Fused toes

[Wellsken]

I hatched out a dozen black copper maran chicks this past weekend. One of them really struggled getting out of the shell. When he finally got out, he was covered in the membrane and dried fluids from his egg. He could not get onto his feet, and I figured he would die. Two were in similar shape, lying on their backs with their their little legs and feet extended. I was nearlyr eady to give up after watching them struggle for nearly a day, but finally decided to give the little fellows a warm bath to get the egg remains off of them. Surprisingly, they both were up on their feet in the incubator within fifteen minutes of the bath.

During the bath, I noticed one of the little chicks has two toes on each foot which are fused together by the skin. Has anyone had this happen, and if so, is there a remedy for such a circumstance? I cant justify huge vet bills for one little chick. Anyone had such a chick grow to maturity? Do other chickens pick at the abnormal one until they destroy it?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi.

Yes, egg membrane dried on chicks is very debilitating. I have had wings glued to heads. When most my eggs hatch fine I figure the one with extra moisture must have had a thicker shell quality.

I have hatched well over 100 chicks and just recent hatched 2 black copper Marans with fused toes (one each in consecutive hatches).... Since the chicks seemed well and not struggling due to the toes at all.. I included for free in my sell, the first one. The second one is getting a chance to grow out, though I'm not 100% sure why I chose to give it a chance. If it's a boy we will eat it anyways and the toes were no big deal. If it's a female I will have to make the choice to eat or rehome where they won't be breeding. They should lay eggs perfectly fine. No, I do not think this minor of deformity will be noticed by others or cause major issue later.

That being said... my first hatch that had a power outage resulted in a couple chicks with bent toes... which I let live... they did end up with some trouble walking later on, and I figure they likely can't roost as normal. The female went to another home (for free) to be friends with another cripple (who she ended up out performing) and the male went to freezer camp. IF I ever face bent toes again, I will cull. Yes, they can *sometimes* be fixed at hatch, but I breed for vitality. I also cull for splay leg NOW. It's a learning process what is or isn't acceptable to YOU. My fused toe babies were only on one foot. I might have culled for both feet, I'm not sure!

Both fused toe incidents were within the past month so they haven't grown yet for me to know the results. Since it has just started happening to me and I have only one hen different... I think I know who is throwing the fused toes, and if I continue to see them will eliminate her from my breeding stock since I never had them before hatching from her. She is a pretty gal who doesn't have fused toes herself... it must be a hidden flaw. Breeding is interesting and can be very challenging.

I also would not be seeking a vet bill for this issue. But I probably wouldn't try to separate it myself either. I guess it depends on how this grow out goes if I will cull immediately in the future for fused toes.

If you aren't planning to breed, grow it out and see what happens. If you are, you can grow it out for eating, Since you will have to do something with your extra boys anyways and start somewhere with processing... If you don't need to feed the extra mouth, cull now either to a pet home or the trash (maggot bucket, snake feed, whatever you are comfortable with).

Please note... if they came from a breeder, I would be sure to let them know. I want to know everything that people discover about birds they got (or hatched) from me. I cannot fix what I don't know!

Hope your babies are wonderful!

 

[Wellsken]

Thanks, I contacted the egg supplier and let them know. They have not seen it before, so I will see how he does. Interestingly, he tries to roost and is moving fairly well. I am a softy and will probably hold on to him out of curiosity.

Thanks for the input. I appreciate it.

 

[chickens really]

Genetic defect..Should still be okay. Don't use for breeding.