Yesterday I brought home two free hens I got off Facebook, a cuckoo Marans by the name of Emerald, and a Gold Brahma, Ruby. Both were untamed, and in Ruby's case, very aggressive(I think someone slapped her, because she only attacks me if I move too fast around her head.). The owner didn't seem to know what breeds they were(she told me she didn't know what breed Emerald was, and she thought that Ruby was a Rhode Island Red.). Late yesterday, I noticed huge, bone-hard lumps between her toes. I assumed that she had Bumblefoot, and told my mother. My mom pointed out that she didn't have a scab, and that, therefore, it probably wasn't Bumblefoot. This morning, Emerald walked over to me, and I picked her up. I lifted one of her feet to see if there were any clues that I had missed. There, in where the skin webbing should be, were huge compacted balls of filth that had warped the footpad and stretched the skin, forming lumps quite visible even on top of the foot. The poor hen must have been in agony. Judging by that, and all the filth caked into her underbelly feathers, she and her sister spent a ton of time in a small, dirty, muddy pen. Oh, and she's friends with my house-bantam May, who hates all chickens but this fluffy, gentle giant. Here's a few pictures of them together:
