseptic, bandage for 2 to 3 weeks has cleared it up without ever getting any pus to the surface (in fact my last two cases were like this). Stick with it, and good luck!

 

[alinas2010]

Yes I was definitely worried about doing too much digging and doing more harm than good!
Ok I think I will let her back out tomorrow and do the soaks and wrap daily. She free ranges on about 1/2 acre that is all grass, so I’m sure it will get loose or wet daily.
Thank you so much for all your help!!! I will settle in for the marathon treatment instead of a sprint .

Also though, did you see my reply about her getting attacked? Sorry I missed that before. If she was getting attacked before, I don’t want her to get attacked again if you let her out. I just wanted to make sure you saw my other response and weighed your options for her safety.

 

[BriannaR]

Just to add a little to the excellent advice you´ve already had from @alinas2010, I´ve had a few case of bumblefoot where just doing soaking, cleaning, antiseptic, bandage for 2 to 3 weeks has cleared it up without ever getting any pus to the surface (in fact my last two cases were like this). Stick with it, and good luck!

Thank you! That would be fantastic if that’s how it worked out this time, fingers crossed!!!

 

[BriannaR]

Also though, did you see my reply about her getting attacked? Sorry I missed that before. If she was getting attacked before, I don’t want her to get attacked again if you let her out. I just wanted to make sure you saw my other response and weighed your options for her safety.

Yes thank you I saw it! I’m gonna do the wire crate idea you mentioned, my hens are pretty sweet but my rooster will probably continue to hassle her if she seems weak I think.