Family , Grandad kept them and my Father and 4 of his Brothers and a couple of cousins . used to be a Garden full of us on a race day watching and waiting .i was often asked to pick the pooler for Saturday , and had a better hit rate than most earning a glass bottle of lemonade and a packet of salt n shake crisps if correct. i had a dovecote in the garden of an old house i had in Wales, all white birds. took a holiday and asked a friend to feed them , came back to find a blue hen had taken up residence. followed a few weeks later by an un-rung red cheq cock ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, you can guess the rest i am sure
had a few that havent hatched Colin (4 eggs) in 4 nests and 1 hen didnt lay . i expected worse due to the age of many of my stock .that was from 9 pairs . 2 hens aged 10 years ,1 at 9 and 1 6 yr old were responsible . not fussed
i dont think so , what about other birds in the town , i bet they all have there toes what ?? that why all the dog-walkers have such problems too eh ? i have read its a condition known commonly as "bumble foot" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblefoot_(infection)