curled toes and looses balance

[jim s]

Hi. My first post. Just got chickens 8 weeks ago, baby chicks. One I noticed today has curled toes, deformed, that she did not have yesterday, at least not that affected her walk. She is having a hard time keeping her balance. She seems to eat fine, I have not seen her drink lately, I picked her up and did not notice anything unusual besides the toes. She is not on a perch tonight. Just standing on the floor of the coop. Any ideas what to do. They do roam free around my yard in the country for a few hours each night. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[lotzahenz]

Welcome to BYC!!!

How old is your chick? Sometimes defects show up as chicks age, sometimes they just get worse and you start to notice them. "Heft" the chick to make sure it has some "weight" to it, if it starts to seem light, it is getting dehydrated on you. Just keep it warm and well fed and it should be ok. I wish you luck with it. Try stretching the toes out at least once or twice a day, this may or may not help. Can't hurt. HenZ

 

[ChickensRuleMe]

I'm really sorry, I hate to say this, but my chicken had the same thing and she died. The best thing i would do is look after her and make her feel special, so, when she dies (if) she knows she was loved.

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

Hi one of my chicks did the same thing. it was sudden and I wanted DH to cull it for me. However he said to wait and see. A week later she was much better and she is now with her siblings doing fine. She is just a little smaller than her siblings. What I did was to immediatly separate her from the two she was with. I gave her water mixed with vitamins and electrolytes. I also gave her infant poly vi sol [vitamin drops without iron, found at walmart or drugstore], vitamin B complex crushed and mixed with yogurt, also kept the medicated chick starter in her feeder.
Good luck!

 

[jim s]

Thank you for the replies. I really appreciate how everyone cares so much for chickens. She is 8 weeks old, I checked on her this morning and she was walking around, though toes still curled. She is drinking and eating ok. I have a neighbor girl, 9 yrs old, who will nurse her better than I. Thank God for neighbors, near and far.

 

[Jonathanq1]

I had that happen as well to a chick just a few weeks old it was 2 toes on the left leg. I didn't know what would happen, but it turns out the chick is now 5 months old and doing great the 2 toes are still curved though. I wish you the best

 

[ROOSTER_ROO]

First off

Second, I have had 2 RIR hens and a RIR roo that have had that happen in both feet. They were from seperate batches and different ages. None of them have had any problems so far. Balancing is a problem at first, but it didn't take them long at all to figure out their center of gravity. They look like a trapeze artist, kinda fun to watch the antics!

They are now 6 months old and the hens are laying, so DON"T GIVE UP ! Good luck and keep us posted. Pics are always good !