Finches feet covered in dry hard muck.

[finchbob]

A bunch of my hecks finches have somehow gotten their feet covered in dry hard muck, big clumps of it, some much worse than others. Do I need to remove it and if so how can I do it? I tried soaking it with warm water but it just won't come off and I don't want to accidently harm them.

[cindy]

Can you post a picture? What kind of substrate do you have at the bottom of your cage?

[finchbob]

Had newspaper, i'm moving them out to the big aviary now anyway, the flight I had them in wasn't that big and they seemed to be scared of the nests easily every time i entered the room. This problem only started since I put them into the new smaller flight.

My quails occasionally get this problem, it's just like hard balls of crap that have built up on their toes and hardened. It's easier to remove from the quals though because quails are a bit less fragile, those fat little dumplings.

[cindy]

Is it like droppings that hardened maybe from standing or sitting in nests? Warm water soaks should loosen it up.

I agree finches are squirmy and harder to handle than some birds. You're afraid with some you'll squish them.

[monotwine]

The finches should clean their own feet, but perhaps its too tough for them. Anything sticky that they can perch on. Wood sap etc.
Are you sure its just dirt and muck? How long have their feet looked like that?
I had something like this once when I kept Zebras. Used to look like they kept standing in their own poop, but landed up being low grade scale mite infection. Once I got rid of the mites, I never had dirty feet again.

[L in Ontario]

I received a finch that had hard encrusted stuff on a couple of his toes - so hard and for so long it started to get infected. I caught him and applied a thin layer of Neosporin or Polysporin - any antibiotic ointment. It is soothing and really helped. I lightly applied it for a few days in a row and his toes clear up completely! I love to see soft supple feet on fids!

[CandoAviary]

If you apply any antibiotic ointment ( I like terramycin) it will help with infections but also the petroleum base in the above mentioned products will actually smother the mites if applied on a daily basis...also clearing up a mite infestation.
And if it turns out to be poop...the petroleum product will soften it making removal easy.

Many old timey breeders used vaseline to smother mites and condition feet to keep them supple. Canaries are prone to leg problems..they even get varicose veins . The vaseline works like a charm.... but messy and if the birds ingest too much can get intestinal problems. I had a canary one time it got globs of vaseline on the perch then he wiped his beak and apparently coated his nostrils.... Later I saw him breathing through his mouth and thought...oh boy ...not air sac mites too. I caught him up to have a closer listen and thats when I saw all the grease....lol Poor thing couldn't breath through his nostrils.
I learned to use less.