9 chicks with potential foot and nose issues

[Magpie2]

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

It’s good to know that they tend to be a bit weird to begin with. It means that they might be just a little weirder than the other weirdos.

 

[Aunt Angus]

It’s good to know that they tend to be a bit weird to begin with. It means that they might be just a little weirder than the other weirdos.

I hope so. I love mine. She's clever and very friendly. Not to mention she's great yard candy!

 

[Magpie2]

I hope so. I love mine. She's clever and very friendly. Not to mention she's great yard candy!

Aww! We’re very excited to have a couple cold hardy breeds since we’re in Canada (-30C at least, every year). The Spitzhauben and a Swedish Flower are our first breeds from freezing climates. I can’t wait to get to know them as they grow.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

That's weird. Definitely don't buy from them again.
I don't expect the chicks to have any issues caused by the toes though.

 

[Magpie2]

Everyone is still looking good so far. The Spitz was and still is one of the most clever and active chicks, the Cochin was a little concerning initially but it really started to perk up around a week old, the D’uccle is eating like a PIG despite being so tiny, and the Brahma seems to match the other Brahma in activity now. No walking issues as far as I can tell for now.

Brahma 10 days

Cochin Bantam 10 days
You can see how short the outer toe is here.

D’uccle 10 days

Spitzhauben 10 days
You can only see the good foot with some bedding stuck here

 

[Magpie2]

That's weird. Definitely don't buy from them again.
I don't expect the chicks to have any issues caused by the toes though.

The only one I’m really worried about is the Brahma, I don’t want them to strain the rest of the foot to compensate once they get really big.
We had been eyeing another chick from a different breeder and ended up purchasing them and one other from the same hatch. The oldest bird we have (a rooster still under a year. We’re very new) is from this breeder, we like her a lot. I had already mentioned the issues with these guys from the last breeder to her and when we picked up the chicks, she said another buyer of hers was asking about similar things and they may have purchased from him too.
Look at her beauties though! All mixed but relatively easy to guess what kind, all extremely healthy and very friendly.

He’s a master of hugging with his neck

 

[Aunt Angus]

The Brahma may learn to compensate without any trouble. There are birds on BYC that have only 1 leg or foot who manage without any problems, but it's good that you are keeping a close eye in case things go south. They look great so far, all things considered.

 

[Magpie2]

The Brahma may learn to compensate without any trouble. There are birds on BYC that have only 1 leg or foot who manage without any problems, but it's good that you are keeping a close eye in case things go south. They look great so far, all things considered.

That’s good to know. How big are those birds though? I had a disabled budgie as a kid, he couldn’t use his feet at all but because he could fly, it never became an issue, but again he could fly so well because he was tiny. He could hover in place to set himself down gently wherever he wanted to land, on the thin wire door of his cage even. That’s obviously not the case for any chicken but I imagine that the smaller breeds would have an easier time.
I was able to get some new pictures and get another good look at all of their feet just recently and the Brahma only seems to have any real issue with one toe on the right foot so it should be able to compensate with the other foot, thank goodness.

 

[Magpie2]

A little update with pictures. Everyone is very active and gaining weight.

D’uccle 19 days
At this point I think the length of those feet feathers would make the outer toes useless on a bird without issues so this bird should be just fine.

Cochin bantam 19 days
The left foot toe has no nail at all and the right is so small that I can’t imagine it being functional. I think we got a frizzle, we weren’t even aware that the breeder had frizzled Cochins. This is a Cochin right? I would not be surprised if we got the wrong colour or breed at this point. For the record this one is supposed to be a calico Cochin bantam. Also what’s up with those ankle tufts, I have never seen such huge feathers on the ankles!

Spitzhauben 19 days
I swear it looks like it has two tiny nails on the sides of the one toe! The nose is still really weird and asymmetrical but doesn’t seem to be causing issues for now so we’ll just keep an eye on this one. There’s a little tiny comb coming in if you look closely!
We named her “Witchie” because Spitzhauben means pointed hat, now we joke that she ran out of ingredients for a potion and had to use her own toe and a big weird nose is just an occupational hazard.

Gold laced Brahma 19 days
Teeny tiny toe on the right foot with a little nail. Definitely not functional, might not even have bones honestly. The other foot doesn’t look too bad probably, since I don’t have a picture and didn’t commit it to memory.

They’re getting along with everyone and have formed little cliques with the perfectly healthy birds. The D’uccle is always either with the Cochin or the naked neck, the gold laced Brahma likes the frizzled tolbunt Polish, and the Spitzhauben is always in a crowd but I’m not sure if they’re always the same birds. You can see all four of their faces in the picture above, hanging out with their friends.

You can see them here too, just not looking at the camera.

Frizzled tolbunt Polish 19 days
A bonus shot of one of the non-issue chicks because it looks amazing

 

[Magpie2]

Another small update
Everyone is about five weeks in these photos.
The Spitzhauben actually has two nails on one foot. It’s the weirdest thing.

The nose is still looking wonky and asymmetrical too. Is there any chance that this chick is female with this big and red of a crest and wattles?

Everyone else looks good still. I don’t have any new closeups of their feet because the feathers are so thick now and there haven’t been any new concerns.

Unfortunately we did notice that the mottled Houdan also has some toe issues

She’s missing the tips of her right foot middle toe and the left foot extra toe. The back toe pairs are also not the same size on both feet.
However, everyone still seems to be doing well, which is great.