Remember I said I’d be forthcoming on the difficulties as well as the successes? Well, this is a current difficulty that we’re dealing with; Bumblefoot. It is a common ailment in birds kept in captivity. If they injure their foot, they can get this type of infection. Luckily it is quite treatable at home, and many chicken keepers have had great success treating without surgery. So, that’s what we’re trying.
EE’s feet
We have two chickens we’re currently trying to cure; Maeve and one of the Easter Eggers that’s been picked on quite a bit (maybe because she has this infection?). The EE has it the worst. Those little black spots on the feet mark the infection. It can get really sore and swollen, so we’re going to be checking everyone’s feet to
Maeve’s largest sore
make sure that none of the others are starting to get it. If it goes really far, you have to excise it with a scalpel or something. There are some pretty graphic videos on Youtube if you want to be entertained by something weird like that. However, what we have started with first is soaking their feet in warm water with Epsom Salt. Then, we found this stuff called Prid (see the photo above) – it’s 
a type of homeopathic drawing salve. People have used it on the chickens’ feet to draw out the infection and help to clear it up. I was so surprised that Maeve and EE didn’t really make a fuss when we put them in the tub. I think it might have felt good on their poor little feet to soak in the tub. We haven’t used the Prid yet, we’ll be trying that tomorrow. When you do that, you then need to wrap the chicken’s feet with gauze, then put wound tape over it. They can go back into the coop 
with the others, as long as they can’t get the tape off and can still walk. Ducks or geese present a bigger problem and might need to be isolated, so they don’t get their feet wet and muddy. Once the infection is gone, a scab will form but it won’t be the same type of black dot on the foot; it’ll look more like what we’re used to a normal scab looking like. This will be some time in the curing, so we’ll be sure to keep you up to date. Until then, as always~
Thanks for reading!
Today’s Weather: Well, we think the Monsoon Season has officially arrived!!! It rained yesterday a bit (poured in Sierra Vista while we were there), and rained quite a bit tonight! When it rains, the temperature goes way down to 68-70°. It’s so nice.
Egg Report: 6, 10, 6. That’s the number for Saturday, Sunday, and today. Very interesting.
Wing and a Prayer 