crooked (twisted) toes help - need advise on shoes for older chick- very hard to keep toes from twis

[wahmommy]

This did not happen at birth happened a week later. I have tried several kinds of shoes - pipe cleaners and q-tips the toes still slip/twist to the side. The only thing I've been able to do to keep her toes straight (and they are still slipping out) is a piece of cardboard with ridges cut into it. But her toes are so twisted they are still twisting and she is 4 weeks old today so her feet are getting harder to manipulate, although I think once I'm done putting the shoes on she's fine, she doesn't act like she's in pain. But the problem is her feet are strong. Please I will take any and all ideas about how to help her. Her feet are really bad, left side worse than the other. I am giving her poly-vi-sol vitamins and she is getting vitamins in her medicated chick starter crumbles. I do not want her to have feet problems later on, and nothing seems to be working. NOTE: when she is on a towel her feet look like this, but when she is in the brooder on shavings she walks fine, she is not walking on her knuckles, just her toes are twisted to the side.

 

[BackyardCountry]

poor baby!!! i might put a splint on it.....

 

[Erica]

Hi Wahmommy,

I can't help thinking your chick may have a nutritional deficiency. Curled toe paralysis springs to mind and is caused by riboflavin deficiency. However you're giving the chick vitamins and presumably a balanced chick starter, so it's hard to see how this could have developed. Perhaps the feed was stored improperly before you bought it, or perhaps it was a little past its use by date (I presume you only began vitamins after noticing the curled toes).

If it is from B2 deficiency, you may never see the toes straighten. Perhaps splinting may help cosmetically.

It may be there's something else going on, but those are my thoughts. Keep doing what you're doing. And look at changing the feed to a new batch. Are other chicks in the hatch affected? If it was deficiency of B2 they'd probably be showing bent toes too, but perhaps if they had different parents their levels of B2 at hatch (or their need for the vitamin, i.e. genetic background) differ and hence this chick was earlier to show symptoms.

Some sunlight may help, as vitamin D is needed to absorb calcium to make straight bones.

cheers
Erica

 

[wahmommy]

Hi Wahmommy,

I can't help thinking your chick may have a nutritional deficiency. Curled toe paralysis springs to mind and is caused by riboflavin deficiency. However you're giving the chick vitamins and presumably a balanced chick starter, so it's hard to see how this could have developed. Perhaps the feed was stored improperly before you bought it, or perhaps it was a little past its use by date (I presume you only began vitamins after noticing the curled toes).

If it is from B2 deficiency, you may never see the toes straighten. Perhaps splinting may help cosmetically.

It may be there's something else going on, but those are my thoughts. Keep doing what you're doing. And look at changing the feed to a new batch. Are other chicks in the hatch affected? If it was deficiency of B2 they'd probably be showing bent toes too, but perhaps if they had different parents their levels of B2 at hatch (or their need for the vitamin, i.e. genetic background) differ and hence this chick was earlier to show symptoms.

Some sunlight may help, as vitamin D is needed to absorb calcium to make straight bones.

cheers
Erica

Hi Erica - thanks, I have been giving her vitamins but I'm pretty sure its twisted toes not curled toes since she doesn't walk on her knuckles, she walks on the sides of her toes. I recently discovered that she will never have a beard and muffs so I know there is some recessive genetics going on as muffs and beard are dominant in this breed and so probably something genetic may be causing her feet problem.

PS I have been using small bags of Manna Pro medicated feed, and they go through one a week, also none of the other chicks I hatched have this problem.

 

[stargirl]

Oh poor baby!
Never done anything like this so my ideas might be useless... but what about something you slip the toes inside to splint? Like, bits of rigid drinking straw? Could you make a shoe that way?

 

[wahmommy]

Oh poor baby!
Never done anything like this so my ideas might be useless... but what about something you slip the toes inside to splint? Like, bits of rigid drinking straw? Could you make a shoe that way?

I actually tried drinking straws- I've tried cardboard shoes with grooves cut- I've tried a bunch of things. It straightens her toes, but doesn't keep them from twisting to the side...

When she's walking around they don't look as bad as this, but if I hold her up both feet kind of look like batwings in how they curve out...

 

[zeiset777]

Wahmommy, did you ever figure out a solution to your chicks problem? I'm sure it's older and outside now... How's it doing?

I have a chick about the same age and have the same problems. Cardboard, pipe cleaner, straws, lollipop sticks, tiny pieces of incense handles, and boots. Nothing keeps the chicks toes straight. I'm thinking about giving up and just hoping it doesn't get worse. My chick walks, runs, and seems normal, it's just the toes are all twisted.

 

[dawg53]

Wahmommy, did you ever figure out a solution to your chicks problem? I'm sure it's older and outside now... How's it doing?

I have a chick about the same age and have the same problems. Cardboard, pipe cleaner, straws, lollipop sticks, tiny pieces of incense handles, and boots. Nothing keeps the chicks toes straight. I'm thinking about giving up and just hoping it doesn't get worse. My chick walks, runs, and seems normal, it's just the toes are all twisted.

It could be a riboflavin deficiency. I recommend Avian Super Pack, dosage is 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water for 5 days.
http://www.jefferspet.com/avian-super-pack/camid/LIV/cp/AB-P1/

 

[zeiset777]

Yeah I've been mixing something just like that in the water. It doesn't seem to be getting better though, not worse either. All the splints I made don't work. I'm thinking if Wahmommy's chicken turned out okay, I may just leave it at that once all this vitaman stuff is all. I'm not really that worried about it cause it walks, runs, and acts just like all the other chicks, and they are about 6 or so weeks old.