Is this bumblefoot? Does hemp bedding cause it?

[HerdAndHome]

My girl Dot may be developing bumblefoot, I would like to catch it early. Any help would be appreciated.
As an aside, I'd like opinions on hemp bedding. Pic attached. I like the minimal dust and the absorbancy, but question the form and whether it may damage their feet when dismounting from the perch (8" down.)
Thanks y'all.

1) What type of bird, age and weight.
Lisa Steele's Cookies & Cream pullet from Meyer Hatchery. Partially feathered feet. 10 months and 3+ish lbs.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
I detected a slight limp.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Just noticed it today, April 23, 2025.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
 No.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
I suspect a scab, cleaned her foot, first looked like a freckle.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I am wondering if help bedding may have contributed to a foot cut.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
I feed Tucker Milling NatureCrest16.5% protein mini-pellets.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
The poop of my 9 pullets looks normal.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Washed her feet and inspected them.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I would like to treat at home.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
Pic attached.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use.
I have a watertight coop with linoleum floor with hemp bedding on it. My coop perches are simple, smooth, clean stair rails. The run is sand with PT 2x4 (2 side up) or a perch tree with cherry tree limb perches. The yard is GA red clay/dirt with a perch tree with dogwood tree limb perches.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

It does look like bumblefoot.

If you squeeze the bedding in your hand, does it poke you? Is it sharp at all? Bumblefoot can be caused by an injury to the foot pad through which an infection can begin. I am not familiar with hemp bedding, but if it could poke the foot then it is possible it may have caused an injury that started the bumblefoot.

But birds get bumblefoot in places where there is no hemp. They may step on a sharp rock, thorn or sticker, or bruise their foot jumping down from a roost that is too high. We usually don't know how bumblefoot starts.

Your bird is exceptionally beautiful, by the way!

 

[HerdAndHome]

Thank you for answering BigBlueHen53.
I have been looking at videos of caring for Dot's foot. Also reading in the "Chicken Health Handbook" by Gail Damerow, which I think is better info than one or two videos I watched. So, off to treat Dot's foot I go! I think I'm going to look for a softer bedding material. The book by Damerow lists Pine products as a tree unfavorable to chickens. Perhaps I will try Aspen.
I call Dot my Pocket Chicken, she's so sweet and likes to cuddle.

 

[Eggcessive]

Bumble foot is usually caused by a small cut from a tiny rock, thorn, splinter, etc. There are many ways to treat bumblefoot besides the surgery, which is what I used to do. You can pad the foot, apply a Sugardine or Prid dressing, changed daily, use TriCide Neo, and most start out with soaking in warm Epsom salts water once a day followed by one of those treatments.

Equate First Aid generic betadine sold in the first aid aisle at Walmart, is pretty cheap. You can mix a few drops of it with sugar in a container and make a paste that is called sugardine. It has been used for years in chickens, and orginally in horses to treat hoof infection. Apply it to a 2x2 gauze pad and wrap the foot in Vet Wrap or Cohesive wrap in a bumblefoot dressing. This link shows the surgery, but at the bottom of the page is a good video of the bumblefoot dressing technique, You would substitute the Sugardine or Prid salve for the Neosporin of course.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning/

 

[HerdAndHome]

Bumble foot is usually caused by a small cut from a tiny rock, thorn, splinter, etc. There are many ways to treat bumblefoot besides the surgery, which is what I used to do. You can pad the foot, apply a Sugardine or Prid dressing, changed daily, use TriCide Neo, and most start out with soaking in warm Epsom salts water once a day followed by one of those treatments.

Equate First Aid generic betadine sold in the first aid aisle at Walmart, is pretty cheap. You can mix a few drops of it with sugar in a container and make a paste that is called sugardine. It has been used for years in chickens, and orginally in horses to treat hoof infection. Apply it to a 2x2 gauze pad and wrap the foot in Vet Wrap or Cohesive wrap in a bumblefoot dressing. This link shows the surgery, but at the bottom of the page is a good video of the bumblefoot dressing technique, You would substitute the Sugardine or Prid salve for the Neosporin of course.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning/

Thank you very much! I ordered Prid and it should arrive today, as well as the bandaging supplies. I hope I caught it early enough to not have a hard kernel in the cut.