Q Dear Practical Poultry,

I keep seven Light Sussex hens. The older hens get dirt trapped in the skin folds between their toes. I've given up trying to clean out the dirt and bandaging. The dirt develops into hard lumps and eventually makes a hole at the top of the feet. Besides culling the hens before they develop this problem, is them any way of avoiding it happening in the first place? Also, could you maybe write something about diseases that affect internal organs? One of my hens died very unexpectedly, aged maybe 15 months. She had not looked seriously ill for about three days before I found her dead. Her liver was a mass of lumps. She was a small red hen, bought (point of lay) from a commercial breeder.

A Older birds get deeper folds in the skin of the feet as the skin and scales thicken with age. Check the keel of the birds affected. If it is difficult to feel the edge of the breastbone then these birds are overweight - this will put mare pressure through the centre of the foot and so increase the likelihood of impaction of these skin clefts with dirt. If these birds are housed, it may be that the bedding is too fine -sawdust instead of shavings, soy, mixed with chicken droppings and the result is almost gluelike.
Most people have problems with balls forming around each of the claws. If the birds are in a run it may help if the run is moved regularly to prevent stripping of the ground cover and exposing the soil, especially if the soil is clay-based. Heavy breed birds tend to carry their weight on the centre of their feet, walking flat-footed when compared to the light breeds, especially as they get older. The other possibility is that the birds, if outside, are walking over rough stone or sharp ground cover This can promote small penetrating wounds between the toes or foreign bodies such as thorns, splinters or even shards of stone leading to tissue reaction and a firm lump being created inside the skin of the foot. Again, finding the cause of these penetrating wounds/foreign bodies, moving the birds and indeed taking some weight off them if necessary, should all help. Bumblefoot is the more usual foot problem, but this is usually found in the centre of the foot, giving a wound in the middle of the sole, so seems unlikely here.
As for as lumpy chicken livers are concerned tumours are obviously a consideration. There are two bird conditions in which lumpy livers are often found The first is Mareks disease, but this bird is on the old side for this (although I have seen a six-year-old Sebright that developed it). Normally birds are affected at point of lay. Paralysis is often a feature if the peripheral nerves are affected, and can be just a dropped wing. There is a genetic susceptibility to this condition and most hybrids are either not susceptible through breeding or vaccinated. Other organs may also be tumourous
Avian leukosis is another condition requiring genetic susceptibility and leads to a grossly enlarged liver and multiple tumours in the abdominal organs. It may be confused with Mareks but there is no paralysis. This is seen occasionally as sporadic cases and some hybrids have been bred to be avian leukosis-free. If the nodules are not of the same sort of tissue as the rest of the liver, but are filled with yellow cheesy material then avian tuberculosis and yersinia pseudotuberculosis have to be considered - both of these are much more serious. Yersinia is transmittable to humans and avian tuberculosis can only be controlled by culling the flock to ensure that infection doesn't persist on the site. I will include internal diseases in future articles.