Twisted Chicken Homestead

The Buff Orpington hens are starting to give me pretty pink-ish eggs 😁🥳

So today we get to learn about Bumblefoot (yea 🤢 )

Your chicken’s environment should be free of splinters or things that can cut or injure their feet. Once they get a cut on their foot and then walk through poo like they all do every day, the cut becomes infected. You will start to notice a small round scab looking thing on the bottom of their foot. The scab is an indication of the infection growing inside the foot. If untreated, the infection continues to grow and can potentially kill your bird so it’s important to get a look at your bird’s feet. If you notice any swelling or if they are limping or favoring one leg over the other chances are it’s becoming your lucky day to treat your chicken to a spa day. You’ll want to soak their foot in an Epsom salt bath for about 10-20 minutes to soften up and clean their foot. Some people make a bath inside a tote and cut a hole in the lid for the chickens head. I wrapped mine in a towel and held her in a bucket. She seemed to enjoy her spa foot soak. Then comes the best part (not). I kept her wrapped in the towel and gently laid her on the countertop on her side. Be careful to not lay your chickens on their backs. This puts pressure on their lungs and makes it hard for them to breathe. So all covered up on her side with her bumble foot sticking out. Wear gloves because you are going to work the infection out of her foot and you don’t want to be touching that. Gently squeeze around the bumble and you will eventually see the skin separate from it and it will work it’s way out. I also used a scalpel blade to help pry it out. The bumble comes out in one piece kind of like candle wax. It might also smell not so delightful. Once the bumble is out, there will be a gaping hole where it used to be. Rinse out the wound and pack it with triple antibiotic ointment like neosporin. Don’t use any with lidocaine. The medicine is toxic to chickens. Just plain antibiotic ointment. Then place a sterile gauze over that and wrap it with self adhesive gauze. I then use electrical tape over the gauze to keep it from coming off. This will need to be changed and repacked daily until it’s healed. The first photo is not my girl’s foot, but is a good example of what bumblefoot looks like. There is a photo in the comments if you would like to see my girl’s bumble after it’s removed. It’s gross so you have been warned.