First time treating bumblefoot

[RebelEgger]

After being away for 4 days, I just got home and discovered that one of my girls has bumblefoot in her toe.
I immediately went to the instructions on how to treat in The Chicken Health Handbook (I'm also going to review some articles on BYC!)
My question for now is, would it be better to use betadine or chlorhexidine to rinse it out?
She doesn't appear to be lame (yet?)
Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have a picture of the footpad? I do not treat bumblefoot, unless it causes limping or is very red and swollen. Chlorhexidene is good, and I have also used betadine povidone iodine. Soaking the feet in warm Epsom salts water is a good thing to do to soften the scab. Sometimes removing the scab and then squeezing out the solid cheesy core is easy enough to do.

 

[RebelEgger]

I don't have pictures yet, the girl that has it isn't a fan of being held at the best of times! I'm waiting for help to come.
Wouldn't it make sense to treat it before they get to the point of limping? So it doesn't progress?
I have epsom salts ready, a scalpel blade, gauze pads and vet wrap for afterwards.

 

[RebelEgger]

Do you have a picture of the footpad? I do not treat bumblefoot, unless it causes limping or is very red and swollen. Chlorhexidene is good, and I have also used betadine povidone iodine. Soaking the feet in warm Epsom salts water is a good thing to do to soften the scab. Sometimes removing the scab and then squeezing out the solid cheesy core is easy enough to do.

Sorry, forgot to hit the reply button on my previous response

 

[coach723]

Pictures would be very helpful. Until then I'd just soak or flush it out, apply some ointment, plain neosporin or plain triple antibiotic ointment and wrap it (not too tight). When wrapping a toe, I wrap the toe and then around the ankle so it can't be pulled off. It may not be necessary to do any cutting at all, just depends on the bumble. We need to be able to see it to judge it. If it's very small then just topical treatments are often all you need to do. It can take a while to heal, either way.

 

[RebelEgger]

Pictures would be very helpful. Until then I'd just soak or flush it out, apply some ointment, plain neosporin or plain triple antibiotic ointment and wrap it (not too tight). When wrapping a toe, I wrap the toe and then around the ankle so it can't be pulled off. It may not be necessary to do any cutting at all, just depends on the bumble. We need to be able to see it to judge it. If it's very small then just topical treatments are often all you need to do. It can take a while to heal, either way.

I will attempt to get her and get a pic this afternoon. I haven’t done anything to it yet because I haven't had an extra set of hands to help, so maybe that’s a good thing! Either way I was going to at least do some daily soaks.
I will do my best for pics though! Thank you!!

 

[RebelEgger]

I just zoomed in on photos I had taken of the girls on Friday before I left for my work trip, and I can see the swelling on her toe then as well. So it’s been present at least 1 week.
But I will get better photos this afternoon when I get home.

 

[coach723]

Bumble is generally very slow progressing and can be present for quite a while before it causes the bird obvious discomfort.

 

[RebelEgger]

Finally got some photos:

 

[coach723]

I would soak the foot in warm epsom salts to soften it up, or alternately you can apply decolorized iodine and wrap the foot over night to soften it up. Remove the scab that is in the center, it looks fairly small. Do some manipulation and squeezing to see if you can get any pus out, the pus will likely look like little cream or white chunks if there is any there. Flush it out well with chlorhexidine (hibiclens) or diluted betadine povidone iodine. Fill the hole with plain neosporin or plain triple antibiotic ointment (not sure what you can get there, polysporin, etc) , cover with a bit of gauze or telfa pad and wrap. I would change the bandaging daily and reapply the ointment then. Give it a little time for swelling to start to reduce. You can soak it daily if you have time. Possibly you may need to flush it again, but hopefully the first cleaning will get it.