#bumblefoot causes

[farmerstrend]

Treating and Preventing Bumblefoot in Chickens: A Comprehensive Guide

Bumblefoot, scientifically known as pododermatitis, is a common, painful yet serious bacterial infection that affects the feet of chickens. This condition can cause significant discomfort and pain for your birds, potentially leading to severe mobility issues if left untreated. Understanding the causes, symptoms, treatment, and prevention of bumblefoot is crucial for ensuring the health and…

[suratan-zir]

My main snuggle buddy by the name of Cactus somehow hurt his little foot 😭

It's very swollen and painful.

So I was taking him to our local veterinary office to get him pain meds. And she says, "let's do an X-ray to see if it's broken." I'm like excuse me??? You had an X-ray machine here all this time??? For over two years I've been taking my rats to another fucking city for X-rays 'cause I've been told that we don't have it here. I feel like such a fool.

Anyway, it's not broken! But it still looks horrible and I feel so sorry for Cactus. I have no idea how it happened, their cage is fall-proofed.

But a have a theory. Tsapa, my boy with a brain tumor, started developing (very minor, I caught it early) bumblefoot from the wire ladders, so I covered them with rubber bath mat thingies. Cactus is almost fully blind, so he probably couldn't see it, tried to run quickly down the ladder and may have landed badly. This is why I usually don't cover ladders with anything unless a rat has hind leg degeneration like Tsapa does. Healthy rat is much more comfortable and safe with metal ladders, they're just easier to climb.

sorry for rambling poor Cactus :/

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

To that anon mocking you for your comment about pinkeye in the mouth, and to others who think the same, I'd like to point out that assuming that a disease can only strike one part of the body because it's in its name is not a good mindset to have.

Diseases are simply conditions caused by microbes or parasites (E. coli, Shigella, flatworms, fungi, etc.)

Foot fungus could very well strike other parts of the body, for example, if the conditions are correct.

Bumblefoot is an infection that may begin in the foot, but can spread up the leg and to other parts of the body.

Benign cancer isn't always benign -- depending on where the tumor is located, it can swell and cause issues with circulation or nervous system functioning due to its mass. It is called "benign" because it has not and does not metastatize and spread throughout the body like malignant cancer does.

Conditions such as pinkeye and bumblefoot are caused by microbes, and are named as such because that is where those microbes decided to proliferate with enough frequency that people decided to give the condition a name.

Names can be misleading. Whatever microbe causes pinkeye could very well settle in elsewhere. The eye is moist, wet, and surrounded by mucous membranes. The mouth is moist, constantly wet, and is contains many exposed mucous membranes. The environments are quite similar, in some ways. It may not be called pinkeye, but the root cause is the same -- moisture, sensitive membranes, and a lucky bunch of particular microbes who got to settle in enough to cause problems.

So, yes, one could potentially get pinkeye in the mouth. It just might not be called pinkeye, due to the differing location, but the microbe is the same.

Anyway, with that word vomit out of the way, I hope that you have a good day, mister theconstitutionisgayculture. :>

~ chickanon

I mean, I was smooth sharking the fuck out of pinkeye of the mouth (which anon caught onto faster that I thought they would, tbh, since they only sent in two asks before going dark), but this is interesting information to know. I knew very little about pinkeye beyond the joke me and my friends used to tell in middle school about people getting pinkeye from sniffing butts, which adult me doubts is the most common vector for infection, though I wouldn't exactly be surprised to find out otherwise. I just thought pinkeye of the mouth as a funny way to make fun oft he people who wore an unwashed mask for a year and then wondered why they were getting bacterial infections on their face. But now I kind of want to know if anyone ever actually got pinkeye in their mouths, and if t hey did, did they insist on making everyone call it pinkmouth or did they call it pinkeye and then act like everyone else was weird for being surprised it was in their mouth, which is objectively the correct choice?

[eggcount]

Who is Jessie Anyway!!?!?!?

January 9, 2024

So, on Saturday I got Covid.  (I'm no longer a unicorn - so sad and so much for Gale's theory that the Gorcey genes are somehow protecting us. And I got it magically from Toby who is in St. Paul and I haven't seen since Thanksgiving.  I don't know how that happened, but it's true.  Here's how I know.  Toby got Covid from his in-laws over Christmas.  His symptoms were that he had a huge headache and was super tired.  Being the father of at least one child who doesn't sleep through the night, he didn't give it much thought.  But then, his mother-in-law tested positive, so he decided to test and yikes - there was the little purple line!  So, on Saturday, I was dead tired, like "will someone put that baby to bed" tired, almost-face-planting-in-my-dinner tired.  And it just popped in my head - I have Covid.  Dave said "no you don't", I said "yes I do", Dave said "impossible", I said "I'm testing" and yep - I have Covid and Toby gave it to me. That's my story.  If not for Toby, I would just be sick and not in quarantine for 5 days.  And I would still be a Covid unicorn.  oh well.  What can you say, that's the risks of having children.)  (btw, the true story of where I got it is from Dave, who also has Covid, but didn't think he did, so he didn't test when he got sick last week.  It's his second annual New Year's Covid. He probably picked it up on New Year’s Eve at the Seldom Scene concert. He's out of the quarantine period and didn't get the Paxlovid because he passed the 5 days onset of symptoms when I got Covid and he got tested.)

But this is a big digression - the point is that I'm not quite well enough to do anything, despite the Paxlovid, but that's your gain.  I can write Egg Counts!!!  Everyone wins.  I get to write Egg Counts, you get to read them.  I'm a little less bored and you are hopefully a little entertained.  I'm sure everyone is shivering with delight!

Back to the topic - who is Jessie anyway!!?!?

We lost a lot of chickens in 2022.  And ended up getting four new ones in October 2022.  Jessie was one of those girls.  But before we get to that, I really need to catch you up on the year before we got Jessie.  Fortunately, I still communicated with my kids about the chickens on WhatsApp and WhatsApp, as Maurie just informed me, is searchable.  So, I have a lot of information - dates and even pictures!   Get ready to be updated!

Of most interest to everyone will be Henrietta’s brush with death at the beginning of 2022 – dramatically called “Henrietta gets bumblefoot, nearly dies, but is ok now” or “How Greta brought Henrietta back to life.”   Henrietta’s name should be familiar to everyone.  She’s, well, she’s of blessed memory now, but back in January 2022, she was the last of the hand raised chicks that we got in April 2014.  And she had bumblefoot which is horrible staph infections on the bottom of the foot which causes the hen to limp. You have to cut them out.  Good thing for us, Greta is a pro at bumblefoot surgery.  And also, Carolyn Preyer, our neighbor and vet, is OK at bumble surgery. But not so good a thing for us, is that we were leaving for St. Paul  to attend a Kathan Clan gathering for Alice’s birthday leaving Andre to watch the chickens so the surgery had to be done NOW.  We booked Greta with Carolyn coming over later to help if Greta had problems. (She also brought a lot of vet tape!).  After a nice soak in the downstairs sink, the bumble was taken care of, but Henrietta was not ok.  In fact, she was really not ok.  Carolyn did an inspection, and discovered a giant puncture wound.  It looks like she might have been attacked by a fox and now the wound was infected.  Honestly, we all thought she would die   She was that not ok.

Here’s the problem.  We were leaving the next day. If she died that night, that would be sad, but ok. If she didn’t die that night, she would need nursing for the bumblefoot and for the wound.  Daily soaking, and bandage changing.  Greta was willing to do this, but not willing to take her home to die.  Carolyn, although she was 100% convinced that Henrietta would die, was not willing to “do the deed”, as she doesn’t know how to humanely end a chicken’s life.  That was super important to her.  In her opinion, Henrietta was very comfortable in a box and surely would pass peacefully in the next couple of hours.  Her breathing was shallow, her eyes were glazed, and she just had that end-of-life look.  Greta agreed to come back the next day to get her in the unlikely event that she lived.  I agreed to stand vigil over her and make sure that her passing was peaceful.  Dave agreed to bury her before we left.  So, we had a plan.

As it turned out, Henrietta had her own plan and after a few hours of looking like it was “the time”, opened her eyes, lifted her head, assessed the situation - the warm house, clean box - and decided not to die.  She gave a little peaceful coo, and went back to sleep. What a roller coaster of emotions.  Instead of burying her, she was off to Greta’s house for a week of healing.  Greta set her up in the basement and hand fed her until she was strong enough to feed herself.  Twice daily baths to soak the wounds were part of the prescribed treatment and Henrietta came to love floating around in the tub.  Greta’s cats were jealous.   We got daily updates and returned home to a glowing and ready to rule the roost Henrietta.  I think she was a little disappointed not to have daily baths, but excited to see her sisters. 

And now I am feeling better from the Covid, so you’ll have to wait for more updates! 

btw, the huge hens are happy.  They are not integrated into the flock yet, but follow us around and come when called. Daisy is a little skittish with Jessie, but she’s not even laying yet – still a pullet.  I’m pretty sure when she comes into adulthood, she’ll realize that she could stomp all over Jessie and Jessie will – well, we’ll see how it goes.  Annabelle has not had to engage Jessie again and takes good care of Daisy.

Love to everyone,

Sarah

[rosaliewolfheart]

Elements of Conure care that more people should know about pt 2

CAGES! Let's break down cages, what does a good cage look like for a conure? For one a good cage has several different types of perches-dowl perches and sand perches should be used VERY sparingly due to the problems they can cause your bird such as bumblefoot which is when your bird’s feet swell up from being positioned in the same way every single time your bird perches and sand perches can be very rough on the bottoms of your bird’s feet causing cuts and irritation. Natural perches are the safest way to go and offer them a huge variety at many different levels in their cage so they always feel comfortable and have the power of choice which will ultimately lead to a more mentally worked bird.

The size of the cage should be AT LEAST large enough to allow the birds to fly around and accommodate their long tails with a dimension of 18" wide, 24" deep, and 36" high. Then you should thoroughly pack the cage with toys that challenge your bird. Note: Toys are meant to be destroyed so if you opt for toys that are made of plastic or similar material that your bird can’t go to town on you’ll quickly find you have a very bored bird. And as I said in my last post a bored bird is an angry bird. When looking at toys for your bird try to stay away from toys with mirrors, these can cause your bird to hyper-fixate on their reflection and will cause them to be depressed once the mirror is removed, small bells that can catch and cut bird tongues in the middle. Toys made of different shreddable materials and foraging toys should be the go-to, and you should have LOTS of them.

Your bird should have food and water on multiple levels of their cage(if this isn’t possible it’s not the end of the world) and should have lots of foraging toys full of treats, or just forgo the use of food bowls and strictly feed from foraging toys but do so slowly since the birds do have to learn how to actually use the toys providing them with a small bowl of food while they learn is very important. 

And, like I said in my last post, these are NOT cage pets. Conures need to be out of their cage as often as you can let them be, making sure their cage is set up properly is important but also getting them the exercise of being out of the cage is essential.

[stardust-static]

My chickens still haven't laid any eggs. Free loading at this point. 😑 I refuse to buy eggs anymore because they were supposed to start laying eons ago. Now whenever I need eggs I get mad at them. I've started letting them free range in the late afternoon even though I don't have a fenced off area set up for them yet. They're fine though. They never stray too far from the run and they love their free range time. Also I just discovered they have feather mites which could also be the cause of them not laying eggs I've read. So I've spent my week trying to get rid of those and treating them, the coop, and the run. Add that to my repertoire of chicken medicine knowledge. These free loading hoes got me stressed out with a new chicken illness every month. My sister's chickens currently have chicken pox (it's called something else, but that's basically what it is), and bumblefoot. Between the two of us we have so much damn trauma with these birds. Hers are at least laying eggs. I bought them organic feed. They're free ranging for 4 hours a day now. They have all the space. All the treats. All the clean cage and fresh water. I mean I have them. We've built them this big elaborate home for them. I'm determined to make it work, but I 100% do not recommend chickens. Unless you wanna be stressed tf out over birds constantly. Like.. don't do it. The biggest joke is that my sister's chickens produce more eggs than she knows what to do with and I could have just got free eggs from her, but I don't think it was ever about the eggs for me. I just needed something to hyperfixate on when I was going through a hard time. I'm now trauma bonded to these chickens, but also they're part of the trauma. So yeah... Today I had to catch each of them to put the medicine for the mites under their wings and they all got poo all over me. I went straight inside to take a shower after like why have I done this to myself? I love those dumb birds. The feeling probably isn't mutual, but whatever.

[myveterinaryexperience]

Chickens & Lameness

Definition

Lameness is a phenomenon in which the individual has problems using one or both feet to move around, which could be due to malformation, disease, or or factors. This post will specifically focus on the lameness in chickens.

Causes

Some causes of lameness in chicken are as follows:

Sprain, Injury, Strain or Breakage

The chicken may have injured their leg or feet, resulting in difficulty moving. Check to see if there are any visible swelling or misalignments of the leg, and take the bird to a local farm vet if necessary.

Genetic Issues/GMO

Sometimes, the lameness is inherent to the chicken due to a mutation. GMO chickens may be especially prone to this.

Diseases and Infections (both viral and bacterial)

Lameness is commonly caused by diseases and infections, prime examples of which being Bumblefoot, scaly leg mites, Hock disease, worms or parasites, Marek’s disease, arthritis, just to name a few. These definitely require the attention of a professional, and the chicken should be taken to a veterinarian as soon as possible.

Diet Deficiencies/Intake of Toxic substance/Poor Living Conditions

What the chicken eats or where the chicken lives may impact their health negatively, resulting in a limp. Ingested toxins could cause difficulty in motor function, balanced and other health problems.

Caretaking

Lame chickens will usually have accommodations and additional requirements on top of the usual needs of an average chicken. For example, chickens with Bumblefeet or Scaly Leg Mite will need routine checkups and treatment. Consult a local farm veterinarian for treatment options.

It is advised to keep the lame chickens separately, as the other chickens may bully or harass them, which may cause the lame chicken stress, malnutrition, or further injury.

[nisaetus-nerd]

A mixture of on the glove and as we’re training them! (They’re food-motivated.) We feed them a mix of different foods since a varied diet is what’s best for them — usually day-old chick, quail, and pigeon! We get chicks and quails from farms but trap our own pigeons (not with the birds, though the Harris Hawks are used for pest control and hunt crows sometimes).

(Just to clarify, I do not dislike pigeons or crows — both are very fascinating and intelligent birds to me. We do, however, need to feed the birds, and there is a large population of pigeons available, while the House Crows are an invasive species from India [they’re so brilliantly adaptable that they’re too good at out-competing native birds].)

I have never trained a bird from scratch (I’m just an apprentice/volunteer!), but I’m pretty sure you can work with a bird even before they fledge (some falconers raise their birds since hatching, which is actually what happened with me! I’m a human-imprinted bird). It just depends on what you mean by ‘training’ — in this context, I mean encouraging specific behaviour.

A lot! Too much for me to remember, honestly. A common one in the UAE (due to the heat and humidity) is a fungal infection called Aspergillosis. We’ve also had birds affected by Frounce (which manifests as whitish or yellow spots/growth inside their mouths and throats) and Bumblefoot (a bacterial infection on their talons, caused by insufficient perches [hard and flat surfaces] or talons that are kept too long [so they puncture the foot when the bird grabs things]). One notable one, in my opinion, is Newcastle’s Disease, which is contracted from pigeons and causes a floppy neck/backwards head tilting. You can also get mechanical issues such as cracked beaks (usually from incorrect foods or overgrown beaks).

That is a very tough question, and one I don’t think I can answer — I appreciate bird anatomy and diversity way too much to. I believe all birds are beautiful in their own distinct way. I quite like the intricacy of one of our birds’ plumage, though — Nelson. If I recall correctly, he’s some sort of Peregrine hybrid, and he recently got his adult plumage. His feathers are this barred, grey-to-brown gradient. It’s stunning!

How did you get into falconry? What are the requirements? Is it only in certain countries/cities/states/etc? Are there specific birds assigned to you? Sorry if im asking a lot, im just really curious! :>

Hello! First off, I just wanted to say that I do not mind the questions, and am in fact super excited about them. Thank you so much for sending this in!

As a bit of a disclaimer — I’m not a professional falconer by any means, and am only an apprentice of sorts? I’m certainly no expert.

I’m not really sure how I got into falconry. Being a huge fan of raptors, it had been an interest of mine for so long, and I was always hoping for the opportunity. I guess I kept contacting local falconry centres and really lucked out? I found one that was willing to teach me, and I was allowed to continuously return to help out around the place.

In the UAE specifically— because this is where I live —there are surprisingly fewer laws on falconry than you’d expect. I believe you only need a license to hunt? Otherwise, anyone could own and fly a bird. (At least, this is what I have been told in passing.)

There aren’t any specific birds assigned to me, but there are birds I interact with more often than others, just by pure chance. One of these birds was a peregrine called Hamdan, who I was taught with. Unfortunately, he has long since transferred to another falconry centre.

There are birds off-limits to me, though, just because I’m not fully experienced. One of these birds is Optimus, a Steppe Eagle, who’s famed for his food aggression (it does not help that he is the biggest bird flown at the centre).

[pigeontakeover]

Rescued a neglected hamster from craigslist. I'm going to rehabilitate her, and tame her before adopting her out. Baby girl bit me 4 times already :( but I think shes just really scared cause she seems pretty sweet, shes a very curious active hamster

[is-the-owl-video-cute]

I understand if this is controversial enough that you'd say no, but do you have a link to a good comprehensive post about the pigeon situation. I've only been seeing it in bits and pieces

Most of this was sent to me in chunks and pieces, and from me watching their blog on my own.

In summary: tumblr‘s most popular pigeon blogger has had debilitating physical health issues that have been growing harder and harder to manage over time. Despite this, she has continued breeding and “rescuing” MORE pigeons even though she was struggling to care for what she had. She has at some point had over 70 pigeons in her 10x10 loft with more eggs on the way. She then lost around ten within days of each other to a disease which she mistook for salt poisoning.

The pigeons had a salt block in the loft that had become saturated in water making it more or less a cube of paste which means the birds could eat it and promptly die from excessive salt levels in their bloodstream leading to brain swelling. Because this risk is so great, a salt block should never be left in an outside aviary if it is due to rain that day and they should be checked at least twice daily to ensure they’re still solid enough that the birds can’t get too much. Generally the use of salt blocks is somewhat controversial but that’s neither here nor there.

She later realized that it was a bacterial infection, probably caused by her spilling a large amount of feed when the bag caught on the loft door. She left the spilled feed where it was for several days and the feed started to rot, mold, and become completely coated in maggots of some persuasion. This still was not enough to prompt a clean up, and she instead placed stone blocks on top of it so she could access the loft while not having to step in the fetid mess. You may be wondering how it was she could lift several stone blocks that normally weigh about 50lbs but not simply rake the mess up and hose the area down, I was too. I still am wondering that since her deteriorating health is the explanation she offered for not cleaning the mess before it attracted disease.

Soon enough, almost the entire flock comes down with a horrific gastrointestinal disease which kills several. She claims the birds are considered commercial stock by the government since she sells them and thus it’s forbidden to give them antibiotics. That seems unlikely but I don’t know enough about her local laws to comment.

What I do know is that only a few days prior to the mass breakout she took in some rescued pet pigeons that were completely infested with worms and trichomoniasis, and one feral pigeon that was hit by a car. The feral pigeon was the most disturbing. She had a fractured femur, and the two bone fragments were side by side with a significant overlap, think of a normal femur as — and this birds as =. Pigeons are too small for that bone to be pinned safely, meaning the break was not fixable. The vet knew that. They both knew that. For some reason, the vet suggested they could amputate that leg at the hip instead of euthanizing the bird.

Pigeons are not like small songbirds. They don’t hop, they walk, just like us. A human with a leg amputated at the hip would require crutches or even a wheelchair to live comfortably and independently. a pigeon cannot use either. A pigeon with one leg would be putting an immense amount of strain on that leg’s joints and pads, leading to arthritis and bumblefoot which could cause the other leg to die as well. The bird would not be able to move easily on its own and would likely use one or both wings as crutches to scoot around, putting that same strain on the wing joints which are not designed to hold the bird’s weight on top of them. This generally leads to wing injuries, edema, or even exposed or broken bones after a while. This is also a bird that was not raised by humans, so just being around them is likely stressful to the animal.

There was no justification to keep that bird alive for as long as she has. Pigeons can be euthanized via cervical dislocation. It’s very quick and very humane. It’s simple enough a novice can do it at home with some pliers. If the vet couldn't euthanize immediately, that would have been the only kind option. The bird still has to stay in pain until tuesday because she wants to wait on the vet. I say this plainly: if you are not willing to euthanize birds on your own, don’t take on rehab cases. This is not a hard concept.

In short, it’s been a month of hoarding and neglect with this person using her health as an excuse. She should have focused on downsizing, not breeding and taking on more, as soon as she was diagnosed and it was clear that she would be out of commission until a medical procedure was done.

[weregreatatcrime]

Nah fuck it let's rant a bit (good natured ranting, I'm not mad at the commenter lol, I just LOVE talking about rats)

Firstly CLEARLY he was trolling his kids with the stuff like the cheese phone, the giant exercise wheel, etcetera- I actually super enjoy these things because they show his own version of the classic Splinter humor: fucking with his kids

Secondly cheese isn't actually good for rats! I'd like to clarify that I'm talking about domesticated rats, here, which 2012 Splinter is clearly one. Those markings are pretty distinctive. But too much dairy isn't great for rats and causes stomach issues.

Third: this is actually a serious point, don't give your pet rodents exercise wheels unless you know what you're doing. Most wheels are too small and made improperly, risking your rats' health. Rats need to be able to stretch completely out nose to tail when running to run safely and properly. Rats using wheels that don't let their spine stretch out are prone to bent backs and spinal issues. I had a rattie who had spine damage from a wheel before I got her, though fortunately after some time her back improved though her tail was never the same. These wheels also don't have safe running surfaces- bars can cause bumblefoot and grids are perfect places for tiny toes to get stuck in and break or get torn off. There are safer ways to give your ratties exercise in their environment including bigger cages, lots of climbing surfaces, and toys

Splinter’s obviously intelligent enough to not hurt himself on a wheel, not to mention he's not exactly about to damage his feet on accident, but it's still improbable to me that he uses it as anything other than just... a treadmill, which would be a million times more effective, and again, I'm CONVINCED he uses it just to troll with the turtles

When I say I want to see more "rat behaviors" from versions of Splinter, I don't just mean rat activities (or activities people THINK rats do) I mean rat BEHAVIORS. I'm talking sniffing, ear perks, whiskers- GOD the whiskers should be so so expressive! 2012 Splinter shows a great deal more than other versions with his ears and animation, but it's not enough for my rat obsessed brain.

I wanna see MORE of rat teeth- biting through a sword? Nah man, even normal rats can chew through fucking concrete and metal given the time and motivation. And I'm talking pet rats- wild rats are way more hardcore. I wanna see Splinter having to deal with his new dental hygiene. He'd have to chew on shit CONSTANTLY to keep those fuckers from overgrowing or start physically clipping them, which while not painful I CANNOT imagine is comfortable at all.

I wanna see the realization that hitting things with your tail is a TERRIBLE idea if you want to avoid degloving. I wanna see Splinter having the constant instinct to groom and clean himself, his sons, and his surroundings- rats are SO CLEAN and tidy, they clean themselves more often than cats and they organize their nests very fastidiously.

Rats are so so so so social and friendly, I wanna see a Splinter who constantly hugs and touches and pats his family. They sleep in piles and rarely ever alone. They groom each other and play together and can become dangerously depressed if left alone

Gimme Splinter not knowing about porphyrin- a common thing with rats, a red fluid that leaks from the nose and ears. Typically when sick, but it can happen to all rats, it's a perfectly normal discharge that scares the crap out of inexperienced rat owners. Imagine the panic when he thinks he's bleeding and has to frantically search for out of date books on rat care (fun fact: in the bayverse movie when Splinter is injured, we see porphyrin discharge!! I was incredibly excited to see it, it's much too thin to be blood)

I wanna see body language that isn't stuffed behind aged animation and lack of knowledge on rats, and every new incarnation has given me more and more to be excited over

Me: more rat things in 2012 Splinter

Commener on ao3: Doesn't he do all these rat things though..?

Me, VIBRATING INTENSELY: WELL YOU SEE-

[is-the-parrot-video-cute]

Hi! I just wanted to send you a pic of my lovebird Peaches as I was about to put her to bed.

she's adorable ^_^

Could I suggest getting some new perches to replace the smooth dowel? Having smooth perches like that can lead to a disease called bumblefoot which causes sores on their feet.

[homeofhousechickens]

My leghorns before they get implanted

Below is my Blue Bird

Blue has never been implanted before so she should show a very great change within days of getting on the implant.

Some things to note that you can see on her right now.

She has pale skin, even her legs and beak are a very pale yellow this is because she has been laying nonstop and all the carotenoids that would be going into her skin are going into her egg yolks. Leghorns genetically have very yellow skin but due to her laying her skin appears white.

She has a foot wrap. When a chicken has their feet wrapped you can easily assume they have bumblefoot. Blue is very prone to it but her current bout of it is almost healed, expect to see that wrap come off soon.

Her feathers are poor quality, Blue hasnt had a full molt since 2019. After being implanted she will likely drop all of these very old and worn feathers and grow new healthy ones. She is a white bird which means her feathers degrade quicker then colorful birds but without the stress of laying they should degrade alot slower

Her comb is very large and purple tinged. Leghorn laying hens are known for their impressive combs this can be a problem though when a bird has heart issues like Blue bird. Her comb is purple due to poor circulation or poor oxygen levels two things which are pretty bad for a bird. As she progresses on the implant her comb will shrink significantly and the purple color will hopefully disappear as well.

She is a little bit underweight. She has been dealing with some inflammation and likely pain due to her egg laying. Once she is on the implant not only will she fill out more due to new feather growth, she will also likely gain weight from eating more as well.

The hen below is Greenie Weanie

Greenie was implanted earlier this year after she suffered a serious systemic inflection that compromised her health and laying. She did very well on it and she has some key differences you can spot on her compared to Blue.

She has much better feather quailty due to molting eariler this year. You can see the ends of her tail feathers starting to fray though. This is due to her being in lay again and likely her over preening her tail. When Greenie is stressed or in pain she will preen her chest and tail alot more then necessary which cause them to degrade faster then normal. She may or may not molt them out and grow new ones once she gets a new implant.

She has skin that is alot more yellow then Blues especially her legs. This is due to her being off lay for many months due to the implant so the carotenoids in her food were going into her skin pigment rather then her egg yolks

Her posture is alot more confident then Blue. Blue is very slouched and holding her wings tight to her body. Blue is very uncomfortable right now and not feeling her best while Greenie is just starting to feel bad again from being off the implant.

I will be updating this post on their progress on the implant. It likely wont be daily as i dont have the energy for that but do expect some update pics. The implant they are getting is the Deslorelin implant (brand name is Suprelorin). Its a hormonal implant thats used off label to make hens stop laying. Its also used in other species. It costs me 240$ for each implant but that number can be higher or lower depending on your location. The implant can last anywhere to a year to a couple of months but its worth it to make sure your birds stay healthy.

If you like my content and want to support me i do take pixel art commissions and i do accept money through paypal to help with my birds just pm me for it.

[losthomunculus]

unsafe situations in hamster posts you should be aware of

this is very off theme for my blog but I had a very strong interest in hamsters that’s recently been reawakened and I’ve noticed some things in popular hamster posts online that are really unsafe and that I think people should be aware of before supporting those posts.

1. unsafe wheels

there are three major things that make a wheel unsafe for a hamster, 1. the surface being made from wire or having raised rungs, 2. the size making the hamster’s back curve while they run, and 3. not being able to keep up with the speed of the wheel either because there’s multiple hamsters on it or it simply goes too fast and they fly off.

I don’t think I really need to explain why a hamster being flung off a speeding surface is unsafe, that’s pretty self explanatory. as for the wire wheels, the gaps in the surface pose 2 dangers. the first being a condition called “bumblefoot”, which is swelling in the paws often caused by uneven pressure or cuts from the wires. this can also occur from cages with wired flooring, obesity, poor sanitation, and overgrown nails.

as for the size of the wheel, the hamster’s back shouldn’t curve. hamsters spend much of their time running, but it’s unnatural for them to have their back curved for that long. to prevent pain the hamster wheel should be large enough for them to run with their back straight.

there’s a more in depth guide with pictures of safe vs unsafe wheels that can be found here: https://fivelittlehams.wixsite.com/correcthamstercare/blank-1/2020/06/07/choosing-the-best-wheel-for-your-hamster

it also mentions some insight on the use of flying saucer wheels that I think is worth considering.

2. cage size & other conditions

there is debate on whether or not it’s economically discriminatory to criticize people for the size of their hamster cage, but I’m going to be frank, I don’t think you should own a hamster if you know you’d be unable to provide suitable care for it. there’s a reason why animal shelters will ask for pictures of the space an animal will be living in before you’re allowed to adopt.

before hamsterhideoutforum made a rule prohibiting criticism on hamster cage size unless it’s literally a travel carrier, the minimum cage size was generally agreed among the hamster care community to be 450 square feet of continuous space (ie not counting levels and tubes).

that means common cages such as crittertrail brand hamster cages are unsuitable for hamsters. keeping a hamster in a cage that is too small can often cause aggression, boredom, and chronic stress. this is commonly observed through bar biting.

as for other conditions, hamster cages should not have wired floors, or if they are wired, they should be covered in a material like cardboard to prevent bumblefoot. there’s even more to be considered that are elaborated on in this article: https://thehamstercare.com/compilation-of-bad-hamster-cages-to-avoid-unsafe/, but size is the main thing I look out for.

3. housing hamsters together

there are several different species of hamsters that are commonly kept as pets. the syrian hamster (also known as golden hamsters and teddy bear hamsters) is probably the most popular in the united states (from what ive seen on social media, robos appear to be a lot more popular in japan), but there are also several species of dwarf hamsters that are commonly kept, those being campbell’s dwarf hamsters (aka russian dwarf), the winter white dwarf, and roborovskis (robos). there’s also chinese hamsters which are less common than the previous and aren’t technically considered dwarf hamsters but are often grouped with them. all of these species are very easy to tell apart by appearance.

syrian hamsters should never be housed together as adults. 8-10 weeks after they are born they must be separated. they are highly territorial animals and they WILL kill each other. frankly they shouldn’t even be interacting with each other except under the care of a professional breeder, and even then there’s a bunch of rules they need to follow to make sure the mother doesn’t kill and cannibalize the father.

dwarf hamsters can be housed together but only ones of the same sex from the same litter. that being said they still have a capacity to fight and if they display any aggression they should be separated immediately.

chinese hamsters are a gray area, among hamster owners there doesn’t seem to be a conclusive decision on whether or not they can be housed with others. that being said it’s generally advised to not house them together because it’s so uncertain.

4. other animal interactions

hamsters are prey animals. under no circumstances should they be interacting with cats or dogs. even if they are supervised and they appear docile and friendly it can cause a large amount of stress for the hamster.

they shouldn’t be interacting with other prey animals either, such as rabbits, guinea pigs, and other small rodents, as their behaviors are unpredictable and it would be very easy for one of the animals to get hurt. generally the only animals hamsters will get along with are humans after being tamed and other hamsters that fall in line with the conditions mentioned in the section above.

5. body language

once again, stressing that hamsters are prey animals. when coming home they need time to acclimate to their new environment, and often times they need to be tamed before they are comfortable with human interaction. stress is very dangerous for hamsters as it can actually contribute to illness, such as wet tail.

that’s why its important to recognize stress in hamsters through signs such as suddenly freezing, whipping around suddenly, and bearing teeth. stress can also lead to aggression, which is displayed by the previous behaviors along with hissing, teeth chattering, and nipping or biting.

these behaviors are not cute! if a hamster displays these behaviors it needs to be left alone!

end note

that’s all I can think of for now. I wrote this entire thing on the fly btw so feel free to add onto it, point out any mistakes if I got something wrong, or send an ask if you want any follow up on something. I’ve owned 4 hamsters over the years and spent much of elementary and middle school researching them so I'm happy to share what I know and do any more research if I find any gaps in my knowledge.

[o-wyrmlight]

Ramble away my friend (ㆁωㆁ)

Okay so like.

On the thing about hamster balls. Yes they are dangerous because of the spine thing--that alone can cause health problems for the hamster, leading to a deformed spine, and that's generally a really bad thing. If you're going to have a hamster in a ball, at LEAST let the ball be big enough that the spine is straight when your little hammy runs.

'But Bill,' I hear you say, 'if I can get a larger hamster ball for my solitary rodent, then surely I can just do that and it'll be fine, right?' WRONG! Because let me tell you, those little holes used for ventilation? Not only do they not do a particularly GOOD job at ventilating ANYTHING, but your little Hamilton will easily get their little foot stuck in those tiny little holes and cause great damage. One of my friends in Middle School had a hamster (kept under frighteningly miserable living conditions, in hindsight) who lost his foot because of a hamster wheel.

'But Bill,' you're exclaiming, 'I just want my little hamster to explore! Surely hamster balls are good for that, at least!" WRONG. Did you know that hamsters are near-sighted creatures that depend largely on their sense of smell to navigate the world? Not only are you removing those abilities to navigate the world from your hamster--you're essentially putting little Hammond in an isolation chamber... that rolls around. How would you feel if you were in a black sphere with no way to know where you're going? With holes just big enough for your feet and hands to get wedged into? I'd bet that's a frightening concept.

Hamsters are such... nervous creatures. They can die just from being too stressed, and they stress out so easily. If you really want to give your hamster the freedom to explore a new environment, put it in a bathtub instead and give it some things to play with. Little wooden chews, a couple of hides, some bits of food to discover and explore with, a wheel that's large enough for it to run with its spine straight and isn't made out of wire which can cause inflammation in their poor little feetsies (bumblefoot).

There are a lot of pet tubers who specialize in hamster and rodent care. All or most of my info largely came from Munchie's Place and Victoria Raechel on YouTube.

Munchie is someone who owns a pet rescue largely catered toward hamsters, and she rescues them from dangerous environments to give them to mindful and caring homes, and Victoria is someone who has at least a decade of experience with hamster care.

It should be noted that while I don't think either of them have a degree, it's very obvious to me just how much these two ladies care for these sweet little rodents. They make videos such as hamster care videos, cage reviews, and make it very apparent what NOT to do when you DO have a hamster.

If you have a hamster or want to get one soon, I definitely recommend watching them!

It's been a while since I've watched Munchie. Maybe I'll do some of that today.

It's so upsetting that small pets like hamsters, fish, mice, etc. are so mistreated simply because of ignorance that's encouraged by big-chain pet stores.

[feathers-scales-and-tails]

My ‘unhealthy’ chickens

My blog has a lot of cute chicken photos on it, and sometimes I get comments such as “wow I want a chicken like that!” Which is lovely! I’m glad to spread the chicken love! However I want to take a second to address this. Just like with dogs, there are many breeds of chicken which are unhealthy and have health consequences because of this. I have a couple of birds like this. I just want to make people aware that if they seriously want a bird like this, to take into account what health issues may come with them.

Sooty - Frizzle feathers

Sooty is a fan favourite, and one of my favourites too. I do admit that I love the frizzle feather gene, it just looks so cool! However frizzle feathering causes some issues and I didn’t intentionally get a frizzle, Sooty hatched from a mystery egg. Her Dad was the only frizzle in the flock, with 13 other roosters, so she was a surprise to say the least!

Weather intolerance: Due to the feathers sticking out like that, birds can’t warm up in the cold since their feathers don’t provide a protective barrier and body heat escapes. This also means they have no natural shelter from rain and wind. Sooty doesn’t have to worry about any of this, it’s never cold where I live and she lives inside. She really struggles in the heat, however that’s likely due to her leg and foot feathering which I’ll discuss later, rather than the frizzle feathering.

Flight: Birds can’t fly well, since their primary wing feathers are curled or brittle. This puts them at risk of leg and spinal injuries if they try to fly from too large a height. Sooty did severe nervous damage to her spine when she was 8 weeks old, causing her to become paralysed in the legs for 3 months. Thankfully, she fully recovered after 5 months of physiotherapy.

Sooty’s wings look like this. Not all frizzle feathered birds have flights this poor, however it is a potential consequence of the feather type.

Communication: Another issue frizzle feathers cause is communication within a flock. Sooty used to get pecked a lot by her top hen Kath, because Kath thinks Sooty is always challenging her to fight! Chickens use their neck feathers, called hackle feathers, to communicate a whole bunch of things. From fear, to aggression, to even asking another flock member to clean their feathers. Since frizzle feathers stick out like that, the bird struggles to move them into the positions used for communication so can’t talk to their flock very well. Sooty’s curled hackle feathers make it look like she’s always challenging another hen to a fight

You can see how those raised hackles kinda look like Sooty’s ‘mane’ of curled neck feathers! Thankfully, Sooty is second in command and her head hen, Kath, seems to have learnt that Sooty just looks like that! So she doesn’t get attacked very frequently anymore.

Unethical breeding: The gene which causes frizzle feathers in homozygous form (two copies of the gene) also causes serious issues. These birds are called Frazzles or ‘over frizzled’ and their feathers are very weak, often falling out and leaving the bird naked. It can be painful for them, and if they’re left outside, they certainly wouldn’t survive. Therefore frizzles should never be bred together. To breed frizzles you should use a frizzle feathered bird with a smooth feathered bird. However, this means you hatch only 50% frizzles, so some unethical breeders breed frizzle x frizzle to reduce the amount of smooth feathered birds they get.

A Frazzle chicken

Heart failure: These feathers have also been linked with enlarged hearts, increasing risk of heart failure. Since the feathers cause loss of body heat, it causes an increase in metabolism and other physiological functions to keep the body temperature at the appropriate level. This means the heart has to work harder, increasing its size and putting more strain on it. Sooty tires out easier, and when she used to be out ranging she’d frequently come inside to sleep on the couch while her flock was still outside having fun. I could see this putting them more at risk of predation, since if they’re already tired they don’t have the same stamina of another bird to flee a predator.

Solo - Heavy foot/leg feathering

Not the most flattering photo of her but the best one I have to show her foot feathering! As you can see she was quite cranky with me! She’s a Silkie X Pekin, which are both breeds known to have heavily feathered legs. There are many breeds with healthy foot feathering, such as Langshans

But some like the show-type Pekin bantam, have a number of issues associated with their foot feathering. Here’s a Pekin in comparison to the Langshan above

As you can see the feathering is much much heavier!

Mobility: Very heavy leg and foot feathering significantly reduces mobility. The large feathers make it harder to move toes, making perching more difficult, and are a tripping hazard. Solo is always tripping over, stumbling, and ‘shuffling’ when she walks since her feet impair her movement a significant amount. I’m probably going to cut her foot feathers off so she can move about easier. They’d never hindered her movement until now, this molt they grew in humongous for some reason. Obviously having a built in tripping hazard isn’t a good idea, since it predisposes the bird to a higher risk of leg injuries.

Thermotegulation: As mentioned above, legs and feet are very important in helping a bird regulate their temperature. Lightly feathered legs like the Langshan has don’t have this issue, since the bird has majority of its foot free to cool down with. Heavily feathered legs like the pekin provide little surface area to cool down with, so the birds can really struggle in hot weather. Solo is one of our least heat tolerant birds, and she thankfully has wattles and a comb unlike poor Silkies!

Cleanliness: Heavily feathered feet get disgusting! They’re more prone to getting dirty and are harder for the birds to keep clean. Solo always has poop, sticks, food, mud, and all sorts of other gunk crusted into her foot feathering. I have to clean them quite frequently so that she doesn’t get bacterial build up.

Other health ailments: In my experience, heavily feathered feet tend to be a beacon for related leg and foot health issues. We don’t have to worry about this where I live, but foot feathers can get wet in snow and heighten frostbite risk for toes. Although I don’t have to worry about the cold, sadly these foot feathers also have heat related issues! I live in a sub-tropical environment, so humidity levels get pretty high here. Bacteria loves humidity. Solo has had a bad case of Bumblefoot which was really hard to treat due to this humidity. Sweep, another bird with heavy foot feathering, has had 2 cases of bumblefoot now. I’ve never had a clean-legged bird get bumblefoot, so it’s definitely linked to trapping bacteria and humidity. I haven’t had to deal with this parasite myself, but apparently feather-legged breeds are more prone to Scaly-leg mite too.

Cujo - Heavy layer breeds

Cujo is a Hamburg, sometimes referrred to as ‘Everlayers’ since they have a reputation for reliably laying an egg every day. They rarely go broody, and if they do are very easy to dissuade. I am very against production breeds if they’re not within an agricultural industry, where they have a purpose, since it tragically shortens their lives so much. The Hamburgs lay on average 200 eggs annually, which isn’t too bad and makes them a healthier layer breed, but it’s certainly heavier laying than most of the other breeds I have. Cujo is actually very healthy, I took great care in picking a breeder to get her from and most of his birds are lighter layers than they ‘should’ be. Cujo was laying 3-4 eggs a week before her current molt, much better than the 5-7 her breed has a reputation for.

Heart failure: One of the most frequent ends to laying birds is heart failure. Their bodies are under so much stress to make an egg every day that their bodies eventually just give up, usually from heart failure.

They don’t go broody: A lot of people don’t like broody hens, since they stop laying and sit on their nest all day, however I really like them. A broody hen gets a much needed break from laying eggs! Some breeds continue to lay eggs over winter, and some birds don’t stop laying when they molt if it’s a light one. So broodies give the bird a choice to stop laying and sit on eggs when she wants, if she didn’t get a break over winter or molt. Breeding this behaviour out of production breeds contributes to their issues, since they can’t take that break.

Shortened life span: Due to the strain mass egg production puts on their bodies, average lifespan is 3-4 years compared to the 6-10+ of healthy heritage breeds. I had a utility leghorn as a pet many years ago, her heart tragically gave out on her one day while I wasn’t home. She was dirtbathing in her favourite spot when it happened, so I hope to think it was a peaceful end. She was only 2 years old.

Reproductive complications: Heavy layer breeds are more prone to experiencing issues with their reproductive tract. This includes cancers, tumours, prolapses, egg binding, and egg yolk peritonitis (infection). They’re also more prone to nutrient deficiencies, especially with calcium, since it takes so much out of them to lay eggs. This is easily preventable with a balanced diet, however if calcium deficiency does occur the hen can suffer from brittle bones.

Sweep - Aggressive breeds

Now Sweep isn’t nearly as bad as this title frames her to be, but it’s still worth a mention. We can only guess what her parentage is since she came from mystery eggs, but we think Sweep is an Old English Game cross Pekin. In Australia, Old English Game are a hyper aggressive breed. They were bred for the cruel sport of cockfighting, where two roosters are forced to fight to the death. Thankfully this sport is now criminalised, but nobody bred the aggressiveness out of this breed.

Injury risk: hyper aggressive breeds pose a greater risk of injury mainly to other flock mates, but also to themselves. These birds often antagonise others despite there not really being a reason to, resulting in more fighting, disharmony, and injury within a flock. If another bird is stronger than them and gets sick of their shit, they themselves could be seriously hurt since they often don’t know when to back down from a fight like non-aggressive birds do. Sweep has to be housed separate from my main flock with her mother, Solo for company. She has tried many times to outrank birds in my main flock but her fighting is very brutal compared to the normal pecking order fights. She aims for the eyes, and came close to blinding a bird once before, I can’t risk that sort of injury.

Mortality risk: continuing on from that first point, some individuals will take their aggressiveness too far and kill fellow flock mates. What might start out as a simple pecking order fight can turn very bloody and very brutal with these breeds fast. Roosters can kill hens and hens can kill hens. This obviously should never happen in well bred, good tempered birds. I do not say this jokingly when I say that Sweep and Sooty would kill each other if I let them. They’re both Pekin X Old English, and although Sooty is good with other birds, she’s terrible with Sweep. I’m hoping Sweep will mellow with age (she’s currently 2) and I can integrate her and Solo as part of Blossom’s flock.

Social interaction: I think this is something a lot of people don’t seem to consider, but having hyper aggressive birds which have to be housed seperate will obviously hugely impact upon their social needs. It doesn’t matter how aggressive the bird is, a chicken is, and always will be, a social animal. They need companionship, and while this can be provided by us, it’s easiest to provide it with other chickens. Keeping a social animal by itself, never letting it interact with others, and not providing that companionship yourself is incredibly inhumane in my opinion. It doesn’t matter if that bird is incapable of interacting without trying to kill the others, the fact is that this animal is still hardwired to live in a social group. By breeding such aggressive animals, it’s very cruel since it deprives them of such a basic need.

Now this post isn’t to say people can’t get a breed if they like it but it has health consequences, because something like those heavy foot feathers don’t cause the bird any harm or pain in itself, it’s just a consequence of poor management. So if you’re willing to do the work to ensure those features don’t hinder the animals quality of life, then excellent! Go ahead and get those basketball-shaped Pekin lads! This post was merely a reminder to think critically and research any animal/breed before you get them, and to make sure you’re prepared for any future consequences or adjustments for that animal/breed. Sooty and Solo need fans set up on their pens during the Summer, Sweep needs a seperate coop, and all three need adjusted perches and weekly foot health checks because of their heavily feathered feet. Once again, the importance of you screening for ethical, responsible breeders is crucial when deciding to bring a new family member home.

Thanks for reading!