Anyone know what causes this? Impacted Pockets in chickens toe webbing

[aldarita]

fifibreen. you have very nice set up, I like the big chicken, it's great! I too have sand on my run and coops and since I have had bumble foot problems in the three years I have been keeping chickens, I inspect their feet at least once a month and I have found small pebbles in the webs between their toes, I usually take them off and they are fine but I wonder if I don't check them regularly, the pebbles will stay there for a long time creating a similar problem like yours. I know this might not help you understand what is going on with your barred rocks, it might be genetic or it might be just happenstance but I guess my point is, we should take a look at their feet often enough and you are doing a good job clearing their feet regularly.

 

[fifibreen]

Checking them all often sounds good. Since I have discovered the problem we have been a little paranoid and hopefully more frequent checking could prevent development of more chickens developing these pockets in their toes. I could see how the accumulation could slowly stretch out the skin.

 

[MoreHens]

I know this is an older post, but I wanted to reply in case anyone else has this problem. I have a number of hens with this issue and they all seem to be my "fat toed" breeds. Barred rock, Buff Orpington, Partridge Rock and Brahmas. The skinny toed breeds don't get it.

I just regularly clean out the dirt balls. They don't seem to get infected, but they are prone to happen again. My pen floor tends to get muddy so that probably makes the problem worse. It wouldn't happen if the girls were on grass all the time.

 

[Intheswamp]

Well, since this thread was bumped back up...

I wonder if sand combined with poop and held in a nice warm pocket turns into "cement". Are the rocks/pebbles/? very hard....easily crushed between the fingers? Take a little or a lot of force to crush?

A possible scenario... At some point in these hens' lives they possibly caught a little bit of sticky mud/poop in a smaller pocket...as time went by and the chickens grew so did the pads which created larger pockets that were subsequently topped off with the cementous mixture until they were noticeably evident from the top of the foot. By this point the pockets had been formed and enlarged. When young were they ever in an environment that could have had some type of sticky or muddy surface that they walked in? Recall any issues of "oooh, what a mess..." scenarios?

How are the hens doing now, @fifibreen ? Did you ever try any corrective procedure?

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[Beekissed]

This is a genetic thing. The first I'd encountered it was in a single WR hen I'd had for years that I got back from a bad situation where she was being kept on cement floors....prior to that I hadn't noticed it in her. I had kept chickens for most of my life and hadn't even known they HAD those little glands in their feet in that location until I discovered them enlarged and impacted in this one hen.

Flash forward to breeding this hen in her 6th year and having two offspring, both pullets, from her. Both of her daughters have these enlarged glands that become impacted in the their feet and these birds are free range on plenty of clean pasture and have deep litter in the coop, so no excess mud, sand, dirt, etc. to cause such a thing.

On forward to their offspring....thus far I've not noted any of their offspring to have it going on, but I haven't done a good foot inspection yet this spring....by just glancing at the birds, none of their feet are showing the impaction of those glands yet but they are just a year old now, so it may show up as they age. The first one didn't show impaction in her first three years either, but after she had been kept on cement it was evident. Her daughter's impactions were more evident in their second year.

Best solution? Don't breed that bird to pass along the propensity to have enlarged and impacted glands in the feet and, for those you have, just keep them cleaned out regularly to keep them comfortable and to avoid infection.

Once they are enlarged, it is probably far too late to prevent or decrease the size of the duct....I tried packing(the cotton from the ends of Qtips soaked in castor oil) and then removing it, etc. and each time the duct seemed to get smaller and smaller but I don't think it's possible to get them to go back to the original size of not even being able to see them and any opening there at all will collect debris and then become enlarged.

 

[Hockeychick]

Hello! I know it's late to jump on this topic, but all 4 of my Barred Rocks have the same thing! As do my Jersey Giants. I was convinced that it is bumblefoot, but maybe not? The pads of the feet look ok.

 

[Beekissed]

It's not bumblefoot but it can be uncomfortable and cause inflammation to the foot if it becomes infected, so it's best to periodically clean them out and keep the birds on dry~but soft~ footing as much as possible.

 

[aart]

Well, since this thread was bumped back up...

I wonder if sand combined with poop and held in a nice warm pocket turns into "cement". Are the rocks/pebbles/? very hard....easily crushed between the fingers? Take a little or a lot of force to crush?

Exactly what I was thinking.....have seen this when I had chicks on sand in the brooder....'cement' balls on their toe nails.

Wonders if @fifibreen is still around to tell us if they ever resolved this issue with their birds.

 

[Beekissed]

I still have this issue with two of my birds and can tell you it has nothing to do with any sand....no sand around here for sure. Just time, dirt, heavy birds, overly large duct opening....add it all together and pretty soon I'll see that lump between their toes and I'll catch them up and take out the little, hardened "rock". Sort of like a sebaceous cyst in a human...just a hard little bit of dirt, oil, skin cells, etc. compressed into a duct.

 

[fifibreen]

Hello,

Sorry for a slow reply have not been on in a while. We chickened out and did not try punching a hole in the feet to help relieve the pockets. We have been diligently checking their feet and cleaning out the pockets when necessary. So far no feet have developed a infection. We try to keep sawdust and wood chips in muddy areas. We also expanded their run across the back portion of our yard giving them more grass while it lasts to walk on. I'm sure it will not take them long to devour all and any green.