What causes bumblefoot?

[LindsayB]

I went outside a little bit ago to let our 3 girls out to roam to yard and noticed our 2 easter eggers have bumblefoot..on both feet...

Its not bad yet though. The plug is there but there isn't any swelling, guess I caught it early. what the heck causes this??? I've had chickens for 4 years now and have never had to deal with bumblefoot. The only thing I can think off is we added sand to run back in november. Is the sand harder on their feet? This should be exciting now...I get to treat 2 birds with bumblefoot at the same time!

 

[chicmom]

Hello-

They say it's from the chicken getting a splinter or foreign object in their food. Now, I have one hen who gets the bumble foot, and it keeps coming back......While the other hens are fine. I've done the surgery, which was surprisingly not as bad as it seems, removed the plug very cleanly, bandaged it and kept it clean for a while, and how she's got two spots of bumble foot......

I truly wonder if bumble foot is really from a splinter type injury......

 

[montanaSarah]

can chicks get bumblefoot? how do you spot it early?

 

[LindsayB]

I'll have no problem doing the surgery, I don't really get grossed about things like that. I'm just worried about it coming back. Errr, Its always something with my chickens, they never give me a break! LOL

 

[BarefootMom]

I have only ever had 1 with bumblefoot- it was from a thorn that we pulled out a week before. We did the surgery and bandaged it. never came back and healed nicely. I think it is mostly caused by splinters and thorns.

was your sand play sand or quarry sand?? Quarry sand will sometimes have other foreign objects in it (but a heck of a lot cheaper!)

 

[LindsayB]

Its play sand from lowes. But it does seem to have small bits of gravel mix in. They're due for some more sand in the run, they love to dig and have made holes everywhere that need filling in. I'll try to get a softer/finer sand this time and hopefully it will help keep the bumblefoot from coming back.

 

[speckledhen]

Any abrasion will allow staph germs into the wound and cause the infection. Bumblefoot is more common than folks realize. Sometimes, it actually will resolve itself, but sometimes will go systemic and kill the chicken. Some birds seem resistant to it and some are prone to getting it over and over again.

 

[LindsayB]

Quote:
Do you think I should wait and see if it resolves on its own? Or should I go ahead and do the surgery? I'd hate for something to happen them, I love my girls!

 

[Judy]

Another approach: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=303829

I have no personal experience with this.

 

[schellie69]

I noticed that my big girls get it more then my little girls. I would also check the roost to make sure they are smooth. They could pick up a thorn while free ranging. The surgery is not bad we did a couple last summer I do have one Bantam EE that we need to do the surgery on. Just check their feet once every couple of weeks and catch it early.