Crooked Middle Toes

[MichelleBelle]

About 2 weeks ago, I was at a Tractor Supply Company type store and saw an overcrowded cage of 2 week old chicks that they had marked down to $1.50 ea and thought what the heck; I'll just buy these guys and give them a better home. This morning when I went to feed/water them, I noticed that ALL the chicks I bought in that batch have foot/toe malformations. The toe appears to be oriented sideways rather than straight, and some are curled. The chicks are not all the same variety- some are RIR and some are PBR. I've never seen this before in the hundreds of chicks I've hatched out, and I'm a bit concerned whether there might be some disease that manifests with malformed toes at the outset. Should I be worried about a contagious pathogen that might infect my healthy flock? On a side note, I hatched out chicks from my own flock at around the same time, and they've been on the same feed and none of those chicks have curled toes.

Update: I just went out to their little coop to try and get a picture of the deformity and observed one of the chicks with the deformity has now become very unsteady, wobbly, and also has crooked legs while trying to walk as well. Anyone else seen symptoms like this in chicks before?

 

[Wezdin]

I hatched a chick like this and i think it is from imperfect hatching condition or genetics, not sure which one. as for your question that sounds like coccidosis, how is their poo?

 

[MichelleBelle]

Their poo seems normal. They are on the medicated starter feed, so I'm hoping there's no coccidiosis. The ones that are more severely affected with the curled toes seem smaller than their healthier same age counterparts. I've been researching their symptoms, and one condition I came across that is consistent with their toe malformations was a vitamin B12 deficiency, so I've added a vitamin supplement containing that to their water. In the meantime until I can determine what is wrong, I've separated them from the rest of the chicks. Fingers crossed that it's just a nutritional deficiency and not something crazy like Marek's.

 

[Wezdin]

The chick that i have with weird toes acts fine so i am inclined to think that something else is wrong.

 

[Shadrach]

View attachment 1723595
About 2 weeks ago, I was at a Tractor Supply Company type store and saw an overcrowded cage of 2 week old chicks that they had marked down to $1.50 ea and thought what the heck; I'll just buy these guys and give them a better home. This morning when I went to feed/water them, I noticed that ALL the chicks I bought in that batch have foot/toe malformations. The toe appears to be oriented sideways rather than straight, and some are curled. The chicks are not all the same variety- some are RIR and some are PBR. I've never seen this before in the hundreds of chicks I've hatched out, and I'm a bit concerned whether there might be some disease that manifests with malformed toes at the outset. Should I be worried about a contagious pathogen that might infect my healthy flock? On a side note, I hatched out chicks from my own flock at around the same time, and they've been on the same feed and none of those chicks have curled toes.

Update: I just went out to their little coop to try and get a picture of the deformity and observed one of the chicks with the deformity has now become very unsteady, wobbly, and also has crooked legs while trying to walk as well. Anyone else seen symptoms like this in chicks before?

As @BarnhartChickens98 writes, it's likely to be a genetic abnormality possibly from repetitive breeding or a problem from poor hatching conditions.
I wouldn't worry about contagion. You probably shouldn't breed a further generation from these chickens though.

 

[MichelleBelle]

As @BarnhartChickens98 writes, it's likely to be a genetic abnormality possibly from repetitive breeding or a problem from poor hatching conditions.
I wouldn't worry about contagion. You probably shouldn't breed a further generation from these chickens though.

I totally agree- I definitely won't be breeding these pullets to produce offspring. I bought them because I felt really sad for the conditions they were in at the feed store. If these little guys make it, they are destined to go live on my Mom's rural property for bug control