What's wrong with my feet ?

jgs001

jgs001

Brian Cox
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Had the first Chaffinches in the garden last weekend... that we've seen... I managed to get a couple of shots in bad light and poor conditions... anyway.. there were 3, this one has something odd going on with it's feet and logs... the other two looked normal... Any ideas ?

IMG_9552.jpg


Thanks for looking
 
Thanks for the thoughts...

Artyman, they've not gone on our feeder, as far as I know, and I do clean and disinfect them...
 
Unfortunately it's not just the the feeders but the whole area which can get get a mite infestation. Chaffinches are ground feeders so rarely visit hanging perches but feed below them and therefore suffer from other birds poo etc. from above. Turning the soil over will help your ground feeding birds as will moving feeder regularly. Bleaching the decking will help too!

HTH:)
 
I am not an expert on bird disease's but I am fairly sure this is a condition called bumble foot, chaffinches are prone to it, we see it a lot in my area. They seem to carry on ok and feed alright, but if there are long term problems I dont know. This one looks like quite a bad case compared to the ones I have seen, Its worth doing a Google search to see if there is any more information available about the condition, I'll take a look.




A quick search produced a lot of articles, this is an extract from "A Wilder Part of Britain"

http://www.wildrossendale.co.uk/Garden-Wildlife-Guide.html


A number of different agents may cause swellings on the legs and feet of wild birds. Some of these are caused by mites of the genus Knemidocoptes and result in scaly legs. The 'scales' themselves are dry encrustations made up of material produced by the bird in response to the irritation caused by the mites, together with skin debris thrown up by the mites as they burrow into the tissues. As well as forming on the legs, the 'scales' may also form around the beak. These mites are members of a wider family of mites that cause mange in domestic animals and scabies in humans.



Another cause of warty growths is the Fringilla papillomavirus which affects Chaffinches and Bramblings. These growths may vary in size from small nodules to larger warts that engulf the whole leg. The warts develop slowly over a long period and affected individuals may otherwise appear quite healthy. Some individuals may become lame or lose affected digits.


Wounds on the feet may become infected by bacteria, resulting in the formation of abscesses - sometimes referred as 'bumblefoot' by poultry breeders.
 
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Thanks for the info. The decking does get cleaned, but not as often as the feeders... I'll include the decking at the same time as the feeders.

This one bird is the only one I've seen that's affected, and it doesn't seem to be hampered in any way, it's moving around fine, feeding etc.
 
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