How many toes does a chick usually have??

BarefootMom

Songster
9 Years
Jul 20, 2010
1,581
28
216
Half Way, Missouri
Strange question right? lol I picked up 9 chicks tonight. They are silkie/cochin and silkie/EE crosses... I was looking at the feathered feet when I noticed one of the chicks has 4 toes on one foot and 5 on the other. weird. What causes that? DH said inbreeding would cause it. Well DH and I now are wondering how many toes they are suppossed to have... another chick has 3 on one and 4 on the other...
hu.gif


so anyone know?
tongue.png
 
Not a strange question at all.
smile.png
Different breeds have different numbers of toes. All of mine have 4 except for a silkie cross (5) that snuck in with the chicks I got.
roll.png
 
Last edited:
Silkies and a few other breeds have 5 toes on each foot. The vast majority of other chickens have 4 toes on each foot. When you have pet quality Silkies or Silkie crosses, it's not unusual to have 4 toes on one foot and 5 on the other. It's not inbreeding, just Silkie genetics.
smile.png
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom