Poor Boots.

Boots is my White Sultan hen. Normally, she looks so poofy that she can hardly see out from under her little white crest... I think she is actually a rejected Muppet. But when this photo was taken, she had just come out from the shower, and none too happy about it.

I found a spot of blood in the coop yesterday when I let the girls out in the morning, and being the paranoid chicken mother that I am, I had to check everyone over, toes to comb, for injuries. I didn't find anything definitive, but one of Boots' feet seemed to be a little sore, so I decided to take her inside and give her a bath so I could get a closer look. She has such heavily-feathered feet that it's almost impossible to see clear down to the toes without getting her wet - and I figured if I was going to get her legs soaked anyway, why not do the whole hen?

Turns out that she had an injured feather shaft that was a little bloody. I don't know if one of the other hens picked at her feet, or if she might have injured it some other way - but I got it cleaned up and disinfected, and it seems much better today.

Hopefully I won't be bathing any more chickens anytime soon, but hey, I'll try anything once. I'm not sure that Boots would agree.