Chick has toe injury

[larca83]

I'm seeking advice for a toe injury on one of my 2 week old chicks. She had the injury when I brought her home from the feed store at 2 days old. Her toe looked broken or deformed. It was curved upward and appeared to have a little bruise on it. It did not seem to affect her at all.

As days went by, the toe started to look kind of "dead" and many informed me that it would probably fall off and she'd be fine without it. For two weeks she has been running around and scratching with that foot normally, it doesn't appear to hurt her at all. The people at the feed store suspected that the toe was injured during shipping or was caught on a feeder or something like that. Same advice - keep an eye on it, it will probably fall off.

It looks different today. I see some redness on it that looks like it could be dried blood. It is not currently bleeding and I haven't seen any chicks pecking at it. The chick is still acting normally. I've included a photo of what it looks like. The toe is kind of twisted and turned upward (always has been) and you can see the little bit of red in the photo. Is there something I should do for her? Should I put something like Neosporin on it in case there is an open wound? Does she need to see a vet?

Thanks in advance.

 

[fried green eggs]

Poor thing. How does she react if you just touch it? They grow really fast at this age. You could make a bootie for crooked toe and see if you can still fix it but would need to be done yesterday. My guess is a vet would amputate it.
or You could just spray it with Blue Kote (avail at farm/feed stores - it's an antiseptic and purple so would hide red color). See how it looks after weekend. Good Luck

 

[aggiemae]

The problem I see it the potential for continue to re injury while doing regular chicken things, so if you can afford the cost amputation might be a good idea.

 

[CinnamonQueen12]

It looks like it got caught on something like they said in the store. If the toe was bent or broken at a young age when the bones are soft, maleable (did i spell that right?), and growing quickly, there is most likely nothing you can do. The other chicks are most likely pecking on it, and it might hurt, even though the chick isn't showing any signs of pain. I agree with aggiemae; it might be best if you could get it amputated. The only side effect might be a slight loss of balance, which your chick might learn to live with. We adopted a young chick who had been in a scuffle with a hawk and lost 2 toes on one of her feet. She walks and runs fine, but she has some trouble sticking her landings when she jumps off of things, and she has trouble jumping onto the roost. But for your chick, if its such a small section of the toe, he or she should be fine! Good luck!

 

[Keggen]

Something similar happened to one of my chicks on her first day when I was bringing her home. I think the little box was too cramped and someone pecked her foot. I left it alone because I didn't think there was much we could do at just a few days old. It was bloody and icky looking for about 3 or 4 days, then turned blackish for about as many day and then one day the part that had been injured was gone and just the tip of it had a tiny bit of blood, kind of like a scab. That was there for a day or so and now it is totally healed up. If you decide not to take her to the vet you should watch for it to get to the black stage soon.

The chick I have seems totally fine with her foot like it is. Hope your chickie heals up soon!

 

[larca83]

@fried green eggs: When I touch the toe, she either stands there looking around as usual or will stop moving completely.

I will definitely see about getting it amputated. I would hate for it to get re-injured. And for right now I can grab some Blue Kote at my farm store.

Thank you so much for your advice!

 

[fried green eggs]

Glad to hear it doesn't seem to painful. I'm sure she will do well without that little piece of her toe and will not even miss it. Should be a very quick procedure for the vet and shouldn't cost you a ton.