Crooked toes

[FarmerBrando]

I have an EE, shes about 7.5 weeks old and today I noticed she has 2 crooked toes. Im not sure I swear i would of noticed this before I hand feed them 2 times a day. Any way I noticed this today. She seems to be getting around ok. I dont know if there broken or could it be something else. Not sure how I should go about this. I believe they are nutritionally feed properly they are getting starter chick crumbles and AV in the water also they get some grass/alfalfa mix hay to pick on I also mix in a calcium chick grit. Again Im not sure how to go about this any help would be great. Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Chicks should not receive calcium in any way except what is in their feed. Crushed oyster shell is not grit. They need chick grit which is ground granite. If they eat extra calcium before they are old enough to lay, they may be endangering their kidneys and risk getting gout. As far as the crooked toes, it may start out so mild that we don't notice it until it is too late to try and fix it with splinting or using chick shoes. I think it would be useless at her age to bother. It is more successful when the toes are pliable in the first week or so. We all will occasionally get hatchery or feed store chicks with crooked toes, and usually they are not serious. I had one whose toes kept getting worse to the point they were curling up and outward. She still got around fine, jumped up and down from the roosts, but I think she could not grasp the roosts well.