Crooked deformed looking feet at hatch question

[SIMZ]

Hello all!

I just hatched my first eggs on Monday/Tuesday with my new incubator. The second chick to hatch had a messed up looking foot with what I would describe at crooked toes. The last one had a very messed up looking foot with curled up toes and a gnarled foot appearance. I was very concerned that they both had "crooked toes" and would have to be culled. Although, as of today, all five of the chicks are running around and I can hardly tell which have the different feet.

The question: Is it not unusual for chicks feet to look strange when they first hatch? Do those problems just work themselves out or will it cause problems down the road?

Thanks!
Stacie

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

Crooked toes is a fairly common thing when hatching chicks in a incubator. It is generally caused by a variation in incubation temperature. Unless it is something genetic, which it usually is not, it can be easily cured withing the first 48 hours. By using tape or the sticky tabs of bandaids, you can straighten out the toes and sandwich them between two pieces of tape. Cut off the excess so that it looks like duck feet. Leave the tape on for 24 hours and then carefully peel it off. If the toes are still crooked then repeat the process for another 24 hours.
The chicks bones are very soft when they are first hatched and it takes aproximately 6 days for them to fully harden. If the crooked toe problem is taken care of in the first 48 hours then you should not have any problem. The chicks go on to live perfectly normal lives.

 

[SIMZ]

Thank you SO much for the valuable info! That is very helpful! What a relief to know that the chickies will probably be just fine, too.