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Most chickens don’t have feathers on their feet, but not all! These feather footed chickens are a sight to behold, and they’re a great addition to any backyard flock. Nevertheless, they do need different kinds of care. Here, we discuss everything you need to know about your feather footed chickens and how best to care for them.
What are feather footed chickens?
Feather footed chickens are, obviously, chickens with feathers on their feet. There are several breeds with this quality. They include the following:
These are just a sampling of all the feather footed chickens out there. There are certainly more! Regardless, it will be easy to spot the feathers on what should be bare feet.
How to care for feather footed chickens
All chickens need food, water, outdoor air, good health, and, of course, lots of love. But how we provide those things will depend on the breed and type of chicken we are dealing with. As we said, feather footed chickens sometimes need different care than non-feather footed chickens. Read on to learn more:
Keep an eye out for leg mites
Feather footed chickens are more susceptible to leg mites than other chickens. This is because the feathers on their legs and feet emerge from beneath the leg scales. These scales make it easy to mites to come in and infest their legs.
Thankfully, leg mites are fairly easy to treat, but you do want to catch it early. So, be sure to check your chickens’ legs for any signs of mites.
Beware of bullies
When you were in school, was there someone who got bullied because they had something the others didn’t? The same can happen with chickens. Birds with fancy feathering can be pecked and bullied by other chickens. If left unattended, you may start to notice your feather footed chicken has blood on their legs due to all the pecking.
As such, you’ll want to nip this in the bud as soon as possible. Provide plenty of space for your chickens to spread out, as well as entertainment so that chickens don’t turn on one another. Additionally, don’t have just one feather footed bird so that they don’t get singled out.
Dirty legs, dirty eggs
That beautiful plumage on their legs and feet doesn’t always stay so beautiful. It can get covered with mud, poop, dirt, and more if you’re not careful. Those dirty legs can then cause the nests to get dirty, which in turn will dirty up the eggs. Not only that, but all that dirt could lead to bacterial infections.
To prevent this, make sure the coop and run are clean and free of mud, dirt, and poop. If you have to, clean your feather footed chickens regularly.
Frostbite
You would think that with all those feathers, then your feather footed chickens would stay warm no matter the season. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. While those feathers do offer some extra protection, they can also get wet and then freeze, making your chicken more susceptible to frostbite rather than less.
If you don’t want your chickens to get frostbite, keep your coop and run dry, clean, and clear of snow and mush in the winter.
For more tips on how to care for your feather footed chickens, or to buy feather footed chickens of your own, contact Chickens for Backyards today!
