Bumblefoot on toe - should I cut open or not?

[Cinnaminute]

Hi, ever since the rainy winter and spring, I've had bumblefoot creep up in my flock. Likely due to the constant wet conditions, I assume. It's been a tough time keeping anything dry and I'm trying to get some wood chips as bedding since erosion and lots of moisture doesn't work well with a lot of bedding options. I tried straw once for the run. Never again.

Anyway, this is my first experience with it. My Leghorn hen that got it back in February only had it on one foot. The pad was pretty badly swollen but she walked fine. I read you can try the non-surgery route so I did that. Spent nearly 2 months soaking & neosporin treating. Sometimes I'd leave it wrapped for days. Other times I'd give it a couple days to dry out during dry days. One time I got the scab off and didn't think to try to get any pus out. Regardless, it's mostly gone now and on its way out. Several of my other birds have it very mildly, no swelling or pink/redness. Just a scab here or there.

However, two of my hens came up with swelling this month. Stitch has it on her foot pad and I feel comfortable doing what I did last time. She walks fine and it doesn't seem to be bother her at all. However, my little white crested black Polish hen (Pooka) has it not only on each pad of her foot (no swelling, very mild) but also her toe! And that toe is very swollen.

As with the others, I've been doing the:

• 10-20 minute epsom salt soak (daily)
• applying neosporin/off brand equivalent (no pain relief)
• apply gauze and wrap with vet wrap

However, I feel like I need to get the pus out. So one day during soaking, I got the scab off. The site looked fine underneath, though it was a tad dry and hard inside. It didn't feel like anything besides just a tiny indent in her toe. But just in case that was dry hard pus, I dug around it but I only succeeded in making her bleed. After reading around, I learned that sometimes the pus can move to other locations. I'm assuming that since it's her toe and she walks on it sideways a bit (broke it when she was young) that perhaps with very little space to go, the pus/kernal moved to the side where the swelling is primarily at.

Here are the pictures:



My question is: Do I cut this open? And if so, how do I go about figuring out where to cut? I don't have any scalpels, would a utility knife be fine if cleaned with isopropyl alcohol first? If not, I'll happily order some sterile scalpels. I want to do this as painless and correctly as possible, but also as soon as possible. Today she is favoring this foot now. I'm not sure if the wrap is doing more harm than good, but I know I'm not wrapping too tightly. I check to make sure there's some wiggle room. She walks fine but is spending a lot of time laying around. I was worried she was ill, but I see when she stands, she's holding the foot up. It must really hurt. Can amoxicillin help with this kind of infection? I don't want her getting ill, so if need be, I can give her some since I have some on hand. Oh, also I have Vetericyn coming on Monday.

Thank you for any and all assistance! This will be my first surgery and I'm nervous since it's not simply on the pad. It's on her delicate, once-broken toe. And she's a small girl so her toes are really dainty.

Last but not least - should I get something intstead of Vetericyn? I've heard a lot of different info about Betadine and also I heard about Epsom Salt soak for horses to draw infection out. I could really use a good infection-drawing soak, I think.

 

[Lillith37]

I wouldn’t cut. I had a hen who had a bumble close over under her toe. I used salicylic wart patches and the whole thing just lifted out after a couple of days. Than vetericyn/betadine and kept wrapped until it healed.

Epsom poultice, PRID drawing salve, magnoplasm, medical honey — all good options.

Bear in mind not all scabs are bumblefoot. Bumblefoot is the staph infection that enters any potential wound and results in the swelling and pus kernels, or more complex recurring caseous material.

Those little ones I’d just keep clean and wrapped until healed. Sometimes they can take the longest to heal. Don’t keep soaking because the chickens’ feet need to stay hard and calloused to prevent further injury. If you want to soften the scab, soak a cotton ball in epsom and tape it to the site for 20mins so the rest of the foot isn’t unnecessarily softened.

Consider something environmental beyond wet weather if multiple birds are affected. Too high roosts, splinters, glass or debris in their run.

Amoxicillin is okay to treat bumblefoot yes.

 

[Cinnaminute]

@Lillith37 Thank you for the advice! I've been so unsure about how to proceed, especially because its on her tiny toe. Good to know maybe I'm doing some things right! I haven't cut yet, so I won't. And I'm giving her a break from the soaks. I'll try the epsom poultice and look into the other options you listed! Much appreciated!

I've been trying to find a cause other than the wet weather and have only come up with a couple ideas: injuries and a ladder roost. Runs are dirt, but clear from anything they could get hurt on. Roosts have always been very low. Probably too low for their liking, haha. My Leghorn that got bumblefoot in February on one foot and my EE who has it now on one foot probably got injured in the yard.

The crested flock are the ones that made me think it was the wet weather. They're separate from my non-crested but they have generally the same living conditions except that their run flooded the worst and took longer to dry out. However, I did build them a roost ladder from pallet wood back in January. It wasn't very tall, 33 inches at the highest and steps close enough they could just walk up and down it. I painstakingly sanded every edge and corner, then ran my hands over it to make sure there weren't any sharp edges or splinters. But the wood is old and may have started to splinter in places or I might've missed a spot that they found. So maybe that's the source!

I've since taken it apart because I finally got my check and got some brand new wood for a better roost. So perhaps I've already taken care of the cause without realizing.

Thanks again! I'll look into those wart patches too. I like the idea of just being able to have something on her toe rather than put her whole foot into a wrap if it's not needed.

 

[Eggcessive]

If you have povidone iodine or Betadine, you can make a paste to store in a jar called sugardine. It is applied every 2 days to bumblefoot and the toe or foot is dressed with gauze and toe or vet wrap. Remove and redress every 2 days. Soon you may be able to squeeze out any pus and then just dress the wound with triple antibiotic ointment.

 

[Cinnaminute]

@Eggcessive Thank you so much! I picked up some Betadine at the store the other day to hold me over until my Vetericyn arrives. Completely forgot I read about sugardine on here. Been a stressful few days for me.

I'm so grateful to you both, thank you! I'll get right to doing the poultices and sugardine treatments. Hopefully she'll get better quickly. My leghorn took nearly 2 months to clear up, but that was just epsom salt soaks and neosporin.

A big big thanks to you both!