The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aaggjg]

Just check her over and make sure her feet are not hot, make sure her gland is not plugged and no sores. If she continues for more than a few days i would soak feet/legs her in epsom salts a few times in a week and than decide what to do.

How do I know if her gland is plugged??? What would hot feet mean?? I have been checking their feet as I had that one hen with bumblefoot.... But haven't checked temp of feet

Epsom salt bath duh!!! Thanks for the reminder!!!

 

[delisha]

Quote: Hot on any part of a body, be it leg or feet is injury or infection. The bottom of the foot has a gland. Sometimes things get lodged inside the gland..like poop and it becomes infected if they have an injury.

 

[armorfirelady]

Delisha is the gland in the middle of the foot pad? I remember someone talking about it awhile ago on here but not where it's located. I'm guessing greens bumblefoot is over it

 

[lazy gardener]

Yes! I actually found one like this on Etsy, but it's for a gallon mason jar, so it's pretty big. I thought maybe I could put the ff in the jar (if I can find a jar big enough for the dish). Maybe it'll be too thick to leak into the moat, but it would be awesome if it did! I should get another smaller one for water. Do you worry about the water freezing in the glass jar in the winter?

I like your set-up with the bread pans. Do the hens kick shavings into them? My babies kick pine shavings into their food and water all the time! I was thinking I might make a couple macrame plant hangers and use them to hang the food and water dishes. I've never done macrame before, but I remember those plant hangers from when I was a kid (don't see them much any more), and I thought how hard can it be?

But I think you're right - glass is the way to go, and cheaper is better! I had been thinking I needed a trough, like people make out of PVC pipe or a length of gutter, but a couple bread pans may be just fine, if my mason jar idea doesn't work.

I too am at a loss when hearing about a "foot gland" I assumed that you were talking about an oil gland at the base of the tail. Delisha, Please educate me, and thankyou.

Delisha is the gland in the middle of the foot pad? I remember someone talking about it awhile ago on here but not where it's located. I'm guessing greens bumblefoot is over it

 

[MEMama3]

At the animal hospital or human hospital? I'd equally love them as I worked at a vet tech before becoming a human nurse.

it was a horse facility where breeders send their pregnant mares to be monitored 24/7 and were we assist foals that are having difficulties. Many of the foals we cared for would never become racers, but they carry on amazing bloodlines, so they'll be used for breeding. We had a full physical therapy unit with exercise pool and people would come do therapeutic massage a few days a week. Seriously fancy place. I can't imagine what these breeders pay to send their horses.

 

[delisha]

Delisha is the gland in the middle of the foot pad? I remember someone talking about it awhile ago on here but not where it's located. I'm guessing greens bumblefoot is over it

Chaos Rules: I made a wire hanger out of florist's wire, similar to the macramé idea, attached to a round brass ring that I found at a discount store. The brass ring was just the right size to fit over the mouth of the jar, without slipping up over the shoulder of the jar when the jar was hung upside down. I hung both my chick waterers and feeders with this hanger. It was especially useful in my chicken tractor as the water would always stay level no matter what the ground grade in the tractor. I then attached the holder to a length of chain with an S hook so I could raise it every week to accommodate the growth of the chicks.I f you don't have a brass ring, you could always make the anchoring ring out of a wire coat hanger.

Quote:
Just like humans, chickens have glands in the feet also. I personally think bumble foot is an infected foot gland that is irritated and gets damp litter into it and becomes infected, closes up the gland around the irritation and infection, becomes scar tissue, grows more bacteria, get inflamed more from the birds jumping on ruff litter and scratching in who knows what. The cycle continues until someone notices a big lump and by then staph is probably developed and passed to a few other birds in the coop from the draining on the litter and the cycle continues.
The glands are all over the foot pad. That is why you can look up pictures on the internet and see a variety of different placements of bumblefoot on different birds. We have thousands of glands on the bottom of our feet, I imagine birds have hundreds.
Finding the cause, know your birds, keep them slim and trim. Make sure your bedding is not course, make sure your roosts are favorable and rounded and more natural for feet to work muscles and be strong for landing, digging and running. Cull for resistance of progressive lines of bumblefoot if you have it constantly in your coop and can't get rid of it.

 

[Jewelwing]

On the freezing water - I had to set my canning jar chick waterers on a heated base to keep them from freezing when I was using them last winter.

So I may have to just use the base this winter since I don't have any electricity in the coop. I was planning to add hot water every morning (and maybe every evening!). But that won't work in a mason jar.

Wanted to add....
I started using the pie pan last winter with chicks in sub-freezing temps. It was just perfect to set on my heated base to keep the ff from freezing solid. I didn't use the flat pie pan prior to that, but decided to keep using it this time.

Prior to getting the pyrex pie plate, I had used ss puppy pans extensively. BUT... they are too light weight and tip over easily. The pyrex/anchor pans are heavy enough that they stay put and don't tip.

Also - I want to credit Delisha for showing us the vintage glass water/feed bases. I got mine after being inspired by hers!

Here are a couple photos today:

You can see how the pans are raised up. The pie plate is on a "clementine box" turned up-side-down with a sheet of the rubermaid shelf liner on top for anti-slip.
The water is on a flat brick, also with a sheet of anti-slip rubbermaid shelf liner. If I'd had 2 clementine boxes I would have put it on one of those too.
It helps raise them up out of the shavings.

Just in case you've never seen a clementine box...they're made of wood. Makes a perfect chick food platform:

I actually hadn't thought about the ff freezing in the winter!! Maybe I won't be able to do ff in the winter...

The ss puppy pans are a great idea! There are raised stands for those, for tall dogs so they don't have to bend down (says the owner of a Great Dane

). They make ceramic versions too. The stand I have for my dog isn't very sturdy, but it wouldn't be hard to make one to fit ss or ceramic dog bowls.

I love clementines!! And I've always thought something great could be done with those wooden boxes, but never knew what. I used to keep them just in case, but I think they got "lost" when we moved a couple years ago, and I haven't been saving them recently. I will again now, though!

It is treated wood, however it is baked with sand to give it a *glass* finish. It is easy to sanitize and does not shrink like other treated wood.
You can now buy it with the trade make of TimberSIL I think.

It is cheaper than most other treated lumber. The wood troughs bottom and sides were made from a small 1/4 inch sheet left overs. The stability comes from other wood that does not get wet.

The guard on top is from an old industrial dishwasher. It is to hold pie plates and pans. It is made from steel and yes..covered in *some kind of plastic*.

I looked up the Timbersil, and it looks really awesome! It's not treated with chemicals at all - just coated in the impenetrable glass finish. I haven't looked into where to buy it yet, but for anyone interested, here's an article written by Building Green on it:

http://www2.buildinggreen.com/blogs/timbersil-now-made-waste-ag-silicate

I'm learning so much!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

I want to talk about the glands a bit more. I have a question from your description.

It sounds from your description that what you are referring to would be like skin pores on people (rather than glands?) Like I think of a nose...covered with pores that you can often see. Or like a blackhead...it is dirt clogging a pore in the skin.

Is that what we're talking about?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks for the link! I'm going to go read that right now.

 

[delisha]

Quote: I want to talk about the glands a bit more. I have a question from your description.

It sounds from your description that what you are referring to would be like skin pores on people (rather than glands?) Like I think of a nose...covered with pores that you can often see. Or like a blackhead...it is dirt clogging a pore in the skin.

Is that what we're talking about?
no..we are talking glands..thousands and thousands of glands on the bottom of human feet.
I am guessing at the number for chickens..

PS

I just looked it up and humans have over 250,000 glands on the bottom of feet.