hen with sore red feet from too much wet weather

[Goldie56]

I have 4 hens that get swollen red feet when we have a lot of rain. The water pools on the ground so there is nowhere dry for them to go as they dont choose to go into their shed during the day. I dont know what to do and is it normal for them to get sore feet if wet for too long?

 

[FrenchHen]

Can you put a pallet in their run or somehow fix the drainage for them?
It's expensive, but putting sand in the run will help a lot.

 

[JennsPeeps]

You could add some roosting bars or something to allow them to get off the ground. In addition to the sand that FrenchHen suggested, you could try wood pallets, boulders, or even a ladder.

 

[Judy]

Read here.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-fix-a-muddy-run

 

[Goldie56]

Thank you so much for that link. It gives me some ideas but I will have to spend some money which, like most of us, is hard to find

I still have the question, tho, about how common is it for chicken feet to become red and swollen from wetness? I bought some vaseline and have put it on them hoping it will be some sort of barrier.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

We put a couple of old tires filled with dirt, an old futon frame, and a few other things for our chickens to roost on to get off of the wet ground.

Its cute to see them all lined up on the futon frame! LOL

Look around, I'm sure you have things around that you can put into their run.

BTW, the tires with the dirt in them? I throw some oat and alfalfa seeds into them and wrap it up for a few days with chicken wire so that they can begin to grow. Then I unwrap them and the chickens go crazy for some fresh greens.

Laurie