Baby emu walking on tiptoes

[Surroundedbybirds]

We have several rescued emus. One male came to us injured from capture/transport and has walked up on his toes since he arrived 8 years ago. This spring he & a new emu paired off and hatched a single chick (a surprise since we were told the new emu was also male ) the chick hatched mid-march & is eating & growing well. My concern is that she(?) is very clumsy. She falls on her side regularly, usually the same side. She occasionally seems to stagger a bit before falling. We've noticed that she also walks in her tiptoes and can't tell if the balance issues are related to that or something more that is causing both the clumsiness and the toe walking. Can the strange walk actually be genetic?

 

[casportpony]

@Pyxis, can you help?

 

[Crestcrazy2]

Good luck finding out, I have no experience with emus and I'm no good at genetics so hopefully someone else will come help, also that's the most stinking adorable baby emu ever

 

[Kre8ivechick]

We have several rescued emus. One male came to us injured from capture/transport and has walked up on his toes since he arrived 8 years ago. This spring he & a new emu paired off and hatched a single chick (a surprise since we were told the new emu was also male ) the chick hatched mid-march & is eating & growing well. My concern is that she(?) is very clumsy. She falls on her side regularly, usually the same side. She occasionally seems to stagger a bit before falling. We've noticed that she also walks in her tiptoes and can't tell if the balance issues are related to that or something more that is causing both the clumsiness and the toe walking. Can the strange walk actually be genetic?

Could it be mycobacterium synovia? I know that bacteria can infect the joints and cause birds to walk on their toes. It can also be transmitted through the eggs or directly from bird to bird.