Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Been no bumblefoot this year, I usually get maybe two. She wasn't limping, but I saw the lump. Got her off the perch last night to excise it.

Found the black spot on the pad, opened it a little with my knife and had a squeeze at it to try to dislodge the core. It wouldn't come, opened it a little more and tried again. Some core came, but I don't think all of it, and it was kind of mushy. In the past, that has been as hard as cartilage and came out in one hard piece.

So, my question. Did I go at that too soon maybe? It wasn't developed enough yet? Wait til they are limping then do it? Anyone else's experience in this would be appreciated. And I will report how this one goes in the next few days.

Well I took my "Big Momma" to a vet earlier this year because I had a case I couldn't cure and it seemed to be getting worse instead of better. It was on her toe right beside the pad of her foot and it was soft when I originally went at it. It continued to swell despite my efforts and her toe was at a very odd angle. The vet said I had opened it too early and it was now spreading. She had a spot on the pad of foot and her back toe by now. I had kept her foot wrapped and had been soaking and applying antibiotic cream. He ended up injecting antibiotics directly into all affected areas and sent me home with betadine and vet wrap and instructions to generously apply the betadine daily and disinfect perches. I used Virkon but bleach or even listerine (so I'm told) is a good alternative. It eventually cleared up although her toe remains at a weird angle and she runs funny now.

Our first experience with bumblefoot was with the first layers we got, as newbie hobby farmers. That was last summer. I noticed a hen limping; the next day she was dead in the coop. So we checked the others and found bumblefoot. Husband was the surgeon - soaked feet in Epsom salts, cut off the black scab, squeezed, a slight bit of digging. Then sprayed with vetracin, put some Polysporin on a gauze pad, put it on the wound, and wrapped with MEDca wrap (like vet wrap). Repeat every other day. Some kernels came out and others didn't. But we did not lose another hen.

Two days on, she is doing fine. Very slight limp. I caught her off the perch and inspected, and seems like its healing. For another time tho, I won't do anything about it until I see them limping.

usually if you pack with some sort of antibiotic it really doesn't matter when you get to it. if you don't pack with antibiotic its best to let it harden. My one hen was bad and i ended up treating her twice 10 days apart, and finally i think i got most if not all of it, she's not limping anymore and she still has a tiny bit of swelling but it seems to be getting better. i just use polysporin cream, but betadine or iodine wash or anything like that can be put right inside and then the foot wrapped....i take the wrap off the next day because they heal super fast....and if the hen is really bad as swelling up the leg a shot of long acting antibiotics or a check and retreat in 24 hours.....

KimChick, i would be surprised if the bumblefoot killed your hen.....i've seen horrible cases of bumblefoot where the birds couldn't even walk (for a couple of days) and they recovered just fine.

Been a week now and no signs of it. I meant to mention that I had put coppertox on the incision, my go to for foot injuries.