Preventing and Healing Bumblefoot in Chickens

bumblefoot on a wyandotte hen

Soaking in warm water and iodine.

classic symptom of bumble foot

Bumblefoot is a common bacterial infection in the feet of chickens. Scratching around in the dirt creates small cuts and abrasions that allow bacteria to enter the foot. Heavy bodied chickens are particularly susceptible as bacteria gets pushed into the foot from jumping off their perch. 
Reduce the risk of bumblefoot by keeping perches 18 inches or less off the ground or having ladders to prevent a hard landing. Avoid hard surfaces like cement, hardpacked dirt or wire on the floor. Inspect your chicken's feet regularly and soak minor abrasions in warm water with 10% iodine or ebsom salt. Rub their feet gently with your fingers or with a soft toothbrush to throughly clean the foot. Calm anxious chickens by wrapping their head and wings in a towel. Chickens are most relaxed in the evening as they go to roost.

Learn to recognize the leathery patch that forms at the site of bumblefoot infection. The patch is tiny at first and with daily soaks will soften and fall off before the infection enters the foot. The following pictures show the results of soaking a minor infection in warm water and iodine after four days. The infection was completely gone after seven days of soaking. 

Scabs resolving with daily soaking

Scab fell off and foot infection avoided.

waterproof self-stick bandage, iodine, forceps, cuticle scissors, tweezers.

wrap the chicken in a towel

bumble kernels

neosporin or generic triple antibiotic

dressing pad and bandage wrap

A vet can offer antibiotic medicine for mild cases. Surgery may be required for severe cases. Dottie, the wyandotte hen in the following pictures, was not limping and the marble sized lumps on the top of her foot was our first clue there was a problem. After speaking with a vet, the county extension office, and reading about bumblefoot on the backyard chicken forum, we elected to do surgery.

I was advised to massage and soak the foot for several days before cutting to draw the infection towards the surface. After five days of daily soaking in idodine, ebsom salt and very warm water, we were ready to begin.

She didn't seem to be bothered very much while she was wrapped in the towel and handled the surgery very calmly.

Always use clean and sterilized tools. There will be blood, cutting over a sink is advised. Use an X-acto knife or similar blade to cut out the dark leathery pad. The infection exhibits as a rubbery yellow substance. Hard kernels are the core of the infection. Massage the foot vigorously to pop the kernels out of the incision and use tools to pull and cut out all of the yellow infectious substance. There will be a gaping depression in the foot due to swelling of surrounding tissue. Bumbles were popped out from the top and bottom of this wyandotte's infected foot.

Rinse frequently and finish with a flush of iodine. Apply neosporin or generic antibiotic over the incision. 

Cover the antibiotic with a non-stick dressing pad and wrap with self stick bandage wrap. Cut the wrap in half and weave between the toes in a figure eight pattern. 

Keep the chicken indoors in a clean environment for five days. The county extension agent recommended staying away from the coop to prevent jumping off the roosting perch and re-opening the incision.

non-stick bandage for bumblefoot

Dottie recovering in a medium size dog kennel.

dirty bandages ready to come off.

Dottie reintegrated into the flock without problems and returned to her middle spot in the flock's pecking order. Every day or two her feet were soaked, antibiotic applied and re-bandaged.

bumblefoot day four

Day eight before soaking

Day 10 after soaking

Day 10, reopened wound.

bumblefoot day four

day eight after soaking

On day ten Dottie's scab was smaller, but there was new swelling around the wound. After soaking in the warm iodine water and a vigorous massage, three more bumbles popped out from the bottom and top of the foot. They were very tiny, as shown in the photo below. 

New infection bumble popped out.

On day 12 and 13 the bandage was no longer on her foot in the morning. The bits of bandage had become a keep-away toy for the rest of the flock. The scabs shows healing a little more each day so the decision was made to continue soaking, once or twice daily as time permits, forgo the bandages and allow the air to speed the healing.

Dottie had always been shy and standoff-ish, but after surgery and healing soaks, she has become a mellow and docile hen. She no longer has to be wrapped completely in the towel and prefers her head out during the soaking. Massaging the feet in the warm water makes her very relaxed.

The following pictures are on day 17. The reddish spots are from the betadine soak. Notice how the healing skin is pink around the scab on the picture on the left. The scab is drying out and shrinking each day. The picture on the right shows the top of the foot. The circled incision has healed and the other one continues to improve. I can feel a bumble about the size of a pea under the scab on the right but we are choosing to wait until the foot heals more before opening it back up. The feet are soaked and massaged twice a day in warm water with ebsom salt and betadine.

bumblefoot day 17

bumblefoot day 17

Near the end of October I stopped soaking her foot due to cold weather. The small bumble on the top of the foot developed a scab and popped out on its own. By December the pads on the bottom of the foot had healed and Dotties foot pads have returned to normal. Bumble foot resolved. Lowering the roosts was instrumental to prevent future infections.

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All content and images original works of kittycooks. Copyright 2011