Bumblefoot is a very common occurrence among birds. A bird will develop an injury on his foot which can be caused by splinters, sharp roosts, jumping from a roost too hard, rocky ground, housing on wire, or irritation due to improper litter management. The bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus enters the wound and causes an abscess in the foot pad. Staphylococcus aureus is a highly resistant strain of bacteria that causes severe and serious infections, usually of a purulent, pussy nature. Although mortality rate is usually low with birds infected with bumblefoot, it can rise up to 50% if left untreated. The bird will limp, and eventually become lame and rest on it's hocks. The foot pad becomes inflamed and the abscess will be hard, hot, swollen and pus filled with a dark black scab on the bottom of the foot.

Traditional allopathic treatment is to cut open the abscess, squeeze out the cheesy core, rinse well with hydrogen peroxide, and pack with an antibiotic (Neosporin) and bind the dressing, which must be changed every few days. Penicillin/streptomycin (antibiotic) is injected into the swollen area.

Herbally, what I use is the Bumblefoot formula internally and externally. The formula excels at treating and specifically killing the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and contains one of the best herbal bacteriostats that I know. I applied approximately 1/4 dropper full internally once a day, and dripped the tincture right on the scabs and surrounding area. The swollen area and pus were healed in almost exactly 4 weeks by the body and eventually the black scab fell off, revealing a healthy pink skin on the foot pad.

I treated two ducks, and both healed up after treatment with the formula tincture. They both developed bumblefoot pretty quickly after moving into their new housing and I think with wire floor aggravated an existing condition. Their old pen was getting quite nasty with poo which I refrained from cleaning at one point, because they were going to be moving into new housing, but the move did not happen as quickly as I had anticipated, so their housing conditions were not ideal for awhile. That was my bad. I will be keeping an eye on how they do on the wire flooring, since that is a concern. Prevention of bumblefoot would be to provide good sanitation, make sure sharp objects or splinters are not present in the coop for them to injure their feet. Check their roosts periodically, and keep an eye on foot injuries when they occur.