After Maud died in spring 2018, I amalgamated my two little flocks of bantams into the bit walk in run. There are Lulu and Velvet the white and black bantam silkies, and Mapp and Lucia the lemon sabelpoots and Porsche the porcelaine sabelpoot. They soon settled in together, with Lulu and Velvet the most dominant and little porsche the bottom of the pecking order.
The weather has got colder, and a couple of weeks ago I noticed that Porsche was looking pale and not herself. Feeling her, she seemed thinner than the other sabelpoots so I gave her three days of chicken nutri-drops. That made an amazing difference. Her comb went a good shade of red, her eyes were bright and she seemed right as rain.
During 2018 I've felt really on top of keeping the chickens healthy. Now that they are all in the WIR it is much easier to keep their bedding clean. Every morning I go in and poop-pick and also use a trowel to fluff up their aubiose bedding. When it rains, water does get in despite the rain coverings, and the bedding can get damp, but if I fluff it up it dries really quickly. I can then easily sweep it up every few months, when it starts to look a little used and the chips are beginning to break down into dust, and put down fresh. I do this particularly with a view to stopping the chickens from getting muddy feed. The feathered footed sabelpoots in particular are very susceptible to collecting mud and poop on their feet and feathers. When the weather is fine, I let them out into an enclosed run with a little green eglu so that they can dustbathe and scratch around which they really enjoy. Now it is winter, I top up a seed tray so they can dustbathe in that and they seem to like it.
The WIR is quite fun for them. There is a nice perch, two blocks of wood for perching, a chicken swing that I have seen the sabelpoots using as well as the regular hentastic treats I put out for them.
As I've been spending lots of time daily with the hens, they have become more and more tame, so it has been really easy to pick them up and feel their condition. Imagine my horror today when I decided to give their feet a really good check (I'm always woried about scaly leg with the feathered legged breeds) and I saw that one of the lemon sabelpoots had what looks very much like bumble foot. The other has got round clods of mud on her toe nails! I feel like I have been so neglectful. How could this have happened. They must wait until I've gone, then quickly poop and then stand in it!
I've phoned Scotts in Bedford and made an appointment with the exotic vet for Monday at 10:45. I hope they can treat it. The Sabelpoots are all a bit shirty with me today as I've been poking and prodding them alot to check what is wrong, also it is bitterly cold, so I'm going to leave it until tomorrow then wash and blow-dry their feet. Then they will have Sunday to recover before I take one of them to the vets by car. Hopefully she won't get too stressed.
I guess this sort of thing happens to the best of us. It just goes to show the importance of checking ALL aspects of your chickens on a regular basis.
UPDATE
The vet pointed out the little red scab which was probably the point of entry for bacteria that had caused an infection. Chicken pus is thick and doesn't respond well to antibiotics, so best thing was to give her a general anaesthetic so the vet could open it up and clean it out. £200 later I have a chicken with no lump on her foot, a few teeny stiches, and my wallet is much lighter. All good :)
