How to Clean Dirty Feet??

[lmadeline146]

Where I live, the avg temp is 15-25 degrees F. My flock all have pretty muddy feet since the ground has been wet, and their nails are growing pretty long. How would I go about filing their nails and cleaning all 11 of their feet?

 

[ChuckenWing]

Use a toothbrush and old one and some pet soap

 

[lmadeline146]

Use a toothbrush and old one and some pet soap

Should i just take them individually and do it in the day or while theyre roosting?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Not a short term answer, but things to consider down the line:
- Adding bricks, pavers, rocks to the run gives them the option of whittling their beaks and nails (to some extent)
- You need to look at what can be done to address the mud issue. I use deep litter in the run because I previously had a major mud issues. It's unavoidable that we're soggy all winter but the chickens have reasonably clean feet as I add a lot of extra litter during fall.

Short term you may need to trim nails if they're truly overgrown. Generally dirty feet aren't an issue but I don't know how bad it is.

 

[Matejka]

At 15-25 degrees F, I would not get their feet wet-frostbite. Ground (mud) should be frozen. We need picture of coop/run to see what's going on and suggest answers.

 

[3KillerBs]

First, deal with the mud/wet by giving them plenty of dry organic material as bedding in the coop and litter in the run and by improving the drainage of the area.

Then they will preen and thus clean themselves.

If necessary, their nails can be trimmed: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/trimming-your-chickens-nails-tutorial.64401/