Outdoor carpet & chicken toes

[room onthebroom]

I'm considering putting outdoor carpet around my roosts to prevent bumblefoot. Has anybody ever had chicken toes caught in the carpet threads?

 

[RJSorensen]

What is it that you believe causes your foot problems? Are the roost bars to high? Are there sharp edges on ANY place they can perch, day or night? Do you have deep enough shavings in the coop so as when they do jump down, they do not damage their feet? I might suggest that you look for the cause of the issue and perhaps leave the green turf for later, when the basic cause has been isolated.

I don't know of any problems with the carpet, but I also do not know of anyone using it in this way.

Best to you and your birds,

RJ

 

[room onthebroom]

What is it that you believe causes your foot problems? Are the roost bars to high? Are there sharp edges on ANY place they can perch, day or night? Do you have deep enough shavings in the coop so as when they do jump down, they do not damage their feet? I might suggest that you look for the cause of the issue and perhaps leave the green turf for later, when the basic cause has been isolated.

I don't know of any problems with the carpet, but I also do not know of anyone using it in this way.

Best to you and your birds,

RJ

Thanks! We've only had one girl ever get bumblefoot & we weren't sure why she did, but none of the others ever have. Our perches are always smooth, painted & not too high. They have stairs so they don't have to jump & lots of straw on the floor. We're actually building a new coop right now & have been pouring over as much info as we can to make this one (3rd time the charm?) as close to perfect as possible. In our searches we found a couple people who wrapped their perches in outdoor carpet & they thought it was the greatest thing ever (no splinters, washable, etc...) but when I looked outdoor carpet up online today, I noticed it has little fiber loops & that seems like a ripped toenail or a broken toe waiting to happen. I normally err on the cautious side when it comes to safety, so thought I'd put it out there to see if its a real issue or if I'm just being paranoid.

 

[RJSorensen]

I always try to never give mites, lice, etc. a place to live on the roost. Sitting in one spot for the evening as the birds tend to do, they are easy targets for the night stalkers. I would err on the side of not providing housing for bugs. I understand your wish to 'care' for your birds, I would hope that I fall into that camp as well. If you have not had nor seen the crawlers of darkness, they will show up at some point and stay should they find suitable living quarters. I would go with not providing public housing for the bugs, and see if you can find and cure the bumble foot as it arises.

I hate the little bugs, more so that most anything a chicken fancier has to deal with. The wild birds in your area can bring them in, your neighbors birds can share them, you can bring them home from a local fair or show. It is disgusting and I would recommend not wrapping your roost bars with anything. A two by four, flat side down is the right size for large fowl.

Best to you and your birds,

RJ

 

[Blooie]

_____________^ Yeah, that. x2

 

[room onthebroom]

I always try to never give mites, lice, etc. a place to live on the roost. Sitting in one spot for the evening as the birds tend to do, they are easy targets for the night stalkers. I would err on the side of not providing housing for bugs. I understand your wish to 'care' for your birds, I would hope that I fall into that camp as well. If you have not had nor seen the crawlers of darkness, they will show up at some point and stay should they find suitable living quarters. I would go with not providing public housing for the bugs, and see if you can find and cure the bumble foot as it arises.

I hate the little bugs, more so that most anything a chicken fancier has to deal with. The wild birds in your area can bring them in, your neighbors birds can share them, you can bring them home from a local fair or show. It is disgusting and I would recommend not wrapping your roost bars with anything. A two by four, flat side down is the right size for large fowl.

Best to you and your birds,

RJ

Ugh! I never considered that mites would take up in the carpet... That is a definite deal breaker. Thank you so much!

 

[lovemy6hens]

I agree on all points: Do whatever you can to minimize the risk of them getting bumblefoot, mites/lice would probably multiply like crazy, and claws might somehow get stuck in berber-style outdoor carpet. Wouldn't it be great if it could work though?

For bumblefoot, one of the things our vet recommended for the roosts was astroturf (the classic real stuff). I only found three sources for it: the old-school plastic grass daisy mats (found in several online stores), some online stores sell real astroturf for raptors recovering from bumblefoot (insanely expensive), and gray plastic grass chicken nest box pads (sold online by poultry supply stores). All would be very expensive if you have a roost that fits a lot of chickens.

We used the plastic nest box pads. They have holes between the plastic tufts. Just cut into strips along the holes and put large-headed screws through the holes. It's easy to remove and clean; unscrew, disinfect, rinse thoroughly, and hang to dry in the sun if you live somewhere warm. For long-term use it's incredibly time consuming and I worried about mites & lice in the holes from the screws. That being said, it relieves the pressure on their feet when healing from bumblefoot. If only it came in sheets (and affordably) and was less time consuming, I would still have it on there.

 

[aart]

Bumble foot is caused by a cut getting infected with staph.
Granted, high jumps onto hard surfaces is not good for chicken feet and should be avoided, but it's not really the cause of bumblefoot.
But that's the floor, not the roost...they are jumping down off the roost to the floor.
Getting up to the roost or standing on it is not percussive.

'Cushioning' the roost is not going to prevent it, and will only create an insect haven, moisture holder and a nightmare of a cleaning situation.
Smooth wood with no splinters or sharp edges is plenty good enough for surfaces that chickens walk/sleep on.