Cochin siblings both have one foot with five toes.

[Adanault]

I recently acquired a blue and a blue splash Cochin. I noticed the other day that the splash had a toe with two toes at the very end. Yesterday I noticed the same thing on the blue. Is this a birth defect? Will it affect their walk, balance, etc? It's not a whole toe of its own it just looks like the toe split in two at the very tip. Both "toes" have their own nail. So wierd!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

try looking at pics of silkie chickens, its probably a mix of these two. any dark skin? silkies are black

 

[HEChicken]

Yes, in a sense it is a birth defect. Most likely they are mixed with a breed that has 5 toes, such as a silkie or a sultan. Having 5 toes is basically a birth defect that in certain breeds is common enough that it is now the SOP for those breeds to have 5 toes and missing a toe is undesirable in those breeds. Also a "split" toe, such as you are describing, is undesirable. In 5-toed breeds, the 5 toes should be 5 separate toes.

However you don't need to be concerned about them being off-balance. They will get along just fine. I wouldn't recommend trying to show them or use them as breeders but if you just have them as pets, layers, or for broody hens, they'll do great.

 

[Adanault]

That's kinda what I was thinking. Very interesting. Thanks for the reply!

 

[Adanault]

As far as I can tell they don't look like it.

 

[LTygress]

I had a chick born about 6 weeks ago with all 8 toes badly curled. But he has learned to walk just fine, jumps fine, lands fine, etc. I tried to correct it when he was fresh out of the egg, but since all eight toes were affected, his legs just twisted right out of the splint as he walked, and it wouldn't stay on more than 30 seconds.

If he can adapt with all EIGHT toes being mis-shapen, yours should have no problem with a single split toe. As long as you can handle the oddity, and they hatched out that way, he should be just fine. As a matter of fact, if the extra part of the toe has working bones and muscles, it would further ENHANCE his balance by giving his foot more surface contact.

 

[roostersandhens]

Can I see a picture? just because I am curious.

 

[HEChicken]

I had a chick born about 6 weeks ago with all 8 toes badly curled. But he has learned to walk just fine, jumps fine, lands fine, etc. I tried to correct it when he was fresh out of the egg, but since all eight toes were affected, his legs just twisted right out of the splint as he walked, and it wouldn't stay on more than 30 seconds.

If he can adapt with all EIGHT toes being mis-shapen, yours should have no problem with a single split toe. As long as you can handle the oddity, and they hatched out that way, he should be just fine. As a matter of fact, if the extra part of the toe has working bones and muscles, it would further ENHANCE his balance by giving his foot more surface contact.

It should still be possible to correct a chick with all of its toes curled - whether it is 1 toe or 8 doesn't make a difference. Last spring I bought a chick at the feed store that was fine at the time but a week later its toes started to curl . Within days, all 8 toes were curled under, and it could no longer walk. By now it was a week and a half to two weeks old. I made it some little "shoes" by cutting discs out of an old cereal box, basing the diameter of the discs on the size the feet would be when the toes were straightened. I used Vet Wrap to fasten a disc to the bottom of each of the chick's feet and within days the toes had uncurled and it was walking normally. That chick is now a full-grown pullet and you'd never guess there had ever been anything wrong with her.

 

[Adanault]

 

[Granny Hatchet]

wonder where you got these birds? can you find out if they had silkies in there chickens? im no expert, way far from it but i do have some silkie cross with cochin and they look alot alike.