I have showed this picture a lot to show just how big my toads are:
It is the best way for me to show it.
The bird on the left is a turkey (heritage) at 11lbs and 1 ounce. The one on the right is Bert's son at 15 lbs 4 ounces. Both are dressed with no giblets inside them.
When we piece these my wife and I get 5 meals out of them. We like to roast them because of the juice it retains when roasted. A drumstick or thigh is a full meal. The breast are 4 servings for us. 2 on each half.
OK, before I readback/catchup, here's the update on Monkey's feet. (Please forgive the crosspost if you are also on the Breeding for Production thread.)
So, day before yesterday, Monkey had no noticeable limp (I didn't spend tons of time watching him, but I think I would have noticed it). Yesterday, noticeable mild limp. This morning, really pretty bad limp and laying down in the grass/dirt. Obviously favoring/protecting the foot where the possible bumble foot on the bottom is (and not the worst of the scaly legs). Although I felt like I had a good handle on things, I was worried at the quick progression in symptoms, and was already home from work today for other reasons (raccoons are pulling up panels of my metal roof to crawl into my attic - fun!). And I have a chicken vet I trust. They had an opening, so off I went. It wasn't the vet who saw Dumbledore, but another one.
Nothing earth-shattering, but confirmation of my concerns - he was sort of like, yeah, there might be some scaly leg mite, but the bumble foot is what is causing his acute problem needs to be addressed right away before it gets worse. (He did commend me for catching it early, and for being so knowledgable about taking care of them. He had horror stories about people who get cute chicks from tractor supply and 6 months later, after not really looking after them they way they should, they'd come in when "there's hardly any chicken left to treat".) I was impressed by his approach and communication - they are the only vet who really sees chickens in the city (so they get all there referrals). He discussed and disclosed that as a knowledgable chicken owner I actually had more options available to me (to treat on my own) than he had to prescribe/dispense to me because of the FDA rules and the fact that chickens are "food animals". (He said not to even get him started on trying to find options to treat a pet pot-bellied pig.) I was also impressed that at the beginning he asked me what Monkey's origin was (he came from a good breeder that breeds for health and longevity), because some birds (incl. hatchery) are bred for quick growth and size at the expense of having appropriate good feet. He also had a standard "patient education" part of the visit where he reminded me that all chickens could have salmonella and to wash my hands, and that with the concerns about avian influenza, if I have any unexplained deaths, I should get a necropsy (I told him I already had had one at our state poultry vet for an ALV-related loss of a hen and that I knew the poultry pathologist). I think this is his standard thing he covers with all chicken owners, just in case. He had this really neat metal thing that he used to help get his mouth open and hold it open for the exam - I've GOT to get one of those things. It has "steps" on it so you can do it with beaks of different sizes. (As you can imagine, this guy sees a lot of parrots, etc.) - you get the small end in, and when they open their mouth, you turn it so that it holds the beak open. @casportpony
No surgery, no meds - the plan is wound care and keeping him inside on soft surface until healing - I'm glad the "hospital pen" was all clean and ready (best thing I ever did was to have that always clean and ready- you never know when you need to isolate or treat and injured bird). More specifically, daily soak in a medicated bath (chlorhexidine), followed by application all over the foot (top, bottom, sides, "anywhere that doesn't look like a perfect chicken foot" of SolvaKer, an ointment containing 6.6% salicylic acid, to help penetrate and slough old dead scales and let the medicated bath penetrate. This will address the bumble foot as well as the leg mites. (He offered an x-ray to check for bone involvement, but was not surprised when I declined it, and said he needed to make sure I knew options.)
Monkey was a VERY well behaved, very sweet, super super mellow guy. Everyone at the vet adored him - they love chickens. He crowed for them a few times when he got bored waiting.
He's chilling in his hospital wing at the moment - I'm going to soak his foot once I get some stuff sorted out.
Oh, and the vet is a fan of self-education of owners. One of the resources he listed for me to go to for more information was.... backyardchickens.com.
