baby has foot problem

I get some little curled toes like that now and again. What I do is cut a little circle of some stiff paper the size of a dime or a little bigger. I take some scotch tape, put her little foot on the paper, spread the toes to how they are supposed to be, and tape the paper circle to the bottom of her foot. Make sure the tape is pressed between each toe so it stays flat and spread on its little "booty". A day or two like that and they are usually just fine. It ends up like they are walking on a snow shoe.

 

I have a white wyandotte rooster with the same issue. His name is "hinky toes" and he's a scrappy fellow.

I periodically have to trim his nails because they grow like crazy and aren't naturally worn away.

 

if you search curled toes it has been discussed before, but I don't think anyone has a difinitive answer. I have some ameraucana that hatched fine and then the toes curled. I think some of them got them stuck in the feeders when they got spooked and tried to run. I never had them hatch with it. I hope someone has an answer.

 

What the poster wrote about taping it's toes to stiff paper is what I've read to do but with a styrofoam meat tray or card board (a little stiffer than paper). And I believe I've read for a week. I wouldn't put any of your chicks on wire. The terry cloth is good but hard to keep clean I would imagine. Pine shavings on a solid floor and paper towels on top of the shavings for the first few days until the chicks learn what their food is is the way I've always been told to do it and I know most others do it that way, too. jmho