LateBirdFarms
Crowing
So, I've got this golden comet pullet that I picked up sometime before the snow stopped falling and the insanity started, (a while back is what I'm getting at), from a semi commercial farmer who usually spares a few production reds for me every few years. This year he had very high demand, so he could only spare a pair at the time, and me being me, took one of the birds he was going to cull due to bent toes thinking that it wouldn't be so bad, I could make my setup work for her. I knew she was too old for any of the usual fixes for young chicks, but I had gone to the extreme making sure perches were low, smooth and wide enough, keeping my bedding thick and fluffy and adding ramps all over the place (the ramps are my worst cleaning nemesis!) so I knew she could navigate the coop with ease despite her disability and I was right about that part....She refused to use any of my nonsense! What I was not expecting was the bruising on her toes and scrapes on her knuckles and a spot that looks suspiciously like the very first signs of bumblefoot on one palm/pad despite my careful accommodations.... Despite how uncomfortable I think it looks, Crooked Toes is my liveliest, fastest, most vocally demanding pullet I have, to the point of wondering sometimes if there might be something else bent in that head of hers too! She really is a total spaz of a chicken, acting like a cornered seagull with her screaming cries of outrage if I even let the thought of touching her cross my mind, let alone reach out a hand without food in it towards her.. And the look she gives! If looks could kill, skin and disembowel a person... she'd be the one to give it....
Before I get any more long winded... My question is, has anyone ever had any success making some sort of protective foot covering for an adult hen with their toes on both feet bent? Ones that allow them to continue to scratch and forage naturally? I've debated attempting putting cushioning on her knuckles at least with vet wrap, but catching her and getting it on will be a harrowing, stressful situation for the both of us, so I thought I'd come to the experts first before I square off with my insanely wild pterodactyl of a chicken to give her the help she clearly doesn't want from me!
Not a great pic, doesn't show any of the bruises or anything, all the discolouring here is just the fresh topsoil she was tilling in with the lawn clippings. I swear she does a far better job, with more enthusiasm than any of my other hens... it's not her that's uncomfortable, it's me!
Before I get any more long winded... My question is, has anyone ever had any success making some sort of protective foot covering for an adult hen with their toes on both feet bent? Ones that allow them to continue to scratch and forage naturally? I've debated attempting putting cushioning on her knuckles at least with vet wrap, but catching her and getting it on will be a harrowing, stressful situation for the both of us, so I thought I'd come to the experts first before I square off with my insanely wild pterodactyl of a chicken to give her the help she clearly doesn't want from me!
Not a great pic, doesn't show any of the bruises or anything, all the discolouring here is just the fresh topsoil she was tilling in with the lawn clippings. I swear she does a far better job, with more enthusiasm than any of my other hens... it's not her that's uncomfortable, it's me!
