Curled Toe Problem

[WebsterChicken]

Thanks for your responses. It has been a tough year for the flock. We tried ordering new chicks from Meyer Hatchery, and I planned to vaccinate them myself because of our experience. They kept sending boxes of dead chicks so I gave up. I'm afraid we just have one bird right now. We only had two in our flock due to an incubator problem this spring. The heating element broke on day 20. The chicken that recently died hatched on day 19. When I found it on day 21, I put the eggs under a brooder lamp. The only chicken that hatched is the chicken we currently have who's appropriately named Lucky. He/she appears to be just fine. I've been trying to get this survivor to use the run and get some fresh air, but he/she prefers to hang out in the coop. The other chicken may have been more susceptible since she hatched prematurely. She still had a bit of the yolk sack attached when she hatched.

I can't have just one chicken this winter; I'd be worried that Lucky would freeze to death. My impression is also that chickens are social critters in need of companionship. I'll investigate the possibility of buying some older adolescent silkies from the region where I live. I won't go mail order again this year. I've seen a few listed for sale. They'll be too old to vaccinate so I'm planning to just keep them in isolation for a week or so to make sure that Lucky is still healthy and they won't bring any illness to Lucky. I'll just have to hope that the other chickens will be too old to be susceptible to the virus.