Bumble-proofing. Does roost width matter?

[Moomin2]

Our biggest chicken girl has very serious bumblefoot so we are having to completely re-think our coop and run. It was built by my partner and his friend before they had ever had chickens so is not 100% practical. There are a lot of hard edges that we need to remove; for example the roosts are square, the exit ramp has square strips across it (kind of like steps) and there are square ledges on the front of the nest boxes, so our chickens are always knocking their feet against the corners of these 'batons' that are everywhere. The coop is however very well built and secure, so in order to change all these things we would have to basically build a new one, which we can't afford to do.

If we covered these batons with some kind of foam or squishy rubber material it would make the roosting bar quite thick, like maybe ten centimetres in diameter. Does that matter? Would it be hard for our hens to grip and balance on it? We were thinking of using foam insulation tubes for pipes, putting them over and cable tying them on each end of the existing roosts. Has anyone got any better ideas? Even temporary ones to tide us over until we can build a new coop.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have kept hundreds of chickens over the years and never have I had one with bumble foot. I'm not totally sure why I don't see it.

I do always sand my roosts, but often my birds will roost on things that were never sanded, so it can't always be that. I have both 2 inch wide roosts and some 4 inch wide roosts. All,my roosts are squared off. My birds seems to prefer 2 inches. All my roosts are always boards, either 2x4 or 2x6. Some roosts are a foot off the ground, others are way up 6 feet or higher.

Any foam will be pecked and possibly eaten by chickens, so I definitely wouldn't use foam. I would sand well and offer a variety of sizes up. Your hen may of gotten bumble foot from stepping on something outside. Not sure what your substrate is. We have dirt, and use gravel in our shed as well as pine shavings for bedding.

Another thought is bigger breeds need step down roosts so it's a short trip to the next roost and than to the floor which should be well bedded, though mine isn't always.

 

[Moomin2]

I have kept hundreds of chickens over the years and never have I had one with bumble foot. I'm not totally sure why I don't see it.

I do always sand my roosts, but often my birds will roost on things that were never sanded, so it can't always be that. I have both 2 inch wide roosts and some 4 inch wide roosts. All,my roosts are squared off. My birds seems to prefer 2 inches. All my roosts are always boards, either 2x4 or 2x6. Some roosts are a foot off the ground, others are way up 6 feet or higher.

Any foam will be pecked and possibly eaten by chickens, so I definitely wouldn't use foam. I would sand well and offer a variety of sizes up. Your hen may of gotten bumble foot from stepping on something outside. Not sure what your substrate is. We have dirt, and use gravel in our shed as well as pine shavings for bedding.

Another thought is bigger breeds need step down roosts so it's a short trip to the next roost and than to the floor which should be well bedded, though mine isn't always.

Thanks for your response! I don't know why I didn't think about them possibly eating the foam... It seems so obvious now!
It's interesting to read about your setup and to hear that you've never had a case of bumblefoot, even with high roosts and gravel. I was convinced that we must be doing it all wrong for our hen to have gotten it - feeling quite guilty. Plus several people have said that we should look at the chickens' environment and try to find out why they're getting it.

Though I think maybe a wider roost could actually be a good idea as our Coucou de Rennes is very heavy with big feet. Our coop floor is wood but it's a small coop so we always put hay down for a soft landing. Outside it was grass but is now dirt but there aren't really stones about. The only other thing is possibly changing their entrance/exit ramp as they often seem to throw themselves down it in a chaotic way. It could be that that damaged her feet.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thanks for your response! I don't know why I didn't think about them possibly eating the foam... It seems so obvious now!
It's interesting to read about your setup and to hear that you've never had a case of bumblefoot, even with high roosts and gravel. I was convinced that we must be doing it all wrong for our hen to have gotten it - feeling quite guilty. Plus several people have said that we should look at the chickens' environment and try to find out why they're getting it.

Though I think maybe a wider roost could actually be a good idea as our Coucou de Rennes is very heavy with big feet. Our coop floor is wood but it's a small coop so we always put hay down for a soft landing. Outside it was grass but is now dirt but there aren't really stones about. The only other thing is possibly changing their entrance/exit ramp as they often seem to throw themselves down it in a chaotic way. It could be that that damaged her feet.

It's got to be just one overlooked thing, or just a bad coincidence. My guess birds get wounds on the bottom of the feet when in motion.

On a roost I would think they would move and adjust if something is poking at them.

Could even be something in the hay that was sticking up weird and she landed on it. I guess I wouldn't get too worried unless there are multiple birds with problems.

I don't have ramps, so it's possible that's a source of bumble foot. A bird going down at an angle may be unable to stop something from driving into the bottom of the foot. Just a thought, nothing I can prove.

Wide roosts are always better for winter to prevent frostbite if you get cold where you are at.

 

[Moomin2]

It's got to be just one overlooked thing, or just a bad coincidence. My guess birds get wounds on the bottom of the feet when in motion.

On a roost I would think they would move and adjust if something is poking at them.

Could even be something in the hay that was sticking up weird and she landed on it. I guess I wouldn't get too worried unless there are multiple birds with problems.

I don't have ramps, so it's possible that's a source of bumble foot. A bird going down at an angle may be unable to stop something from driving into the bottom of the foot. Just a thought, nothing I can prove.

Wide roosts are always better for winter to prevent frostbite if you get cold where you are at.

I'm pretty sure it's something in the environment as one girl (Catherine) has it on both feet and another (Yubaba) has the beginnings of it. Catherine is very large and heavy and Yubaba is very reckless with her coup exit method. She does a kind of rock n' roll flying jump out every morning. So I'm thinking that she doesn't like coming down the ramp. I may experiment with some kind of step down system or just put loads of hay at the exit to make a soft landing site. I will definitely be widening the roosts.

 

[aart]

2 things need to happen for bumblefoot to appear.
A cut to the foot and a staph infection.
Reducing sharp things that could cut a foot is good,
but pretty hard to completely eliminate them.
I've had a number of injured feet and toes here, but very few infections in those cuts.

There's no need to rebuild your coop or pad everything with foam, bad idea anyway, just go thru and sand down any sharp edges.

 

[k2panman]

Even if the bumblefoot isn't caused by the sharp edges, I would just try to remove all the sharp edges if all these things are built from wood. You just need a big wood rasp to knock off the corners. Pretty easy to do, just need to have some muscle. Or you can get a power sander of any kind - even a sanding disk to put on an electric drill.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Our biggest chicken girl has very serious bumblefoot so we are having to completely re-think our coop and run....

Large or heavy hens and rooster are more prone to bumblefoot because they repeatedly injure themselves when they fly down from a roost and land heavily on their feet.

 

[StarChicken]

Was the pen, perchance, built in an area that required some trees or scrub to be cut out?

I built my chickens' quarters in a rather wooded area, which meant I had to cut down some trees and scrub bushes. Which left some "trunks" about an inch or two high. My daughter told me they have to be cut level with the ground or my chickens might get bumble foot if they stepped on them.

Being retired and on fixed income, I had to be as frugal as possible, so instead of 2 x 4s, I used one of the smaller trees to build the roosts. I chose one that looked wide enough for the gals and Mr. Roo to sit on comfortably.

 

[StarChicken]

Even if the bumblefoot isn't caused by the sharp edges, I would just try to remove all the sharp edges if all these things are built from wood. You just need a big wood rasp to knock off the corners. Pretty easy to do, just need to have some muscle. Or you can get a power sander of any kind - even a sanding disk to put on an electric drill.

And, if finances aren't a problem, you can get "half round" and nail it to the top of the 2 x 4s. I used 1 x 2s on the ramp up to the roost; not enough to hurt them, because those are naturally "no corners".