cityeggs
Songster
I recently got an olive egger (local breeder cross) pullet who I've now figured out has both brachydactyly and some sort of wing feather anomaly. The combination of both seems to mean that she has significant balance problems and periodically falls over and then struggles to get back up. In fact, I’m pretty sure she was stuck in the nest box all of yesterday bc she couldn’t get her feet underneath her until I found her last night and righted her 
.
I’ve done a search, but I haven’t found posts mentioning balance issues with brachydactyly, or much in the way of flight feather anomalies - or reports of chickens for whom these pose significant problems. I will try to post pictures later - I need another person to help get good photos esp of the wings, and we’re also right in the middle of an “atmospheric river” of rain. With my minimal knowledge, but just comparing her to my other hens, it looks like her flight feathers are too spread out to be functional ( I don’t know if maybe some are missing, or they just have too much space between them) and also seem to be overly curved - the middle sections stick out from her body when at rest, and they never fully tuck up like everyone else's. She is no longer able to get herself up on the lowest ~8” roosting bar (at one point, she was able to get both there and flap/hop to the upper 18” roosting bar somehow, though never gracefully).
She was very slow to develop - slow to feather, or have anything more than baby wings for a long time, similar to another different cross-breed from the same breeder who seemed have some genetics from one of the large, slow-developing breeds (Cochin? Brahma?). Because of that, it’s only recently that it was clear that her wing feathers were not going to change/mature anymore. Because I got her as a started chick, I didn’t spend as much time handling her as I have previous chicks. She has feathered shanks and outer toe, so it was also not obvious without close inspection (only prompted by her balance issues) that her toe was too short bc the feathers covered it from the time that I got her. I do remember her being unsteady when I taught the babies to climb the ramp to the coop at bedtime, but hoped it was just bc she was less developed than the other chick of same age different breed.
I know these conditions aren’t going to get better. I’m just trying to think of ways we could modify her environment to make life easier for her. I’ve been letting her sleep in the nest box for the moment bc she can’t get to the roosting bar, and, as part of the young sub-flock, does get chased a fair amount. Occasionally, she'll sleep under her sub-flock mates when they roost on the lower bar.
My kids want to build her either an elevator, an escalator, or toe prosthetics
. Has anyone tried to make chicken prosthetics before??? It would be great if that fixed her falling over issues, but it seems like it would be difficult to design and make to be reliable.
I’m thinking more on the lines of giving her the nest box she prefers but take out the board that keeps the nesting material in (bc I’ve seen her trip over the board and fall in), and adding another nest box out in the run so that one always stays clean and no one tries to sleep in it. Or maybe putting a 2x4 flat or just off the floor for her to “roost” on, and closing the nest boxes at night completely. At the moment, the nest boxes are very popular for sleeping and not for laying, with all of my mature hens molting and only one continuing to lay through the molt. That would prevent her from getting stuck - when she has enough room to use her wings, she can usually right herself when she turtles. I’ll also probably need to make a longer, more gradual ramp up to the coop, and a ramp on either side of the automatic door. Any other ideas?? While I would prefer not to cull her, I also don’t have a whole lot of time to devote to the care of a special needs chicken, so I’m trying to think of ways to prevent her from getting stuck without having to constantly check on her.
I've seen the t-shirt slings - but I don't think she needs that, yet, at least.
And - should I let the breeder know? It seems like the issues are both genetic and significant enough that they should be alerted and abandon that breeding project. Do you agree? I have no rooster, nor do I ever intend to breed, so there’s no concern of this pullet passing on these traits directly.
.I’ve done a search, but I haven’t found posts mentioning balance issues with brachydactyly, or much in the way of flight feather anomalies - or reports of chickens for whom these pose significant problems. I will try to post pictures later - I need another person to help get good photos esp of the wings, and we’re also right in the middle of an “atmospheric river” of rain. With my minimal knowledge, but just comparing her to my other hens, it looks like her flight feathers are too spread out to be functional ( I don’t know if maybe some are missing, or they just have too much space between them) and also seem to be overly curved - the middle sections stick out from her body when at rest, and they never fully tuck up like everyone else's. She is no longer able to get herself up on the lowest ~8” roosting bar (at one point, she was able to get both there and flap/hop to the upper 18” roosting bar somehow, though never gracefully).
She was very slow to develop - slow to feather, or have anything more than baby wings for a long time, similar to another different cross-breed from the same breeder who seemed have some genetics from one of the large, slow-developing breeds (Cochin? Brahma?). Because of that, it’s only recently that it was clear that her wing feathers were not going to change/mature anymore. Because I got her as a started chick, I didn’t spend as much time handling her as I have previous chicks. She has feathered shanks and outer toe, so it was also not obvious without close inspection (only prompted by her balance issues) that her toe was too short bc the feathers covered it from the time that I got her. I do remember her being unsteady when I taught the babies to climb the ramp to the coop at bedtime, but hoped it was just bc she was less developed than the other chick of same age different breed.
I know these conditions aren’t going to get better. I’m just trying to think of ways we could modify her environment to make life easier for her. I’ve been letting her sleep in the nest box for the moment bc she can’t get to the roosting bar, and, as part of the young sub-flock, does get chased a fair amount. Occasionally, she'll sleep under her sub-flock mates when they roost on the lower bar.
My kids want to build her either an elevator, an escalator, or toe prosthetics
. Has anyone tried to make chicken prosthetics before??? It would be great if that fixed her falling over issues, but it seems like it would be difficult to design and make to be reliable.I’m thinking more on the lines of giving her the nest box she prefers but take out the board that keeps the nesting material in (bc I’ve seen her trip over the board and fall in), and adding another nest box out in the run so that one always stays clean and no one tries to sleep in it. Or maybe putting a 2x4 flat or just off the floor for her to “roost” on, and closing the nest boxes at night completely. At the moment, the nest boxes are very popular for sleeping and not for laying, with all of my mature hens molting and only one continuing to lay through the molt. That would prevent her from getting stuck - when she has enough room to use her wings, she can usually right herself when she turtles. I’ll also probably need to make a longer, more gradual ramp up to the coop, and a ramp on either side of the automatic door. Any other ideas?? While I would prefer not to cull her, I also don’t have a whole lot of time to devote to the care of a special needs chicken, so I’m trying to think of ways to prevent her from getting stuck without having to constantly check on her.
I've seen the t-shirt slings - but I don't think she needs that, yet, at least.
And - should I let the breeder know? It seems like the issues are both genetic and significant enough that they should be alerted and abandon that breeding project. Do you agree? I have no rooster, nor do I ever intend to breed, so there’s no concern of this pullet passing on these traits directly.
