Cinnaminute
Songster
Hi everyone, here's the details:
The bird affected: Zelda is an 8mo EE pullet. She started laying in October 2022 and stopped earlier this month because she's in a molt. So she has lost some weight but only due to the molt. She's also the dominant one and does have stubby spurs.
Those housed with the affected: There are 5 other EE pullets she was raised with that have lived in the exact same conditions as her this entire time and do not have anything going on with their feet or health.
Discovery of problem: I actually think this goes back to October but I'm not sure. I was switching my girls to their new outside coop and my family was very ill at the time not to mention we didn't have a running vehicle, got a bad feed delivery, etc. Long story short, I wasn't the most observant of the girls as I was just running around tending to everything. But I'm pretty sure I saw the red spots on her feet then. Admittedly I never did daily body checks of my girls back then (that's something I do now). So it wasn't until end of December/beginning of January that I've been inspecting her feet and wondering if these are the same spots/if they'll go away on their own, etc.
Their coop then: Back in October I had to temporarily house them in my walk-in closet. Strange, I know! But it was big enough and they all would roost on my clothing rod that was 3ft above the floor. I kept straw bedding on the floor. And you can imagine I kept that place as clean as I could.
Their coop now: It's a little on the small side (going to be upgrading this year), I remove their nighttime poops daily and clean the coop out fully once a week. I keep straw in there as bedding. The coop stays dry though there is a slight leak near the one nesting box during heavy rain but besides a 4"x4" area, everything else remains dry.
Their run: I have them on a dirt run (plan on getting some sand soon). I monthly rake out the flooring and lay fresh dry dirt down. Since the cold weather has been sporadic, I now keep fresh straw in there to keep their feet drier and warmer. However, where the straw meets dirt, it really isn't the driest. I pull out the straw weekly and lay fresh down. However, they do like to scratch and dig around so I can't guarantee a fully dry experience.
Free-range: They do free-range, sometimes more sometimes less. The yard is full of leaves and it's really shady here so it's always damp for a few days after a rain. We haven't had the most rain, so the yard hasn't been constantly wet.
Symptoms: To explain in more details, she has a few red spots on her feet. They're a vibrant red and appear to maybe be on the joints of the toes. Doesn't seem to be in any pain. She walks fine. Runs fine. Climbs up very very high and flies off for the fun of it fine. It doesn't seem to bother her in the slightest. Can't tell if pushing on it slightly hurts or not, she is just fussy about me messing with her feet because they're use to that meaning I want them to step up (trained them to that haha). So this means if I mess with her feet she either steps up on me or runs away... usually the latter, haha.
Suspicions: I could be wrong, but I think something's going on in the joints of her toes? Perhaps she made a bad landing and has a bone chip? I'm concerned it's a sign of some injury and internal bleeding there. It could also be scald I guess?
Treatment: I haven't tried any treatments as of yet. It doesn't seem dire, but I would like to treat her (if that's even possible).
Pictures of the problem:
Pictures of the bird:
All pictures are from this month, January 2023. Her comb is a bit pale and shrunken due to the molt. She started losing her feathers about a week after I took these pictures. Thank you for any and all advice!
The bird affected: Zelda is an 8mo EE pullet. She started laying in October 2022 and stopped earlier this month because she's in a molt. So she has lost some weight but only due to the molt. She's also the dominant one and does have stubby spurs.
Those housed with the affected: There are 5 other EE pullets she was raised with that have lived in the exact same conditions as her this entire time and do not have anything going on with their feet or health.
Discovery of problem: I actually think this goes back to October but I'm not sure. I was switching my girls to their new outside coop and my family was very ill at the time not to mention we didn't have a running vehicle, got a bad feed delivery, etc. Long story short, I wasn't the most observant of the girls as I was just running around tending to everything. But I'm pretty sure I saw the red spots on her feet then. Admittedly I never did daily body checks of my girls back then (that's something I do now). So it wasn't until end of December/beginning of January that I've been inspecting her feet and wondering if these are the same spots/if they'll go away on their own, etc.
Their coop then: Back in October I had to temporarily house them in my walk-in closet. Strange, I know! But it was big enough and they all would roost on my clothing rod that was 3ft above the floor. I kept straw bedding on the floor. And you can imagine I kept that place as clean as I could.
Their coop now: It's a little on the small side (going to be upgrading this year), I remove their nighttime poops daily and clean the coop out fully once a week. I keep straw in there as bedding. The coop stays dry though there is a slight leak near the one nesting box during heavy rain but besides a 4"x4" area, everything else remains dry.
Their run: I have them on a dirt run (plan on getting some sand soon). I monthly rake out the flooring and lay fresh dry dirt down. Since the cold weather has been sporadic, I now keep fresh straw in there to keep their feet drier and warmer. However, where the straw meets dirt, it really isn't the driest. I pull out the straw weekly and lay fresh down. However, they do like to scratch and dig around so I can't guarantee a fully dry experience.
Free-range: They do free-range, sometimes more sometimes less. The yard is full of leaves and it's really shady here so it's always damp for a few days after a rain. We haven't had the most rain, so the yard hasn't been constantly wet.
Symptoms: To explain in more details, she has a few red spots on her feet. They're a vibrant red and appear to maybe be on the joints of the toes. Doesn't seem to be in any pain. She walks fine. Runs fine. Climbs up very very high and flies off for the fun of it fine. It doesn't seem to bother her in the slightest. Can't tell if pushing on it slightly hurts or not, she is just fussy about me messing with her feet because they're use to that meaning I want them to step up (trained them to that haha). So this means if I mess with her feet she either steps up on me or runs away... usually the latter, haha.
Suspicions: I could be wrong, but I think something's going on in the joints of her toes? Perhaps she made a bad landing and has a bone chip? I'm concerned it's a sign of some injury and internal bleeding there. It could also be scald I guess?
Treatment: I haven't tried any treatments as of yet. It doesn't seem dire, but I would like to treat her (if that's even possible).
Pictures of the problem:
Pictures of the bird:
All pictures are from this month, January 2023. Her comb is a bit pale and shrunken due to the molt. She started losing her feathers about a week after I took these pictures. Thank you for any and all advice!
