7 week-old having trouble walking..........

[gabby3535]

I have a 7 week-old Black Copper Marans pullet who is having trouble walking.
She 'does' have deformed feet/fused toes, and I am told this is one of the genetic effects of breeding closely for
the very brownest of brown eggs in the breed.
She has been vaccinated for Mareks; she is eating and drinking fine.......(she always has fresh water, with ACV; and is being fed
organic chick starter feed; as well as chick grit and an occasional treat.........mealworms, which she eats like candy!)

Here are the symptoms which I am distressed about..................
She tends to stand 'upright' (vs more 'horizontal' like the rest of the girls), with feathers fluffed, most of the time.
She walks as if she were drunk............tripping, stumbling, stepping on her own feet, etc.
If she jumps off of anything (step, roost, chicken ladder, etc) she lands on her chest or face (poor baby), vs her feet.
If I hold her on my lap, and pet her, she will fall asleep..........and if I then set her down, on her side.........she will just
continue to lie on her side..........vs 'righting' herself onto her feet.
To me, it seems as if she doesn't have enough 'spread' of toes for correct balance.........but I may be wrong!
None of her toes faces somewhat backwards, like the other chicks............so I am assuming this would also contribute to her trouble balancing?
But I need to know if she is suffering in anyway, or might be in pain, due to her deformed and fused toes?
Should I just let her be my 'special' chicken............or end her misery? (Is 'she' in misery, based on what I've written, or is it
just ME?!?!?!)
Here are some pictures of her feet.......... Any thoughts or advice appreciated!

 

[debakadeb]

You might want to try taping her feed down flat using moleskin. That might help her keep her balance a bit better. I think a picture I saw the person cut a piece of cardboard the approximate size of the foot and then use moleskin to tape the cardboard to her foot. Hope you find something that works.

 

[chickensioux]

You can try to tape her feet. It looks like "curly toes". You will have to make a shoe out of tape. Look up threads regarding curly toes and you will find lots of pics to show you how to tape its feet.
If it is more than just balance, I'm not sure what it is that is wrong.
Good luck and I would definately tape the feet.

P.S. I have a special needs chick that I know some would have culled but I couldn't. She has grown very little but otherwise is fine.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

You say they're Marans...in all honesty, it looks like those toes are webbed together. It is apparently a defect that is becoming more and more common in the Marans breeding area...

 

[gabby3535]

yes, her toes 'are' webbed together....(I called them 'fused' in my post, the incorrect term)........and I also stated that it
was a genetic fault in Marans.
The long middle toe is webbed (and turned sideways) to the shorter 'outer' toe.......therefore limiting the actual 'spread'
of her feet
I'm not sure what 'taping' her feet would do though..............they 'bend' appropriately, and the bottom of her feet
'are' flat against the ground............
Could I have my vet cut the webbing to free the two toes?????
Is there a lot of vascularity in the webbing itself???

Also, I neglected to mention that she sometimes 'goosesteps' when she walks............raises her feet a lot higher than
necessary for normal locomotion.

Anyhow..........does anyone think she is suffering or in pain due to this deformity?
Or will she just cope because this is all she's ever known?

 

[gabby3535]

And re the "curly toes"..........it is probably hard to tell from the pictures, but her long, middle toe is actually pulled to the
side by the webbing..........which has it attached to the outer toe. It is not just curled sideways and 'free'..............but
pulled that way due to the web.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

taping the toes at her age will not help her get better
she can and has learned to walk like she is
here is what I would do
feed her the
natural probiotic wet mash with Vit E and Vit B complex in it

and have your self a special chicken
but do know if she lays and you hatch her eggs she will probably give you more of these kind of chickens so I would not hatch her eggs

(1 in the chickens water put 1 tbsp ACV in the water
Do this till after the chicken is better. Should be able to put the ACV water in a small waterer for the chicken put 1 tbsp to pint of water for the chicken

or if she is left with others put 1 tbsp of ACV to 2 qts of watwer

(2 immediately give the chicken 1000 mg capsule of liquid Vit E by cutting the end of the capsule and taking the vit E capsule and add to the wet mash probiotic listed below.

(3 also need to crush a vit B complex pill in a tbsp and put it into a tsp of water and put it in the wet mash probiotic

(3-B Do both Vit's twice today then twice a day for 7 days till you see some improvement in the chicken
put the vitamins opened and crushed in the wet mash

then give twice a week for two weeks should see much improvement

(4 I would do step 2 and 3 by giving her some of the wet mash
I give here to build up her gut flora with the milk an yogurt

(4-B you can cut the tip off the vit E and put in wet mash
also crush the Vit B Complex in tabsp and put it in the wet mash to get her going now

(5 today I would see if the chicken will eat a
natural probiotic wet mash
2 tsp of dry crumbles
3-1/2 tsp of milk sweet, sour or buttermilk
1 tbsp of non flavored yogurt
mix good and put the
vit E liquid as directed in the wet mash
and crumble the Vit B complex tablet in a tabsp and add to the wet mash
add more dry crumbles if too soupy.

(6 Do this twice a day for 7 days to see if the chicken gets better
then do this once a day for another week then once a week for a while
this should give the nervous system some stability

(6-B this will give the chicken the stability of maybe helping the chicken get more able to walk steadier and maybe she will be able to correct her walking.
I do hope that it will help your chicken
the natural probiotic and vitamins will give the nervous system some help.

(7 you can email by PM for more information and include this inf so I remember what is happening

 

[gabby3535]

Oh, Jeeeez!
Tonight, the little web-toed one was hunkered down against the wall, in a pile with the others........when someone
tried to get past her, by going between her and the wall.
She rolled over, and lay on her back, feet in the air..........tiny soft peeps.
She stayed like that for, oh, 5-10 seconds......then 'righted' herself..........................
What the heck is up with THAT?!?!?!
Is she just weak or does this sound neurologic???
Somebody help!!!