Crooked toes / foot

[korlia]

Our broody hatched 4 beautiful chicks on Wednesday, (2 days ago). Today when she brought them out for the first time I noticed that the one had crooked toes / foot. His one foot is all curled up, the other one seems normal as far as I can see. I have read a lot on here about it and how to make the bootie/shoe for the chick.

I have the following questions though:
1. I have seen quite a few pics on here of people showing their chicks with booties but no follow up. I would like to hear from you guys if there are anyone out there who has done it with success? What is the success rate and does it heal completely? Is it worth a shot? I do not want to put the poor little guy through this all only to have to put him out of his misery 3 weeks later. (He is the smallest little guy in the bundle and hatched last.)
2. If it is only the one foot do I have to do both? So far I only did the one foot, must I also do the healthy foot?

I made a booty with cardboard and sports tape, but only the middle toe stayed put. I wanted to try and skip the plaster idea, dont want to hurt the guy when I am trying to change it, but in the end I did the plaster, the cardboard was just to much of a mission. Only the middle toe staying in place.

PLease please any advice is welcome!!!!

 

[TOP KNOT]

I read in my health book to give vitamins.

 

[Eggcessive]

If the toes are curled into a claw that can be a riboflavin (Vitamin B2) deficiency. The longer it goes on, it may be permanent. Put some vitamins into the water, and then try taping the one foot. Here is a good reference for foot problems: https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

 

[korlia]

Thanks, I will get some extra multivitamins into their water first thing tomorrow morning. If it is a vitamin deficiency, won't all of the chicks have it?

 

[Eggcessive]

It is usually a deficiency from the parent stock, so I would treat them all. I don't know why it isn't showing up in the others. If the toes are curled to the sides, that is a hereditary issue.

 

[korlia]

Hi guys.

I thought I would do a follow up on my issue with the chick with the crooked foot. I know when I search for info on the forum I often find questions relating to my issue, but rarely the person that posted follow up and I always wonder how it worked out….. So I would like to report the following. About 24 hours after hatch I saw that my one chick ( the last one to hatch) had a crooked foot, just the one foot. It was totally to the side and curled up. I read here on the different forums on crooked foot/toes and also how to make a chickie boot. ( All the info helped A LOT!!) I added extra vitamins just in case it was a deficiency of some kind. I then decided to make a boot with a piece of cardboard that I traced to the chick's foot and taped it with athletes tape - the kind that sticks to itself. After a few hours when I went to check up on the chick he managed to wiggle one toe out but the other two where still in place. I tried to tape that together again but he managed to wriggle himself out of the boot.

WHAT a frustration - all of you made it sound so easy….

I then started to worry since I knew time was of the essence and used plaster - normal plaster. It seemed to work and was way easier to use. Only for me to find his foot all curled up in a firm ball the next morning - plaster and all. Then came the other difficult part. Trying to get the plaster off. I followed the advice on here and tried the baby oil and the poor chick looked a sorry site. I finally got it off and decided to use pipe cleaners and sports tape again to straiten the toes. I had such a battle with keeping the chirping wriggling chick still that I lost all patience and decided to take the chick to the vet to hear what he had to say about this and I must admit by now I had already convinced myself that it might be better to have the little guy be put to sleep….

THe vet didn't have much hope but tried the plaster method again and said that it was the best method. If it curls up again it is not going to get better and then it might be better to put the little guy to sleep. To my absolute amazement the little foot stayed flat!!!! We kept it on for 5 days and I went back. When he removed the plaster his foot stayed flat!!!!! I couldn't believe it!!! The little chick's foot is not perfect, but if I look at how it was and how it looks now it seems perfect enough. It is only his one toe that is a bit crooked but the rest looks normal.

So if any of you ever have a chick hatch with a crooked foot, give it a try. You've got nothing to lose but the chick's got a lot to gain!

 

[Eggcessive]

It's so nice that you gave a follow up to your story. I'm glad the plaster cast finally worked. You had more patience than most of us would have.