Sand in the run giving them bumblefoot?

[Noobchick]

We have an 88 sq. foot coop with a 100 sq foot run attached. In the last month, we've been having a lot of issues with bumblefoot. All five of our birds had bumbles on both feet. They were all very mild, as I caught them early. They had no issues until about 2 months ago; nothing with their run or coop has changed since then. (It has been really rainy though.)

After a month of treatment, they've finally healed so I removed their bandages. They've had free reign in their coop and run for about a week now, and I'm starting to see the beginnings of bumblefoot again.

We have pine shavings in their coop and their perches/ramps are all sanded. While they were only in their coop, with bandages removed, there was no problem.

This leads me to believe that their run is the problem, but I'm not sure what's causing it. We currently have a thick layer of sand in their run, along with a built in planter box full of dirt. (The box is made of railroad ties and is about 2x15 feet.)

The run is 1/3 covered and 2/3 uncovered. The uncovered bit does get some sun but stays wet after it rains. Takes about 2-3 days for the uncovered bit to dry out.

Could the sand be giving them bumblefoot? Or could it be something else? It's been suc an ordeal to get them healed, I really don't want to have to deal with this again. Anyone have suggestions?

 

[ChickPrincess]

Sorry, I can't help you. I'd like to learn more about bumblefoot and prevention, so I'll follow your post. Good luck!

 

[Hennerville]

Hello,
I'm having a hard time believing that your bumble foot issue is from sand in the run, I have heard of it with hard paved runs. Bumble foot is a bruise That opens up and gets infected from walking on it, so my thinking is how is their feet getting bruised? How high are your roosts? Do your birds use the ramp to get out of the house or jump? Do you free range? I know only one person personally who had this issue, he had a maze of roost and ramps in his house that went up to 6 feet off the ground, the birds would use the ramps and lower roosts to get up there but would never get down the same way, they jumped! Causing trauma. He lowered his roosts and never had this issue again. I reread your post and seen where you said the sand in your run stays wet a lot, I'm thinking that the moisture might be making there feet soft and easier to bruise..I have a sand run also and mine stays wet for periods of time, but thankfully I have not had bumble foot yet.
Hope you can figure this out,
Denny

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

the railroad tie is full of creosote and is a very rough lumber that can injure the feet easily with splinters. If sand caused bumble all of us here in FL would be in a world of trouble. I would remove that as framing and pick something different. You need to clean the run when you have to treat to bumble as well so they dont pick it back up in open wounds.

 

[Bulldogma]

Also - double check the height of anything they jump down from. If they're jumping down from higher perches (which they might not have been using while their feet were bandaged due to not being able to grip well) they could be bruising their feet that way.

I also agree that the RR ties should be used with caution around chickens due to the chemicals (including cyanide) present in them. These chemicals could be compromising your birds' immune systems and allowing infection to set in.

 

[Noobchick]

The perches used to be higher- about 5 feet off the ground, with "step" perches between that and the ground and a ramp (that they never used.). We rebuilt the perch, though, and it is now about 2 1/2 feet off the ground. They do still jump/fly off the perch. I fluff their bedding after they roost for the night, so their landing can be as soft as possible. (I've always done that.)

I took a look at their run- I made a mistake. The box isn't made of railroad ties, but of very thick lumber. It's old though, so sanding it may help.

Before I let them into the run after their feet healed, I spread some food grade DE on the covered part of the run. I've been picking up their coop poop 2-4 times daily. It has been watery because of the excessive heat/humidity we've been having in NC, but I'm careful to get the wet shavings too.

What else should I be doing in an effort to clean?