Trying to help a friends flock.

[Weeg]

A friend of ours, and old couple has a flock of now about 7 chickens, maybe 9? Anyway, he has a friend of his help him with everything around his house, (cleaning cars, taking care of the chickens, driving him were he needs to go, etc.) Rodrigo, his friend, lives on the property so can help with whatever he needs. I've been helping out checking out the flock and making sure everything is alright. They don't know much about chicken illnesses etc, nothing further then food, water, coop, predators, and they lay eggs.
I've helped treat them for mites, and took 3 home to treat that were severely infested. Rodrigo is more then happy to help with anything they need as long as he knows how to do it, and its not to complicated. I checked them this morning when we were at their house, and noticed a few things I wanted to post here.
I noticed some really interesting things about her feet. Her middle toes on both feet are pointed towards the other foot, and rotated slightly? It almost looks like their broken, but both feet? She walks fine surprisingly, but I'm really concerned about what may be going on here. When I've checked in the past, multiple months ago, (their house is 2 hours away from ours) her toes were normal.
She also has a very large unhappy bumble on one of her feet. It was bloody and weeping. I would have done something right then and there but they don't have any supplies. I have pictures of both below.
I didn't want to check all of the other chickens due to my limited time frame, and how flighty they are.
I'm also concerned about a possible respiratory issue. Their eye "lids" just don't look right. They're droopy almost, and the lids are very rounded? Pics below. The EE's face just doesn't look right either. Almost as if the area around her eyes is swollen? Its really hard to explain. I tried to catch her, but they have a lot of places to escape to in the run which makes it very difficult. I tried to get a good pic through the fence, but of course you can only do so good. I wasn't around long enough to look for other symptoms, but when I checked months ago her face was definitely swollen. That could have been multiple other things, but maybe its a symptom for a respiratory issue? I could be wrong, maybe over reacting, but these chickens are exposed to a lot of nasty things.
Rats, which were trying to get rid of, cats are on the list, and their coop isn't always clean and smells like rat poop. I've found dead chickens in the coop in the past, so the flock really needs some help. I feel like something must be going on with that. Anyway, Rodrigo can get any pictures or watch out for any symptoms when I'm not their to do it myself.
I'm gonna order the supplies for that bumble and have it shipped to their house. Then send him a few YouTube videos on how to treat bumble foot. Anything else I need to tell him?
I changed my clothes, shoes, and washed my hands before coming in contact with my own flock to hopefully protect them from whatever may be going on. Pics below, thanks for any insight. I appreciate it.

 

[Weeg]

Ps. Sorry for the novel! Feel free to skim, I tried to add as much info as possible.
I alos forgot to include what they feed. Jim likes to mix corn into the pellets for some reasons. He's pretty set in his ways as to what they eat, so I haven't tried to change that. I am finally able to get him to just feed pellets, so I'm gonna tell Rodrigo to do that. Their feather quality is no good, and I can see some minor feather loss at the tops of the roosters legs. I'm assuming from a protein deficiency from the corn.
I'm guessing they feed Nutrena, but when I looked in the feed bin all I could find what a bag of race horse oats.
I checked the feeder and saw the usual pellets and corn, so not sure what the oats are for. I'll have to ask but will get that info for you. I'll try to get a feed brand to. The water is also dirty, so I'm gonna tell him about that.

 

[SusanMc]

A friend of ours, and old couple has a flock of now about 7 chickens, maybe 9? Anyway, he has a friend of his help him with everything around his house, (cleaning cars, taking care of the chickens, driving him were he needs to go, etc.) Rodrigo, his friend, lives on the property so can help with whatever he needs. I've been helping out checking out the flock and making sure everything is alright. They don't know much about chicken illnesses etc, nothing further then food, water, coop, predators, and they lay eggs.
I've helped treat them for mites, and took 3 home to treat that were severely infested. Rodrigo is more then happy to help with anything they need as long as he knows how to do it, and its not to complicated. I checked them this morning when we were at their house, and noticed a few things I wanted to post here.
I noticed some really interesting things about her feet. Her middle toes on both feet are pointed towards the other foot, and rotated slightly? It almost looks like their broken, but both feet? She walks fine surprisingly, but I'm really concerned about what may be going on here. When I've checked in the past, multiple months ago, (their house is 2 hours away from ours) her toes were normal.
She also has a very large unhappy bumble on one of her feet. It was bloody and weeping. I would have done something right then and there but they don't have any supplies. I have pictures of both below.
I didn't want to check all of the other chickens due to my limited time frame, and how flighty they are.
I'm also concerned about a possible respiratory issue. Their eye "lids" just don't look right. They're droopy almost, and the lids are very rounded? Pics below. The EE's face just doesn't look right either. Almost as if the area around her eyes is swollen? Its really hard to explain. I tried to catch her, but they have a lot of places to escape to in the run which makes it very difficult. I tried to get a good pic through the fence, but of course you can only do so good. I wasn't around long enough to look for other symptoms, but when I checked months ago her face was definitely swollen. That could have been multiple other things, but maybe its a symptom for a respiratory issue? I could be wrong, maybe over reacting, but these chickens are exposed to a lot of nasty things.
Rats, which were trying to get rid of, cats are on the list, and their coop isn't always clean and smells like rat poop. I've found dead chickens in the coop in the past, so the flock really needs some help. I feel like something must be going on with that. Anyway, Rodrigo can get any pictures or watch out for any symptoms when I'm not their to do it myself.
I'm gonna order the supplies for that bumble and have it shipped to their house. Then send him a few YouTube videos on how to treat bumble foot. Anything else I need to tell him?
I changed my clothes, shoes, and washed my hands before coming in contact with my own flock to hopefully protect them from whatever may be going on. Pics below, thanks for any insight. I appreciate it.

Oh that poor girl…

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Likely surgical removal of the bumblefoot isn't necessary. I would first try this. https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment-html/

Toes are crooked, more than likely she hatched that way - both feet = genetics, incubation issues, etc. I would not try to correct them, she's walking ok, just address the bumblefoot with a less invasive method. Cutting is not ideal in this situation since foot/wound and dressings need to be checked daily to prevent secondary infection.

"Possible Respiratory Issue" probably can be resolved by cleaning up the coop, getting rid of excess droppings and getting rid of the rats.
Trap the rats or use a bait - of course keep away from chickens so they don't get in the traps or eat the bait.

Some folks do mix corn with feed. While not ideal, the birds don't look that bad, feathers are going to look a bit rough at the end of the year especially since a rooster is involved.

Check for lice/mites and if needed, use Permethrin dust/spray to treat birds and housing.

 

[Weeg]

Likely surgical removal of the bumblefoot isn't necessary. I would first try this. https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment-html/

Toes are crooked, more than likely she hatched that way - both feet = genetics, incubation issues, etc. I would not try to correct them, she's walking ok, just address the bumblefoot with a less invasive method. Cutting is not ideal in this situation since foot/wound and dressings need to be checked daily to prevent secondary infection.

Good to know, thank you so much! I wasn't going to jump to surgery, but they have 0 supplies what so ever. No vet wrap, no Vetrycin, and likely no pain free Neosporin. Next time we go out, (this coming weekend) I will be able to do any initial treatment, and I bet Rodrigo can change the dressings every few days. I'll read that article, thank you so much!

"Possible Respiratory Issue" probably can be resolved by cleaning up the coop, getting rid of excess droppings and getting rid of the rats.
Trap the rats or use a bait - of course keep away from chickens so they don't get in the traps or eat the bait.

Some folks do mix corn with feed. While not ideal, the birds don't look that bad, feathers are going to look a bit rough at the end of the year especially since a rooster is involved.

Check for lice/mites and if needed, use Permethrin dust/spray to treat birds and housing.

Thank you! This is also very good information. Since I didn't see any coughing/sneezing, I was't sure if it was a sever issue or just from that nasty coop. I'll have Rodrigo help me clean that out if I have time. Were going that direction for a memorial this weekend, so I wont have a ton of time at their house, maybe an hour or two if we get there early? We;re just stopping in to say hi since we'll be in the area.
The feathers aren't to bad, but Guardo, the roosters tail feathers have been ragged since they got him, guessing thats from the corn factor. Not to sever though. I may get him a couple chicken saddles for a few of those hens to. 1 is definitly getting over mated, and another is getting it pretty bad as well.
Will do. I did check the hen that I grabbed knowing Iv'e dealt with that issue in the past. I didn't see anything, but I'll check the rest of the flock to be safe.
Thanks for this info! I'll deal with that bumble foot and get the housing cleaned up. I'll keep this treaty updated.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How long have they had the rooster?
Tail feathers can look beat up if they are rubbing against something while roosting and/or just on wire. (like perches close to a wall)

When you make your next trip, get some more photos.

The supplies you have planned to take sound good. Hope all goes well!

 

[Weeg]

How long have they had the rooster?
Tail feathers can look beat up if they are rubbing against something while roosting and/or just on wire. (like perches close to a wall)

When you make your next trip, get some more photos.

The supplies you have planned to take sound good. Hope all goes well!

Thank you! Hmm, he's had the rooster for... 6 months maybe? Thats a guesstimate. The perches have a good distance from the wall, but I'll get some photos for you.
I'm gonna try to up the rat catching game as well. They have a live trap out that really helped bring the population down. You don't see them anymore, and they were catching 10 a day at one point. They only catch a few every now and then, but the rats are definitely still there. I'm gonna have to find a way to get more traps out, and get rid of those rats.
We have a Grandpas feeder in the run, but water is still free choice with a garden right next to the coop.

 

[McChooky]

Likely surgical removal of the bumblefoot isn't necessary. I would first try this. https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment-html/

Toes are crooked, more than likely she hatched that way - both feet = genetics, incubation issues, etc. I would not try to correct them, she's walking ok, just address the bumblefoot with a less invasive method. Cutting is not ideal in this situation since foot/wound and dressings need to be checked daily to prevent secondary infection.

"Possible Respiratory Issue" probably can be resolved by cleaning up the coop, getting rid of excess droppings and getting rid of the rats.
Trap the rats or use a bait - of course keep away from chickens so they don't get in the traps or eat the bait.

Some folks do mix corn with feed. While not ideal, the birds don't look that bad, feathers are going to look a bit rough at the end of the year especially since a rooster is involved.

Check for lice/mites and if needed, use Permethrin dust/spray to treat birds and housing.

Thanks for sharing the link to this article about Bumble foot! Its great knowing how to treat it so it doesn't come back! Chickens don't have to free range to get Bumble foot,they can get it from their coops.

 

[SusanMc]

Thank you! Hmm, he's had the rooster for... 6 months maybe? Thats a guesstimate. The perches have a good distance from the wall, but I'll get some photos for you.
I'm gonna try to up the rat catching game as well. They have a live trap out that really helped bring the population down. You don't see them anymore, and they were catching 10 a day at one point. They only catch a few every now and then, but the rats are definitely still there. I'm gonna have to find a way to get more traps out, and get rid of those rats.
We have a Grandpas feeder in the run, but water is still free choice with a garden right next to the coop.

I’d love to hear more about that rat trap ! Anything that gets. 10 a day sounds like something to try. We’ve got so many here

 

[McChooky]

I’d love to hear more about that rat trap ! Anything that gets. 10 a day sounds like something to try. We’ve got so many here

Possums foxes hawks owls and weasels eat rats.If your chickens are in enclosed runs the predators can't kill your chickens and will eat rats instead.