11 wk old having foot and walking problems

[spuentes]

I have a chicken that is about 11 weeks old having troubles with its feet and walking. I don't know what kind of bird it is or if it is male or female yet - I'm thinking based on the irridescent tail feathers coming in that it is a boy. We hatched it from a mixed batch of eggs from a neighbor. The coop bedding is straw and wood chips and all the chickens have free range during the day of the yard. They are still being fed starter/grower.

When it walks it is very stiff legged looking and tends to trip and fall on its chest. It seems like sometimes he can't spread its toes out to land proper on its feet, or that he can't support himself on his legs. The toes will be straight (not curled or crooked) when the foot is up but clustered together. When it steps it seems it has to put effort into spreading its feet, when I was trying to get pictures I noticed the toes do sometimes curl under. When he does walk he is able to spread his toes out, though I wasn't able to get a picture of him standing. He has been doing this for about a week and is not getting better. ( I suppose I should mention his back toes are forked, maybe he has other genetic defects as well??). The chicken mostly sits on its hocks but can move around to the food and water, just very akwardly and slowly. When he hurrys (when I get near or other chickens pick on it) is when he is more likely to trip. He does not sleep on the perch with the other chickens but on the ground.

Is this likely to get better? What do I do? I have some poly-vi-sol, should I be giving that or something else?

 

[LindsayB]

Wow, those are some really weird yet cool toes! lol. I know you said that he has been doing this for about a week, but did he walk normally when he was younger? Is he still eating and drinking okay? I'm by no means an expert but maybe its a vitamin deficiency. I would try giving him the poly-vi-sol, it wouldn't hurt and keep him comfortable. Hopefully someone else can help you out more.