Cornish X and bumble foot

[Weeg]

Hello everyone. I've been keeping an eye on Doodle and Smudges feet as they get bigger, Doodle and Smudge are my two pet meat birds. I knew I would probably encounter this issue, since doing feet checks I've noticed their feet really take on some wear and tear. Smudge is my heavier lady, I haven't weighted her, but guessing she's about 4ish lbs. Her keel bone is fairly pronounced, and I'm continuing to help her loose weight, though she's always been heavier. They are coming from a major weight drop, they were huge not too long ago, after breaking into the feed room and gorging on 20% protein feed. Since then I've been feeding them 1/4 cup of 18% protein feed each daily. They're doing great, and Doodle's keel is very pronounced, seeming normal compared to the other chickens. I bet she's 3-4lbs. Both hens are mature, and close to laying age. Not exactly sure when I got them, but a fare guess is 25 weeks?
I checked Smduges feet today, and noticed she has 2 small bumbles on each foot. Doodle did not, but her feet looked very worn. Is this going to be a regular thing because of their weight? They live in a chicken tractor that gets rotated regularly, so the ground is always grassy and soft. They don't perch, so thats not an issue. They stay in the yard and don't have access to any thorns, or other shape objects that may cut/puncture the foot pad. Any thoughts? Would having more support help? This may sound dumb lol, but what about the foam chicken boots you can buy for bumble foot wrapping? I could probably make my own as I've been looking for sewing projects lately. Would that help take some of the pressure off their feet? Thanks for any feed back on the subject. I'm assuming that the bumbles are being caused by their weight, and don't want it to be a recurring thing for their sakes. Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[Mrs. K]

I have never gotten mine to wear anything but feathers.

I think you may have ongoing problems for the poor things. They are really not designed for this.

Mrs K

 

[Weeg]

I have never gotten mine to wear anything but feathers.

I think you may have ongoing problems for the poor things. They are really not designed for this.

Mrs K

I assumed that it would be a problem because of their breeding, but otherwise they seem happy. Do you think if they would ear teh boots it would help at all? I know they wouldn't be able to wear them all the time since their feet need to breath, but I'm wondering if they wore them for so and so amount of time each day if it would help at all.

 

[3KillerBs]

I assumed that it would be a problem because of their breeding, but otherwise they seem happy. Do you think if they would ear teh boots it would help at all? I know they wouldn't be able to wear them all the time since their feet need to breath, but I'm wondering if they wore them for so and so amount of time each day if it would help at all.

I cannot imagine a chicken actually wearing a boot. And since we know nothing of chicken orthopedics or how to construct a properly supportive boot I'd think that any attempt to create chicken boots would be worse than having none -- like wearing a shoe that doesn't fit.

 

[Mrs. K]

No, I think the boots would hold dirt and germs next to the foot, add some sweat and you have a perfect environment for a pretty horrible infection.

Chickens do best with a dry environment, fresh air, adequate food and clean water. Do have a plan set up if they do go down. If they do quit walking I would recommend the 'coup de grace', if you can't do that, I hope that you can find someone who can.

Mrs K

 

[Weeg]

Do have a plan set up if they do go down. If they do quit walking I would recommend the 'coup de grace', if you can't do that, I hope that you can find someone who can.

I'm perfectly aware of this possibility. We raised a batch of 12 for meat, so if it came down to that, the hunters in the family could get the job done. So far so good though. They seem sturdy on their legs and run great.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Hello everyone. I've been keeping an eye on Doodle and Smudges feet as they get bigger, Doodle and Smudge are my two pet meat birds. I knew I would probably encounter this issue, since doing feet checks I've noticed their feet really take on some wear and tear. Smudge is my heavier lady, I haven't weighted her, but guessing she's about 4ish lbs. Her keel bone is fairly pronounced, and I'm continuing to help her loose weight, though she's always been heavier. They are coming from a major weight drop, they were huge not too long ago, after breaking into the feed room and gorging on 20% protein feed. Since then I've been feeding them 1/4 cup of 18% protein feed each daily. They're doing great, and Doodle's keel is very pronounced, seeming normal compared to the other chickens. I bet she's 3-4lbs. Both hens are mature, and close to laying age. Not exactly sure when I got them, but a fare guess is 25 weeks?
I checked Smduges feet today, and noticed she has 2 small bumbles on each foot. Doodle did not, but her feet looked very worn. Is this going to be a regular thing because of their weight? They live in a chicken tractor that gets rotated regularly, so the ground is always grassy and soft. They don't perch, so thats not an issue. They stay in the yard and don't have access to any thorns, or other shape objects that may cut/puncture the foot pad. Any thoughts? Would having more support help? This may sound dumb lol, but what about the foam chicken boots you can buy for bumble foot wrapping? I could probably make my own as I've been looking for sewing projects lately. Would that help take some of the pressure off their feet? Thanks for any feed back on the subject. I'm assuming that the bumbles are being caused by their weight, and don't want it to be a recurring thing for their sakes. Thanks for your suggestions!

Sometimes bumblefoot can appear despite there being no obvious cause. My quail got bumblefoot on both feet, though he had nothing sharp or pointy in his pen and didn’t have a roost that he could’ve jumped from (coturnix quail don’t roost). He doesn’t have bumblefoot anymore and I still haven’t identified the original cause.

It’s possible you may deal with reoccurring bumblefoot. I’ve heard it’s more common in pekin ducks, for example, which are a heavier breed. I’ve also heard of people using various chicken boots to prevent bumblefoot in meat breeds. I think these boots usually only go around the foot pad, not the toes, and are taken off regularly to make sure the feet stay healthy. However, I don’t have any personal experience with this, so I don’t know much more.

 

[Weeg]

Sometimes bumblefoot can appear despite there being no obvious cause. My quail got bumblefoot on both feet, though he had nothing sharp or pointy in his pen and didn’t have a roost that he could’ve jumped from (coturnix quail don’t roost). He doesn’t have bumblefoot anymore and I still haven’t identified the original cause.

It’s possible you may deal with reoccurring bumblefoot. I’ve heard it’s more common in pekin ducks, for example, which are a heavier breed. I’ve also heard of people using various chicken boots to prevent bumblefoot in meat breeds. I think these boots usually only go around the foot pad, not the toes, and are taken off regularly to make sure the feet stay healthy. However, I don’t have any personal experience with this, so I don’t know much more.

Thank you! This is a very helpful post. I guess I'll start by treating this, and continue to do foot checks to see if it reoccurs. I do like your comment about boots only going around the foot pad. If it ends up being reoccurring, I'll have to do some research and see if I can find a design and hopefully some members who may have experience with these boots.

 

[Weeg]

I cannot imagine a chicken actually wearing a boot. And since we know nothing of chicken orthopedics or how to construct a properly supportive boot I'd think that any attempt to create chicken boots would be worse than having none -- like wearing a shoe that doesn't fit.

No, I think the boots would hold dirt and germs next to the foot, add some sweat and you have a perfect environment for a pretty horrible infection.

Chickens do best with a dry environment, fresh air, adequate food and clean water. Do have a plan set up if they do go down. If they do quit walking I would recommend the 'coup de grace', if you can't do that, I hope that you can find someone who can.

Mrs K

These are very good points. I'll have to see how happens moving forward, and see if it reoccurs. If so, I'll do my research and see if I can find a safe boot option and go from there. Thank you all for your informative posts! I appreciate it.