Bumblefoot in chickens

Bumblefoot — also written bumble foot — is one of the most common problems in backyard flocks, and one of the easiest to miss. It starts as an ordinary foot injury, and because chickens keep walking, foraging and roosting on a sore foot, the injury often is not noticed until there is a hard black scab on the pad.

Caught early it is usually straightforward. Left alone it can become a serious problem, so knowing what to look for is most of the battle.

What does bumblefoot look like?

This is the question people ask most, so here it is first.

Turn the bird over and look at the underside of the foot. On a healthy hen the pad is smooth, evenly padded, and the same colour as the rest of the leg. With bumble foot you are looking for:

• A dark scab on the footpad — usually black or dark brown, often round, and noticeably harder than the skin around it. This is the classic sign and it is what most people find first
• Swelling of the pad or a toe, so the foot looks fat compared with the other one. Comparing the two feet side by side is the easiest test
• Heat in the foot when you hold it
• Redness or shine to the skin where it is stretched
• In advanced cases, pus or a firm lump under the scab, and swelling that has travelled up into the leg

It is most often on the underside of the footpad, but it can appear on the toes or on the top of the foot.

The stages, roughly

• Early: a small cut, graze or bruise. Often nothing visible but a slight limp
• Developing: redness and mild swelling, sometimes a pale or shiny patch on the pad
• Established: the recognisable dark scab, firm swelling, the bird favouring the foot
• Advanced: pronounced swelling into the toes or leg, obvious pain, reluctance to walk or roost, the bird sitting more than usual

The earlier you catch it, the simpler it is. That is really the whole message.

Signs in the bird, before you look at the foot

Chickens hide discomfort well, so the behaviour usually shows before you find anything on the foot:

• Limping, or favouring one leg
• Standing on one leg more than usual, or shifting weight often
• Reluctance to jump down from the roost, or staying on the ground when the others go up
• Spending more time sitting, less time foraging
• Slower to come to feed than the rest of the flock
• In a bad case, not using the leg at all

How to check a chicken's feet

Worth doing as a routine, not just when something looks wrong. Evening is easiest, once the birds have gone up to roost and are calm.

1. Lift her off the perch with both hands, wings held gently against her body
2. Tuck her under one arm, facing backwards, with her head toward your elbow. Most hens settle quickly like this
3. Bring one foot forward and turn it so you can see the underside of the pad
4. Look, then feel — run a thumb over the pad for lumps, heat or hard patches
5. Compare it with the other foot. Differences are far easier to spot than absolutes

Doing this once a month takes a couple of minutes and catches most foot problems while they are still small.

What causes bumblefoot?

Bumblefoot is a bacterial infection that follows an injury. Something breaks the skin — a cut, a graze, a puncture, or even a heavy bruise from landing badly — and bacteria get in. Because chickens are stoic and keep using the foot, the original injury usually goes unnoticed.

The things that cause those injuries in the first place:

• Roosts that are the wrong shape. Too narrow, perfectly round, slippery metal or plastic, or with rough splintery edges. A hen grips a perch all night, so the perch matters more than most people think
• Roosts that are too high. Repeated hard landings bruise the pad. A heavy breed jumping down from a high perch onto compacted ground is the classic setup
• Sharp objects in the run — wire offcuts, old nails, screws, sharp gravel, broken shell
• Rough or abrasive surfaces, particularly concrete
• Wet, dirty litter. Damp softens the skin of the foot and puts far more bacteria in contact with it. This is the big one, and it is the one most within your control
• Overweight birds. More load through the pad on every landing. It is more common in backyard flocks than people expect
• Age. Older hens get it more often, and heal more slowly

Preventing bumblefoot

Prevention here is genuinely more effective than anything you do afterwards, and most of it costs nothing.

1. Keep the litter dry

If you fix one thing, fix this. Damp litter softens the foot and multiplies the bacteria it is standing in.

• Turn litter regularly and top it up rather than letting it pack down
• Deal with damp patches as they appear, particularly under the perches and around the drinker
• Fix roof leaks and check where rain blows in during a storm
• Use a drinker that does not spill or get fouled. An open bowl or trough gets tipped, scratched full of litter, and keeps the ground underneath permanently wet. A closed cup or nipple drinker keeps the water clean and the area under it dry

2. Get the roosts right

• At least 5cm wide, and flat or semi-flattened rather than perfectly round
• Smooth, but not slippery. Sand off splinters and rough edges
• Timber over metal or plastic
• Not too high — and give them something to step down onto rather than a single long drop. Heavy breeds especially
• More detail in our guide to choosing the right roost

3. Walk the run

Once a season, walk the run looking at the ground the way a bird does. Pick up wire offcuts, nails, screws and sharp stones. Break up compacted or muddy ground.

4. Keep them at a sensible weight

Fewer scraps, less bread and grain, and a properly balanced feed as the base of the diet. Read more on weight in backyard chickens and on what to feed laying hens.

5. Check feet regularly, and deal with any injury early

Every foot injury is a potential bumblefoot. Cleaning a small cut and keeping it clean and dry is a great deal easier than dealing with what it can turn into.

What to do if you find it

How you should proceed depends on how far along it is, and this is a judgement call worth taking seriously.

If you have caught it early

A fresh cut, graze or a small soft scab with no real swelling:

• Bring the bird somewhere clean, dry and well lit
• Wash the foot with warm water and clean off any mud or muck
• Dry it properly
• Keep it clean, and keep her somewhere dry while it settles
• Check it daily. If it is not improving, or swelling develops, speak to a vet

If there is a hard scab, firm swelling or pus

Speak to a vet. An established case usually has a core of infected material under the scab, and removing it is a minor surgical procedure. Plenty of keepers do it at home, and there are guides online that will show you how — but it is painful, it bleeds, it can be done badly, and an incompletely cleaned foot tends to come straight back.

A vet can also tell you whether the infection has gone into the joint or bone, which changes what happens next entirely, and can prescribe antibiotics if they are needed. We would rather send you to one than talk you through cutting into your hen's foot.

While she recovers

• Keep her somewhere clean, dry and soft underfoot — deep dry shavings, not concrete or wet ground
• Keep food and water within easy reach so she is not walking far
• Lower the roost, or give her a low platform, so she is not jumping down onto it
• Keep checking the other foot. Birds compensate, and the good foot takes the load

When to call a vet without waiting

• Swelling that has travelled up into the leg or the hock
• The bird will not put weight on the foot at all
• She has stopped eating or drinking, or is sitting fluffed up
• An open, discharging wound
• Both feet affected
• No improvement after a week or so of keeping it clean and dry

Does it come back?

It can, and when it does the reason is usually still in the coop. If a hen gets bumble foot twice, the perch, the drop from the perch, the litter or the ground is telling you something. Fix the cause and you will not be doing this again next season.

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Described on the Australian label as helping to maintain cleanliness and promote natural recovery. A ready-to-use topical spray for external use — nothing to mix, nothing to rinse off.

• Hypochlorous acid 0.013% in electrolyzed water
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• Non-stinging, and will not stain her feathers

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Related reading

• Designing the right roost for chickens — it is not what you think
• Which chicken bedding to use
• Keeping the coop dry in damp weather
• Are my chickens too fat?
• Knowing when to take your chicken to the vet