Chick With Curled Toes

[Blooie]

So Scout is now wearing not-so-pretty shoes. I didn't go for totally natural positioning - I think that's asking too much. So I just went as far in the straightening as they would easily go. He's been trying to get them off already, but if the struggle I had trying to separate two pieces of the Bandaid that I accidentally got stuck together is any indication he'll probably give up. I did.

 

[PoultryPedia]

I hadn't heard that frostbite can cause curling & didn't find any info on it in my little bit of searching I just did.

I'm wondering if there's a possibility that something besides frostbite caused the curling?

As I'm thinking, I'm realizing pain in toes from frostbite could in & of itself cause chick to hold its legs & feet turned in order to minimize painful positions & contact, & the odd stance could over time cause muscles & bones to twist. Is this what you think happened?

If the deformity has developed in 1 week & it's just from postural problems, I'm thinking there's a chance that good chick shoes & bandaging & extra good nutrition could hopefully fix it with a couple weeks treatment.

 

[PoultryPedia]

If it's helpful to know, I've seen a full grown chicken with one foot that look liked his as an adult that seemed to do okay.
Wishing the best for you!

 

[Blooie]

I hadn't heard that frostbite can cause curling & didn't find any info on it in my little bit of searching I just did.

I'm wondering if there's a possibility that something besides frostbite caused the curling?

As I'm thinking, I'm realizing pain in toes from frostbite could in & of itself cause chick to hold its legs & feet turned in order to minimize painful positions & contact, & the odd stance could over time cause muscles & bones to twist. Is this what you think happened?

If the deformity has developed in 1 week & it's just from postural problems, I'm thinking there's a chance that good chick shoes & bandaging & extra good nutrition could hopefully fix it with a couple weeks treatment.

I didn't know frostbite could cause that either, but that's the only thing that's happened to his feet and I've been doing a photo journal of him since he was hatched. His feet were perfectly normal before, and even shortly into the treatments. What I believe is that deep under the skin damage the ligaments were also severely injured and contracted, but your theory makes perfect sense! The only fly in that ointment is that he's been running, flying and landing and roosting on them with no difficulty or signs of any pain so I wonder why they would suddenly start causing him enough pain to result in this. The full chronicle of Scout and his feet can be followed in the link in my signature. That might help you with visualize the severity of the change a little better than anything I can explain with words. Because I don't know the right medical terminology, I haven't been able to be very clear with verbal descriptions.

Like you, I'm hoping that since the contractures came on so fast that they may resolve quickly as well. He's been through so much already. I know that he will always be more susceptible to frostbite, and living in Northern Wyoming there's no way to avoid the cold. I am still prepared to cull him if I need to. He didn't ask for any of this and deserves to live a better life than I think he'd have with his feet like this. The thing holding me back is his strong will to survive, and his healthy, bright-eyed personality. Even with the shoes on he's scratching in the litter and scratching his chin, flying up on top of Mama Heating Pad to roost or look around, and eating, drinking and pooping normally. Is a puzzement!! I sure do appreciate your interest and assistance!

 

[149east]

Hi there, I posted back into this thread about 10 weeks ago with a similar issue, I have now a 12 week old silkie, *one* of her feet looks like your chick's left foot - curled around in a swirly pattern, but definitely walking on toes, not knuckles. With one good foot, and one curled one, she seems to be getting along completely fine! However I do need to say that we tried all sorts of things to fix it - (bandaid shoes, pipe cleaners, plastic straws attached to bandaid soles, different kinds of vet wrap and tape...), and honestly I think in the long run all these attempts were neutral or even made it worse (because her large center toe had the problems, one difficulty we faced was that there wasn't really an 'anchor' point to brace the cast with; when we tried to fix it, it resulted in all the toes going off to the side). So IMO fixing toes can be a mixed bag. I'd assess and try to figure if the chick can get around ok, if it seems distressed or compromised you know what to do but lots of people on this site have reported on their chickens doing just fine with weird toes. Good luck I know how frustrating it is especially when all else seems to be going so great

 

[Kenziem1001]

My chicken has the same problem now she's 2-3 months old and she is starting to have problems and the bigger chickens are starting to be aggressive to her because she can't even really protect herself. What are solutions??? I have noticed it worse as she gets older what do I do???

 

[Blooie]

I don't have any answers for you, I'm afraid. We didn't get full correction on Scout's toes. They look better than they did, but they are a long way from "normal". However, he lives out in the coop with the other chickens, flies off and on the roosts just fine, and is doing very well. He's almost smack in the middle of the pecking order despite his youth and we're happy to have gotten that much. So we've decided to leave well enough alone.


This is the extent of the correction we got after his time in bandages. But he gets around great - super hard to catch because he runs so doggone fast!
Edited to add: You can see Scout's entire adventure by clicking on the link to Scout's adventure with frostbitten feet, in my signature line. There's also a video link.

 

[erica85]

I have a 3 day old white created black polish chick. I got it because she has curled toes on one foot and they were going to get rid of her. I am currently doing the bandaid cast but I have also read that if you NEED to give rivoflavin right away. I can go buy some but how much do I give? Also, is rivoflavin and vitamin B the same? Help!!

 

[PoultryPedia]

It is vit b2. You can scrape a little powder off edge of a pill &nsprinkle on damp oats or other food, or put a few drops of childrens vits (the kind WITHOUT extra iron) in drinking water, or feed foods rich in b2--scrambled egg yolk, almonds chopped up, leafy vegetables, etc.

 

[erica85]

Thank you very much. I bought some Poly-vi-sol at the store. I Have her a couple drops today and added some to her water. Can you give too much? I'm trying to be cautious.