Normal Feet or Scaly Leg Mites? Please help!

[PrettyChicky25]

She let you soak her feet for 10 minutes!?

Yes, is this unusual? I hold her with her head facing me and dip her legs into the bath and hold them there for ten minutes or sometimes more since she seems to really enjoy it. She starts to doze off and close her eyes!

 

[Borders3]

No, not unusual, when I had a hen laying soft eggs I would bring her in and hold her in a bowl of warm water with epsom salts, to clean her vent area, she loved it and would also doze off. I would talk gently to her while soaking for anything up to 20 minutes, she loved it, then wrap a towel round her to dry off most of the water, then give her the hair dryer treatment. Sadly she is no longer with us.

 

[PrettyChicky25]

I agree wholeheartedly with fluffycrow, two is always better than one
Also, she is a very lucky girl that you found her and are so concerned for her welfare.
A gold star for you!!!

Thank you! She is doing so much better now.

 

[fluffycrow]

Oh what a relief! Do you have any idea what breed Patience could be?



She looks a little like a serama, or a mix

 

[PrettyChicky25]

one thing to consider is that chickens need to dig and scratch around and they need to dust bathe. it keeps them happy. maybe she can have an outdoor area to do this daily? she's very cute.

If she's a house bird I can't risk her bringing anything into the home (she is already recovering from a bad case of coccidia). I suppose I could set up a big Tupperware container though and put sand in it and let her play in it like a sandbox. Would something like this work?

 

[PrettyChicky25]

a big sandbox could work for sure, and you could also add a little wood ash in there as well. you could also give her trays of sprouted greens and she can dig and scratch them up as well.

Thank you for the ideas! I will definitely try them out. I already have chicken diapers, a big chicken perch, a playpen, a dog crate, a cat bed, a chicken plushie and bird toys for her. I am just waiting to get clearance from the vet (for the coccidia) before I give them to her.

 

[FunClucks]

Once she gets healthy and calm again, she may lay you some eggs.

 

[fluffycrow]

Yes, she looks like a serama! Hope she lays some delicious eggs for you, and I'm guessing it won't take that long, baaed on the color of her comb and wattles

 

[PrettyChicky25]

If you have a space that is not "dust-free" (like a garage) you can make a box of peat moss as a dust bath. Mine love that and it keeps them busy in winter on days they can't go outside. I agree with prior commitment that chickens like the company of other chickens. Other birds are just not the same as language and social cohesion. They get nervous when they lose their flock.

She will call out to announce to any nearby chickens to see if she can locate a flock

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[PrettyChicky25]

Chickens make a lot of dander and poop. If you must keep her inside, consider building her an indoor enclosure. If you have a garage, she can live happily there - chickens do just fine down to about -25F as long as they have a draft free place with plenty of ventilation over their heads to sleep.

An extra large dog crate (2'x4') covered halfway up the sides with housewrap or old feed bags, or cardboard, could be a good enclosure for her. You can connect (with zip ties) two crates side by side or end to end if you get the ones with two doors and then you still have a door you can clean out each cage through. 2-4" of pine shavings in the bottom of the cage, food and water and a nest box, also some perches could be put in these. You can sprout alfalfa, wheat, or any number of other greens for her, and provide covered or uncovered cat litter boxes for dirt bath and nest box. Hanging chicken skewers for treat distribution/entertainment.

This would give her somewhere to run around without a diaper and a safe place for her to stay when you can't watch her. I do think you should get her at least one other chicken. They do much better and are much less stressed in a flock. Be sure to get another bantam so they're the same size. Your girl is beautiful!

ETA: rule of thumb is chickens need at least 10 sq feet in the run per standard chicken, so I guess it would be slightly less for bantams. An extra large dog crate would be 8ft square. Like this:

https://www.ruralking.com/catalog/product/view/id/137471

Thank you for your feedback and for your kind words about Patience! I already have her in a dog crate for right now while she is healing. (That was an upgrade from her Tupperware container. lol) I do have a playpen for her and diapers. I am also thinking of building her a cage so that her poop can fall through a grate for when I am not home to clean up after her. The pine shavings sound like a good idea to put in there if newspaper doesn't work. I also love the cat litter box ideas! I will try that. I just gave her a bowl of spinach and strawberries which she seemed to really like.