White Lump on Bumblefoot - Advice Needed

[Minusthebuff]

Hello all,

We've been treating one of our hens with bumblefoot for about a week now. It looks like she has a moderate-to-bad case of it (if I'm wrong please correct me on what stage it looks to be at). So far we haven't been able to get any of the kernel out. We soak her feet in warm water high enough to just be over her ankles with a scoop of Epsom salt for 10 minutes before we take care of her foot/clean it/etc. We do this every three to four days.
This time around (tonight) before we put her in the bin to soak, there's this lump on her foot, which we believe is a part of her bumblefoot, was the same normal color of her foot/skin. After taking her out of the soak, it turned a white color. Is this normal? It's never done this before and we've never seen this happen with any other bird we've treated bumblefoot with.
I unfortunately didn't get pictures of before the soak where it was a normal color, but attached is what it looks like after. My sister (I hold the bird while she does the treatment) noted that it stinks.

We clean it with vetericyn plus poultry spray, and put Neosporin (with no pain reliever) on it with gauze and wrapped in vet wrap.

This is the article we reference on how to do it btw: https://thehomesteadingrd.com/bumblefoot-chickens/


Any input/advice is appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

[azygous]

Bumblefoot requires not just cleaning, but removal of the black scab after soaking. Often the soaking softens the scab enough that you can just scrape it off with a thumbnail and the pus kernel comes with it. If not, you will need to use a sharp tool to dig out the waxy pus kernel.

This is necessary because the staph bacteria is trapped under the pus and the foot will not heal unless the pus is removed. The pus is solid not runny, so when you get the solid yellow pus kernel removed, all that's left is thin, stringy fatty stuff called serum. Flush the wound well with soap and water, dry, and use a triple antibiotic ointment to treat the raw wound.

It's best to bandage it. Use a gauze pad over the wound and then take elastic bandage (Vetrap can be found at the feed store in the horse supplies in glorious colors) and starting halfway up the shank, wind downward and around the foot pad and then back up the shank to where you started, ending at the back of the leg so she can't peck it loose. Press firmly to make the end adhere and not flap loose.

Take care not to stretch the elastic bandage too tight or the circulation can be cut off. Remove the bandage in two or three days to check on the healing. If another black scab is forming, it means you didn't get all the pus. So soak and repeat the above procedure. If you see a tissue thin tan scab forming, that's healthy and the wound is healing.

 

[Minusthebuff]

Yeah with her foot, we've only been able to get the black scab off. We haven't had any luck getting really any of the kernal out. I saw you say we'd might need a sharp tool, do you mean something like a scalpel?
Thank you!

 

[azygous]

Yes, a scalpal or even manicure tools will work. Be very careful to not injure the surrounding tissue.

If you use hot compresses on the wound for ten minutes before trying the surgery, it will help a lot. Coat the wound with undiluted dish detergent before starting the hot compresses. It will greatly soften the scab and help the pus to separate from the tissue around it.

 

[Minusthebuff]

Good to know! Thank you very much again!!

 

[Minusthebuff]

Hello again! Small update:

So it seems like her foot is improving, but today when we were tending to her foot, we noticed something were not sure is kernal/pus or that stringy serum stuff that was mentioned. We're able to squeeze it "out" (as in it'll poke out of the hole but would need tweezers to take it out from there). You can only see it when her foot pad is squeezed.
Is this part of the kernal? It's not a hard solid but it's not runny either. It was kind of stringy too, and it was a yellow-white color.

Attached are pictures. 1st is without squeezing, 2nd is with squeezing.

Any advice is appreciated!! Thank you!!!

 

[The Coop Crew]

Yes I would grab tweezers and pull that out

 

[azygous]

That's pus and a sign there's still bacteria in the wound. Remove it.

 

[Minusthebuff]

Thank you both!! I appreciate it

 

[Minusthebuff]

Just wanted to give a small update. Our chicken's bumblefoot has been improving greatly! One of the scabs has completely healed, and has normal skin underneath now. And with the other scab, we've been gently squeezing her foot pad to get pus out of the core. It has definitely gotten smaller and feels softer compared to how big and hard feeling it was before.