curled feet on rangers/toulouse gosling

[meghans]

I have been dealing with what I thought was a niacin deficiency in a 3 week old toulouse gosling for the last week. His (I'm not actually sure if its the male or female) feet were curled up last week, so he was either walking on his knees (I guess?) or 'swimming' along the ground. I had been treating him with fortified vitamin b complex, but stopped that the last few days, and have been giving him baths to try to strengthen his muscles. I also hobbled his legs because they looked like they were going directions they were not meant to go. He seems to be making some marginal improvement and today I braced his feet with cardboard to try to keep them straight. I went to put him back after his bath and physical therapy, and I noticed that several of my 2 week old meat birds (25 rangers and 25 'pioneer' chickens) look like they are starting to do the same thing. They are all on a 20% meat bird grower from a local feed mill. None of the other waterfowl are having issues, and my 25 assorted male chicks are all fine as well. The goose was in a raised brooder with a well supported hardware cloth floor, but is now in with the meat birds, which is concrete with shavings and straw for bedding. Any idea what could be going on? The only thought I have is something with the feed?

 

[Eggcessive]

Just make sure that your B complex has riboflavin (B2) and niacin (B3) on the label. Chickens can get curled under toes and walk on hocks due to riboflavin deficiency. Pictures might be helpful.

 

[meghans]

I didn't want to unwrap the goose's feet, but here are some of the chickens feet, as well as the bottle of vitamin b that I have.

 

[Eggcessive]

Curled under toes are a sign of B2 riboflavin deficiency. Curled to the side toes is usually a result of incubation issues. I see some with curled toes due to incubation issues. Those may be fixed with taping toes on top and bottom in the fist couple of days, but after that, it cannot. How much of the B complex are you giving to the chick daily? The riboflavin dosage should be 5 mg for each chicken. I use human B complex tablets 1/4 tablet daily crushed in food.

 

[meghans]

I was only giving the vitamin b to the goose, but I was giving him about .5ml orally 2x a day, a little extra to account for what he spits out. I stopped that the last couple days because I wasn't seeing any improvement and I was worried about toxicity. I know its water soluble, but I'm assuming it still has a toxicity level. How much feed do you mix the tablet in with? there are around 50 birds in the brooder. I have been mixing a little brewers yeast in the feed, but I'm not sure how much they need to get every day.

 

[Eggcessive]

The riboflavin won’t help with curled toes to the side, but only with curled under toes from riboflavin deficiency. I would start the medicine again with the goose. Just make sure it gets 5 to 10 mg per day.

 

[meghans]

Ok. Any idea how long until I should start to see improvement? What about the chicks?

 

[Eggcessive]

Here are a couple of good article a about riboflavin deficiency:
https://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/diseases-of-poultry/217/vitamin-b2-deficiency

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...ement-poultry/vitamin-deficiencies-in-poultry

 

[meghans]

So if I'm reading this correctly, not trying to be too much of a 'woe is me', but still being kind of butt hurt about it, its basically too late for my gosling, and probably too late for the chicks that are having problems walking and all the ones having problems will need to be put down? I don't really know how long "when the curled toe deformity is long standing' means, but I'm assuming a week is too long to save him? I got the vitamin B tabs today, do they need them everyday? and for how long?