Curled Toe Problem

[WebsterChicken]

Hello Everyone,

I could use a bit of advice. We have a silkie chicken that is about 2 months old. She has long had one toe that was curled, but a few days ago she was no longer able to walk. Other than her one curled toe, she was perfectly mobile before. Looking more closely at her feet, it would appear that her hocks are not shaped to support her any longer. It looks like her toes are now curled under and she's trying to support her weight on the sides of her hocks rather than her normal pads. Both feet look about the same. I've attached pictures to this post in case that might clear things up.

When I noticed her flopping about and unable to walk, I started her on infant vitamins. I've included a picture of those as well. They are supposed to be high in riboflavin, Vitamin B, and riboflavin. My impression is that she has curled toe paralysis. She hatched on day 19, and still had part of her yolk sack attached. She developed normally other than her one curled toe. She walked fine on her own until three days ago. She still has plenty of energy. When I pick her up she flaps about. Other than the fact that she can no longer stand up, she seems to be fine. I have a few questions about how I should move forward.

1) Is it curled toe paralysis or is it something else?

2) If your chickens have had this condition did they eventually recover? Should I continue to treat her?

3) Should I be doing anything else besides the vitamin supplement? Does she need boots of some kind to move her toes into the correct positions? She's a silkie so she has 5 toes instead of 4 like most chickens. I tried to make something to put on her hocks the other day, but she still has plenty of energy. Let's just say she wasn't the best patient. I gave up, but I could try harder if anyone has had experience with some kind of a "boot" working.

4) If you have strong opinions about the vitamins I'm using, I'd like to hear about that as well. I can't remember where I heard about using the infant vitamins before. I had used them as chicken medicine for a previous flock, and I noticed it had the vitamins I was looking for. It's handy since its liquid. It ensures that I can get it down her beak. She also has electrolyte water that is available for her, and I've also been using the same dropper to ensure she's getting enough water. I have been leaving standard medicated chick crumbles by her.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your silkie. Mareks disease might possibly be a problem, if riboflavin deficiency is not the problem. Can you get a picture of her standing with your help, to show her legs at eye level? A chicken sling might be something that you want to try to get her upright and in front of food for periods each day. Many people use PolyVisol without iron for chickens 3 drops daily, and there are other vitamins with riboflavin, such as Poultry Cell, and human super B complex tablets 1/4 tablet daily crushed into a small amount of water or food. Here is some reading about Mareks:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[WebsterChicken]

I've posted a few pictures of the silkie chicken "standing" while I'm holding her. I took a video as well, but I can't post it as a file to the forum. I posted it on YouTube and posted the link below. I think the video gives a better sense of how she's acting than the pictures.

Here's a video link on YouTube:

As you can see in the video, she's very busy. She hasn't lost much energy. This makes her a difficult patient.

The only symptom that I have seen from her is the curled toes. She has no tumors, odd eye issues, or anything else that is often listed as typical of Mareks. I also currently only have 2 chickens. This one and another. The chickens don't come in contact with other hens. They have a coop and run, but they don't free range. We've had too many peregrine falcon issues to allow for free ranging in our neighborhood. We have a neighbor two doors down who has chickens; it's possible I suppose that wind could have carried it to our yard. I don't visit other coops and bring coop dust to our coop. They're pretty isolated. They've been practicing social distancing since they hatched.

 

[WebsterChicken]

I've created a sling out of 1/2 inch pvc pipe and part of an old towel so she can be upright. I also attached some cardboard to her feet to try and straighten those toes. I'll leave those on for several days and keep giving her the vitamins, water and food. I'll keep you updated on her condition. Perhaps my experience can help others. If you have any other thoughts, I'm all ears. I would be happy to get some advice as well.

 

[WebsterChicken]

Our silkie's condition is about the same. She won't put weight on her hocks. I haven't taken her boot off to see if that is having any effect on her curled hocks yet. I figured that would take at least several days to reshape her feet, maybe longer.

What I would really like to know if I'm just wasting my time trying to help her recover. I've seen other people post images of their chickens with curled toe paralysis. I've seen videos of people feeding supplements to their birds in an effort to help with the vitamin deficiency. I have yet to see videos or pictures of birds that have recovered. I've heard tale that they can recover and walk again, but I haven't seen proof.

Has anyone had a chicken with curled toe paralysis that recovered from the condition? Am I misguided in taking such extraordinary measures?

 

[WebsterChicken]

She is a bundle of energy, even with the misshapen hock. I've had to abandon her sling as she kept flinging herself out of it. I also took her cardboard boots off as I noticed they were no longer actually reshaping her toes. I had some florist wire, and I shaped those into boots for her. I taped up the wires to ensure they didn't cut her toes or hocks. I'm hoping this will be more successful in reshaping her hocks. Other than the fact that she cannot walk, our silkie appears to be perfectly content with things.

I'm still continuing to give her vitamins and electrolyte water. It's been about 5 days since I started treating her. From briefly reviewing others' experiences, it looks like it may take up to two weeks for her to start to recover.

If anyone has any advice, I'm all ears.

 

[WebsterChicken]

Her energy appears to be winding down. She doesn't make much of a fuss anymore when I give her droplets of electrolyte water, dissolved food and vitamins. She appears to be winding down. Bummer. I'll keep trying to help her but it appears that she is not recovering from her condition. Just a couple of days ago, I would have argued that she would recover after a vitamin treatment. Yesterday, she seemed more lethargic than normal. Today, she's not doing much at all. I'll make another post if (when) she dies.

 

[WebsterChicken]

It would appear that Eggcessive was right. When this all began, it appeared that her curled toes were the only symptoms she was having. Later this week, she started to lose energy. I fed her directly to ensure she had food and water because I thought she simply couldn't reach the food and water in her altered state. She continued to lose energy and she died yesterday.

As her symptoms progressed, it increasingly looked as though she had Marek's. That's a big bummer. I'm not quite sure how she could have contracted it. I don't go to other coops. They don't see any neighbor chickens. From what I read about it, the virus that causes Marek's can travel by air, dust, etc. We found a dead bird--a crow or raven--in our yard a few weeks ago. It's entirely possible the virus is being carried by other critters who gave it to my coop.

It's a double bummer because not only am I down a chicken, I'll have to be doubly careful about adding any additional chickens to the coop in the future. I'm already planning to vaccinate from here on out.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

I'm sorry for your loss . So sorry you haven't gotten any replies over the last few days. I hope the rest of your flock is alright and you get some more advice from the experts here.

 

[orloffer]

I am sorry you lost your silkie -- it is no fun to have sickness in the flock. You did what you could for her.