Discoloured feet ---not an emergency

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GreenRiverHen

GreenRiverHen

In the Brooder
6 Years
Oct 6, 2013
92
2
31
Pickering, Ontario, Canada
Hi,

I'm not sure if I am posting in the right place because I'm not sure if anything is wrong or he is just a funny colour--but here's a look at him.
I
I originally posted in the speckled sussex thread thinking it was a genetic issue with this breed but no one knows what it is. It was suggested it could be fungus? His feet are smooth and he doesn't bother with them. It started very gradually. He's about 6 months old. At first I thought his feet were dirty but it won't wash off. His sister has a bit too but not as bad.
Thanks for any ideas!
 
I've never seen anything like this so I'm interested to see what it turns out to be. Is their enclosure kind of damp? Sometimes the hay put in their pen retains moisture and it can cause kinds of fungus.
 
I think you are probably seeing a horn color in the feet which is common in some breeds. I don't know if yours are hatchery sussex, but if they are, you may see a lot of variation. Is it just in your rooster, and do you have any other rooster?
 
If you want to treat it like a fungal infection, which is what I think it is, you need to try to soak him in a warm salt water bath for 20 minutes (I know this can be hard since he is a rooster
big_smile.png
). And then you'll want to grab a regular fungal treatment for children that can be applied to the skin. Apply this everyday for the next couple of weeks and hopefully it will start clearing up. Go ahead and wrap his feet up too in a vet wrap( you can find this at any feed and seed store) so his feet wont be exposed to any more fungus or damp conditions.
 
I do have an older rooster and his feet are fine--just whitish pink as they should be and he is not related to this boy and not hatchery.

I'm not really sure where this boy in the picture originated. He was hatched from birds obtained at a university---but I'm not sure why the school had them or where they came from. His sister also has some colour on her feet but not as much.

But I have some younger birds unrelated to them that are starting to show a bit of colour too. And many others that are not.

If it is horn colour(?) is that a genetic flaw in them--for their breed I mean?
 
GoldenChicks16 said:
If you want to treat it like a fungal infection, which is what I think it is, you need to try to soak him in a warm salt water bath for 20 minutes (I know this can be hard since he is a rooster
big_smile.png
). And then you'll want to grab a regular fungal treatment for children that can be applied to the skin. Apply this everyday for the next couple of weeks and hopefully it will start clearing up. Go ahead and wrap his feet up too in a vet wrap( you can find this at any feed and seed store) so his feet wont be exposed to any more fungus or damp conditions.
Click to expand...

It's not damp in the coop right now---it's frozen. Can I skip the bathing part? I'm not sure if it's a good idea to bath him in such cold weather?

And I would expect fungus to grow between the toes and on the soles of the feet? The tops of his feet should be the driest part? I've searched fungus and I can't find anything that looks like this. His feet look smooth and healthy other than the colour.
 
I mean their is a possibility that it could be just a common discoloration but I would still treat it in case it is some type of fungus infection. It could be caused by something a simple as a type of foliage that he's been scratching in when he's free ranging... I've seen some discoloration in chickens before that have been caused by a reaction to plants and the chickens getting in them. But saying that, I've also seen where it's a genetic occurrence and can just come from the breed and will be passed down but wont affect the chicken. Since he was hatched at a school you wont know who his parents were, if they had the condition, or if anything like this happened to the other chickens that were hatched. But if you still want to treat it just to make sure its not a fungal infection, you could just skip the bath and rub his feet down with a warm rag and them apply it.
 

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