Activities

(see additional information field)

Additional information

The project HealthyHens provides the following recommendations to help prevent foot pad lesions:



Identify foot pad lesions



Foot pad lesions can easily been overlooked until they become severe and result in a “bumble foot”. The less severe stages are dark round areas on the bottom of the hens’ feet which start really small (smaller than a pinhead). They can only be detected by taking the hen and examining the foot pad. Examination of the feet can be combined with weighing and assessing plumage and pecking wounds.



How to tackle foot pad lesions: hygiene is important



* Keep perches clean



* Make sure the litter is always dry and free flowing



* Prevent wet areas in the outdoor run in front of the pop-holes (so that hens don’t bring wet mud with them into the hen house)



In general, foot lesions appear to be less frequent in hens housed in multi-tier systems.