Curled (or bent?) toes?

[tananaBrian]

Hi,

We just inherited some pullets a couple of weeks ago, noting that they are 9 weeks old now, and I notice that one of them has curled toes on her right foot. The toes straighten out just fine, but when she 'grips' with her toes, the toes on that foot curl to the side rather than down ...it's as though her toes were rotated 90 degrees clockwise and now they operate to the side rather than down. When they are completely straight, they look normal, but when she grips (as on a roost) they curl to the side. Anyway... she seems to be able to stand on a roost OK. When I put her on a stick and rotate the stick, then the curly foot slips off. Otherwise, she's perfectly happy flying up to a roost with the rest of the pullets and is just fine if the roost is larger than about 1/2" or so ...a fixed roost that is. A tree in the wind would be more of a problem for her.

I assume it's too late to use little booties or something to fix her toes, and I doubt it would work ...Like I said, it's more like her toes are rotated so that the knuckles operate in the wrong direction. Is this something I should worry about? Just let her grow up with the rest and 'oh well'?

(Picture borrowed from another thread here in BYCs). Her foot looks like this little fellow's left foot except of course she's nearly 14" tall and 9 weeks old...



Thanks,
Brian

 

[CMV]

If her toes are as bad as the ones in the pic then you need to try to fix them. It may not work, but in the future when you are dealing with the numerous, inevitable bumblefoot infections that this bird is likely to get, you can say that you tried to fix it and it was not successful. When birds walk on the wrong surfaces of their feet it leaves them open to to injuries and infections. I would try the booties. You may need to try to straighten the toes out in stages. I think with persistence that 9 weeks is not too old to fix or at least minimize the problem.

Good luck.

 

[tananaBrian]

OK ...Sorry for the late response. We've been without internet for awhile. I'll try the booties, but I suspect it won't help. The knuckles rotate to the side as though the toes were twisted. The toes are straight when you straighten out the joints, all toes pointing outward as they should.

Thanks,
Brian