9 chicks with potential foot and nose issues

[Magpie2]

Hello! We recently started raising chicks. The first batch is a happy, healthy group of four, still super friendly and cuddly at 12 weeks old. The second batch is a group of nine and although they seem to be thriving so far, I have a few concerns.

Firstly, the Spitzhauben chick seems to be missing the tip of its middle toe and its nose might be malformed. I’m new to chickens in general but I’ve never seen a chick’s nares take this kind of shape. Also the toe with the missing tip almost seems like it might have nails growing from the side???

When we picked up the chicks from the breeder, he offered a D’uccle chick with a foot deformity for free. A few days later when comparing the photos I took when we brought them home (March 1) to some more recent photos (March 4), I noticed that the spitz was missing the tip of its toe in both pictures. Remembering the D’uccle from the breeder’s I decided to do a once over on them all.
4/9 seem to have potential deformities. I suspect there may have been an issue late in incubation as none are related. Apart from the spitz, all of those with toe issues have feathered legs and are only clearly displaying issues on the outer toes (the ones with feathers)

Bantam Cochin at 3-4 days
Outer toes are small and show no signs of any nails.

Belgian D’uccle 3-4 days
Outer toes are small and may be slightly twisted on one side.

Gold-laced Brahma 3-4 days
Both outer toes are small, one side in particular is very small and the nail doesn’t seem to grow or curve properly. I tried to gently bend the toe and I think something’s not quite right on the inside too. I’m most concerned about this one as it will grow to be quite large and can’t compensate with its wings like the other three. There is one other Brahma chick that I suspect hatched a little earlier (the biggest and the most energetic on arrival), that one has perfect toes which make for good comparison.

Partridge Brahma day 1
(Day 3-4 pic didn’t have feet)
No issues. Huge. Day 3-4 weighed 58g.

Any ideas on what we should do? These are going to be almost pet birds so we’ll be giving them the best care that we can. Does the Spitzhauben’s nose look okay?Do you think it lost the tip of the toe somehow at one day old or was it born like that?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Doesn't look like there is anything you can do but give them care like you would any other chicks and see how it goes.

Likely some type of developmental or genetic issues. Could be poor incubation.
Personally, I would not source birds from the breeder any more and I would not breed these bird either. As far as them being pets that give you eggs, probably they can have a long healthy life with you.

 

[Magpie2]

Doesn't look like there is anything you can do but give them care like you would any other chicks and see how it goes.

Likely some type of developmental or genetic issues. Could be poor incubation.
Personally, I would not source birds from the breeder any more and I would not breed these bird either. As far as them being pets that give you eggs, probably they can have a long healthy life with you.

I don’t plan on purchasing from this breeder again. We’re hoping to have a mixed flock with a few roosters though, would mixed breeds have fewer of these potential issues?

Also I was trying to figure out if there’s something wrong with the spitz’s nose but all I can find is that crested breeds have “cavernous” nostrils but no pictures actually close enough to see the nose well, match the chick’s.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Just FYI: Spitzes have large, weird nostrils. The beak looks normal to me from what I can see on my phone.

The feet thing is def abnormal, though.

Here's mine. You can see her big ol' dragon nostrils:

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I don’t plan on purchasing from this breeder again. We’re hoping to have a mixed flock with a few roosters though, would mixed breeds have fewer of these potential issues?

Possibly you may have few issues if you start with healthy birds that have no issues to begin with, there's always potential for something odd to crop up, incubation practices can be poor, etc. etc. (things can go wrong). This is why I would not birds that have issues for breeding. It's fine to keep them for pleasure, eating, eggs, etc. etc., you just want to breed forward with the best ones.

 

[Magpie2]

Just FYI: Spitzes have large, weird nostrils. The beak looks normal to me from what I can see on my phone.

The feet thing is def abnormal, though.

Here's mine. You can see her big ol' dragon nostrils:View attachment 3022061
View attachment 3022060

Glad to hear it but is it normal for there to be openings on the top too? This chick has nostril openings on the top and side if you look closely

 

[Magpie2]

Possibly you may have few issues if you start with healthy birds that have no issues to begin with, there's always potential for something odd to crop up, incubation practices can be poor, etc. etc. (things can go wrong). This is why I would not birds that have issues for breeding. It's fine to keep them for pleasure, eating, eggs, etc. etc., you just want to breed forward with the best ones.

We’d have to split them from the rest of the flock to avoid any breeding unfortunately. I’ll just have to try not to incubate any of their eggs I suppose, hopefully I’ll be able to tell who’s whose once they start laying. We have two very healthy pullets (different breeder), an Ameraucana and a Faverolles due to start laying in may, if the Faverolles lays pink, there shouldn’t be issues there at least.

 

[Eggcessive]

Could the little spitzhauben have had it’s beak pecked by the others?

 

[Aunt Angus]

Glad to hear it but is it normal for there to be openings on the top too? This chick has nostril openings on the top and side if you look closely

Oh. I can't see that on my crappy phone screen. I'm sorry. I was hoping I was bearing good news.

 

[Magpie2]

Could the little spitzhauben have had it’s beak pecked by the others?

I don’t think it’s an injury, I haven’t seen any blood and they have plenty of space to move away from each other if they fight (although I don’t think they have). It would have had to have happened within the first day of hatching but I would assume they’re too tired to attack each other within the first 24 hours.