Chickens feet are red and wrinkled - HELP me please!! (PICS ADDED)

[cluckmecoop7]

Pictures please? The redness could be the first sign of frostbite. Your chickens really need a way to get off the frozen snow. A covered run would be best so they always have a clear area to walk on. Hay, straw, leaves, wood chips or mulch could help for now. You may want to bring them indoors to see how their feet do in the next day or so. Is this their first winter in these conditions?

I will get pics asap. Yes, this is their first winter. I'm so stressed. (BECAUSE I'm also a first time chicken mommy.)

 

[aart]

So I should just feed them their regular chicken food?

Yes.
What is their regular feed..brand with protein and calcium percentage?
All females.....are they laying?

 

[cluckmecoop7]

The brand I feed is "Dumor". I will check later to see what the protein and calcium percentage is. Yes, all females. They are not laying right now. They were over the summer though. I'm guessing it's do to winter and molting. (They are a little under two months away from being hens. )

 

[CindyinSD]

Some people don’t like straw (not clear as to why). Some people don’t like hay because it can get moldy. I use both and pine shavings, pine needles—whatever dry carbonaceous stuff I can get. If you pile it deep (inside or out) it’s a good idea to mix it up with a pitchfork or similar. Just toss it enough to fluff it all up and let the air in—a couple times a week or whenever you feel like it. If you throw treats (I like BOSS and/or mealworms) the birds will help you, but they can’t dig very deep, so they will still need you and your fork-work.

You can strew the snow with any carbon material that will eventually decompose. They’re afraid of the strangeness of that white blanket. It’s not the coldness that keeps them from walking on it. A very sparse sprinkling of straw/hay/etc. works for mine if they need encouragement.

 

[DiYMama540]

Remember that first and foremost, chickens are birds. You see sparrows and bluejays and whatever hopping around on the snow all the time and don't think, Oh the poor things, their feet will get cold! Nature has designed them to cope. Their metabolisms are way different and faster than ours. They're active, pecking and scratching, kicking with those feet. They're designed to go barefoot. Like Hobbits! They're also dressed in thick down coats which warms their circulatory system. As long as they can stay dry and active like their wild cousins they should be fine.

Agree with this wholeheartedly! It is hard to get used to seeing our birds out in the cold and the heat, or any other weather event that makes us uncomfortable...but then you look around and there are 100s of other birds, much smaller, surviving and thriving!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thanks, @DiYMama540 ! I feel validated by your words.

 

[cottontail farm]

Mine are always afraid of the first snowfall... be cause they think the ramp and ground have disappeared or something. I don't know. If the snow is above chicken "knee" height I take the snow shovel out and clear paths to the food and water. Spread some scratch around and they quickly figure it out. If they want they go back in the straw bedded coop to hang out but most of them are out enjoying the warm sun.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Thank you so much everyone for the input! I'm in a rush right now so I'll read everyone's posts very carefully later! Thanks again!

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Ok, here are the pictures. I am so worried I went out right away and got them.
Kiwi:

Blamo:

@CatWhisperer @EggSighted4Life

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Okay, I'll check tomorrow.