Hi.
I have 9 chickens and 4 ducks living mostly harmoniously in a 64 sq ft coop, 200+ sq ft covered dog kennel-type run with an adjacent 600 sq ft yard. The coop has pine shavings over a painted plywood floor. There is an 8 ft poop board they walk on sometimes that has PDZ and is scooped at least once daily. The run is deep bedding of pine shavings over bare dirt. The yard is grass and dirt. Ok, imma be honest - thanks to the ducks it's mostly dirt now.
I just did my big spring cleaning in May where I removed all of the bedding material and cleaned everything. I replaced the pine with all new stuff. All roosts, floors, play things, nest boxes were scrubbed and disinfected. The yard is free of most anything that would be problematic, I'd think. There may be small rocks or pine needles that fall through. I don't know if those are the culprits.
Bryony (2 yo Welsummer) has had chronic bumblefoot for months. She is now on antibiotics to finally see if we can cure it. She's the waaay bottom of the pecking order, and the vet says that sometimes those birds have more problems because they get chased.
Today, I noticed one of my ducks limping. So I grabbed her up, and she had a superficial wound on her foot that was bleeding - like she maybe scraped it walking on the pavers around the pond. I brought her in, cleaned it up, and bandaged it with antibiotic ointment and all the usual accoutrement. I looked at her other foot, and there was a dark area on the pad. It wasn't a scab, but when I tried to wash it off, it started bleeding, too! Ugh! So now little Figgy (4 mo Runner) has two bandaged feet. I also noticed a cut on one of her toes that wasn't deep enough to bleed and wasn't infected. It almost looked like a crack in the skin.
I check the chicken's feet regularly, but the ducks less often; they aren't as easy to handle as the chickens. But that changes as of tonight! I will check the whole flock's feet and vents tonight!
I promise you I keep their areas clean. The wood is all sanded and painted (except for the branches the chickens roost on in the run). The bedding is added to or completely changed out pretty regularly. The pond is emptied, scrubbed, and refilled every other day.
What else should I be doing? What am I missing? Should I switch to sand? Help? I don't want my birds' feeties to be hurt or infected!
I have 9 chickens and 4 ducks living mostly harmoniously in a 64 sq ft coop, 200+ sq ft covered dog kennel-type run with an adjacent 600 sq ft yard. The coop has pine shavings over a painted plywood floor. There is an 8 ft poop board they walk on sometimes that has PDZ and is scooped at least once daily. The run is deep bedding of pine shavings over bare dirt. The yard is grass and dirt. Ok, imma be honest - thanks to the ducks it's mostly dirt now.
I just did my big spring cleaning in May where I removed all of the bedding material and cleaned everything. I replaced the pine with all new stuff. All roosts, floors, play things, nest boxes were scrubbed and disinfected. The yard is free of most anything that would be problematic, I'd think. There may be small rocks or pine needles that fall through. I don't know if those are the culprits.
Bryony (2 yo Welsummer) has had chronic bumblefoot for months. She is now on antibiotics to finally see if we can cure it. She's the waaay bottom of the pecking order, and the vet says that sometimes those birds have more problems because they get chased.
Today, I noticed one of my ducks limping. So I grabbed her up, and she had a superficial wound on her foot that was bleeding - like she maybe scraped it walking on the pavers around the pond. I brought her in, cleaned it up, and bandaged it with antibiotic ointment and all the usual accoutrement. I looked at her other foot, and there was a dark area on the pad. It wasn't a scab, but when I tried to wash it off, it started bleeding, too! Ugh! So now little Figgy (4 mo Runner) has two bandaged feet. I also noticed a cut on one of her toes that wasn't deep enough to bleed and wasn't infected. It almost looked like a crack in the skin.
I check the chicken's feet regularly, but the ducks less often; they aren't as easy to handle as the chickens. But that changes as of tonight! I will check the whole flock's feet and vents tonight!
I promise you I keep their areas clean. The wood is all sanded and painted (except for the branches the chickens roost on in the run). The bedding is added to or completely changed out pretty regularly. The pond is emptied, scrubbed, and refilled every other day.
What else should I be doing? What am I missing? Should I switch to sand? Help? I don't want my birds' feeties to be hurt or infected!