Rathornis
In the Brooder
- May 31, 2025
- 11
- 36
- 49
Tl;dr, I'm treating a hen with bumblefoot who has started having diarrhea, and don't know if these are connected.
The long version:
About 3 weeks ago I noticed my largest hen (1 yo black Australorp; 8-10 lb and in good flesh) laying down and panting, with a pale comb. They had just been moved into a new shed that was a little stuffy and it was a warm day, but due to cool off soon. I decided on watchful waiting.
Over the next weeks I would catch her laying down now and then and occasionally panting. She stopped laying, or else was hiding eggs. She seemed otherwise fine, readily foraging, first in line for put-away treat, and getting up and down from perches without trouble. A quick feel of her keel, belly, and crop didn't show anything alarming (Keel palpable but not sharp, belly soft and malleable, crop full in evening and empty by morning.) She laid an egg the day after I checked her over. None of my other birds have shown any problems.
But on Thursday night (the 3rd), I noticed she had swelling between her toes on one foot. Bumblefoot on both!
On Friday she wound up getting a total 45-minute Epsom soak to loosen them, and I was able to get most of the smaller (left foot) corn out. The other was just too stubborn and I only managed to take off some surface gunk, and hoped the packing and dressing would help. Neither had much pus, just hard dry matter. She was put in an isolation cage after, where I've noticed only normal droppings--but it's open-bottomed, so any diarrhea might have fallen through onto straw and shavings.
Today was her second soak and debridement. The better foot seemed to be healing--no discharge or discoloration, and very little that was in obvious need of removal. I tried to remove more bulk from the right foot, but it was again extremely difficult to grip, and she was fighting me even with her head covered and wings wrapped, so I wasn't comfortable using a scalpel. I got what I could and packed both again with a sugar-Neosporin mix (can't get to town for Betadine until tomorrow) and a doughnut-shaped pad to take the pressure off.
During the course of this, she had two nearly liquid bowel movements (one into her foot bath and one on me, naturally. What a majestic animal.) which has me worried.
Could it have been from the stress of being manhandled and having a wound picked it? Or should I be investigating some other reason for it?
Also, is there anything else I should be doing for her feet, or doing differently?
The long version:
About 3 weeks ago I noticed my largest hen (1 yo black Australorp; 8-10 lb and in good flesh) laying down and panting, with a pale comb. They had just been moved into a new shed that was a little stuffy and it was a warm day, but due to cool off soon. I decided on watchful waiting.
Over the next weeks I would catch her laying down now and then and occasionally panting. She stopped laying, or else was hiding eggs. She seemed otherwise fine, readily foraging, first in line for put-away treat, and getting up and down from perches without trouble. A quick feel of her keel, belly, and crop didn't show anything alarming (Keel palpable but not sharp, belly soft and malleable, crop full in evening and empty by morning.) She laid an egg the day after I checked her over. None of my other birds have shown any problems.
But on Thursday night (the 3rd), I noticed she had swelling between her toes on one foot. Bumblefoot on both!


On Friday she wound up getting a total 45-minute Epsom soak to loosen them, and I was able to get most of the smaller (left foot) corn out. The other was just too stubborn and I only managed to take off some surface gunk, and hoped the packing and dressing would help. Neither had much pus, just hard dry matter. She was put in an isolation cage after, where I've noticed only normal droppings--but it's open-bottomed, so any diarrhea might have fallen through onto straw and shavings.
Today was her second soak and debridement. The better foot seemed to be healing--no discharge or discoloration, and very little that was in obvious need of removal. I tried to remove more bulk from the right foot, but it was again extremely difficult to grip, and she was fighting me even with her head covered and wings wrapped, so I wasn't comfortable using a scalpel. I got what I could and packed both again with a sugar-Neosporin mix (can't get to town for Betadine until tomorrow) and a doughnut-shaped pad to take the pressure off.


During the course of this, she had two nearly liquid bowel movements (one into her foot bath and one on me, naturally. What a majestic animal.) which has me worried.

Could it have been from the stress of being manhandled and having a wound picked it? Or should I be investigating some other reason for it?
Also, is there anything else I should be doing for her feet, or doing differently?