As with many conditions that differ from normal, sore feet and legs are
generally only the end result of conditions which may have no apparent
connection. However, if the cage and perches are not kept clean, if the
bird does not bathe regularly, or if the perches are the wrong size or
are coated with gravel, it becomes necessary to correct these obvious
errors in management. When a bird is ailing it will often refuse its
bath, and its feet are likely to become quite dirty. The corrective
measure here is to put the bird on a normal seed and green food diet
with rich additions such as egg food only during the moulting and
breeding seasons.
In older birds, scales on the legs and toes will very often build up
rather than slough off, causing an unsightly and sometimes a painful
condition. These can be softened with a little olive oil and gently
removed without injury to the bird. Heavy callouses on the bottom of a
bird's feet may be due to improper perching or to a fungus growth. In
hot, humid climates the latter is a possibility, and it is suggested
that you ask your druggist for a small amount of one of the new
fungicides for trial. Perches should be made of soft wood and should
never be gravel coated.
If the sore feet are accompanied by overgrown claws it may be that a
joint was strained due to the claw catching somewhere in the cage. The
remedy, of course, is to keep the claws properly trimmed.