A CRAFTY woman has hatched a plan to fix her chicken's sore feet - by making it a pair of shoes.

Lynn Watson, 47, owns 10 hens, including bluebell chicken Duster - which weighs a hefty 8lbs. The hen has a bad habit of jumping from its coop instead of using the ramp, causing it to damage its feet and contract an infection called bumblefoot, which can be fatal if left untreated.

Ms Watson and her son, Alexander Cragg, have come to the rescue, first cutting out the bacterial infection, then bandaging up the five-year old hen's feet.

And to help it walk around outside, Ms Watson came up with the idea of making a pair of shoes using pink and green gardening gloves.

Alexander, 11, first spotted the infection as he has been looking after his mother's hens for a Scout project.

Ms Watson said: "Bumblefoot is more common in hens that are heavy. Duster tends to tramp down so that probably didn't help -she's a lump.

"I sterilised a craft knife and did a bit of amateur surgery. I put gauze bandages on but she had to stay in the house as they would get all dirty so I made the shoes."

Ms Watson, from Dundee, admitted she had found some hen shoes online but as they were quite expensive she decided to make her own.