Curled Toes 10 day old chick

[bird2luv]

Hello everyone,
I am new to keeping chickens but have kept and bred parrots, finches, "typical" birds found in California pet shops for many years.
I have 4 chicks in a brooder/cage with a heat lamp now at about 80-85 in the hot spot. (Kept in my living room now and they will be slowly adapted to outside but not for several weeks)

They are all eating and drinking, pooping just fine but the Welsummer suddenly started laying down (like in a nesting, resting position) frequently. She is eating and gaining weight but started doing this a couple days ago. I looked closely at her tonight and realized at least 2 of her toes on each foot are curled slightly inward and according to research believe it is Curly Toe Syndrome (I think that's what it's called)

I read that PolyViSol for children can be administered but not sure how. Should I give orally with a syringe (I have hand-reared many birds but not sure if a chick would be more likely to inhale) or do I add to the water? Is it okay for the other chicks to have it if they don't have any problems or do I need to separate her? I don't want to do that as I feel the companionship of other birds can be vital to each bird's well-being-especially at this young age. They are not picking on her, they still sleep and eat together.

Thoughts? Advice? Should I tape her toes? What methods? Pipe cleaner and tape? Band-aids and tape?? Should I do both the vitamins and the taping? Help!

Thank you all for you time and help.

 

[Trefoil]

I would do both, but which method of taping, I don't know. I don't think it would hurt them all to have the vitamins, but I would give her a straight dose to start with. Being very careful that she doesn't inhale it.

 

[Spangled]

Hello everyone,
I am new to keeping chickens but have kept and bred parrots, finches, "typical" birds found in California pet shops for many years.
I have 4 chicks in a brooder/cage with a heat lamp now at about 80-85 in the hot spot. (Kept in my living room now and they will be slowly adapted to outside but not for several weeks)

They are all eating and drinking, pooping just fine but the Welsummer suddenly started laying down (like in a nesting, resting position) frequently. She is eating and gaining weight but started doing this a couple days ago. I looked closely at her tonight and realized at least 2 of her toes on each foot are curled slightly inward and according to research believe it is Curly Toe Syndrome (I think that's what it's called)

I read that PolyViSol for children can be administered but not sure how. Should I give orally with a syringe (I have hand-reared many birds but not sure if a chick would be more likely to inhale) or do I add to the water? Is it okay for the other chicks to have it if they don't have any problems or do I need to separate her? I don't want to do that as I feel the companionship of other birds can be vital to each bird's well-being-especially at this young age. They are not picking on her, they still sleep and eat together.

Thoughts? Advice? Should I tape her toes? What methods? Pipe cleaner and tape? Band-aids and tape?? Should I do both the vitamins and the taping? Help!

Thank you all for you time and help.

Thoughts only: I was under the impression that riboflavin deficiency caused a type of paralysis that can show up like this. If Poly-vi-sol (without iron) contains riboflavin, then that's a good thing. I give Poly-vi-sol to all of the chicks if I happen to supplement (though I've not encountered the paralysis myself with chicks) in the water. When I have used the proper dosage, I have not encountered troubles with all of the chicks receiving the extra vitamins, but I rarely supplement and usually only for a week to ten days.

Riboflavin is destroyed or damaged by sunlight/UV. So it's not good to store feed in light. If I had this problem with commercial feed, I would go buy a new bag of feed and figure out a way to make sure that the feed is fresh before buying. If there are numbers on the strip on the feed bag, sometimes you can call the company, give that number, and they can tell you when the feed was manufactured. We make our own feed and on some of the ingredients we use, I have done that to verify freshness. As a veteran bird owner, you probably already know that info, but I mention it for those following along. Sometimes, farm stores keep feed a long time in clear plastic bags and it might be easy for one bag miss a rotation for freshness.

 

[bird2luv]

Spangled and Trefoil (my favorite Girl Scout cookie, by the way

)
Thank you for the thoughts and info

I bought medicated chick starter from a farm and feed store with a high turnover-plus it was packaged in a 50 lb dark, double manufacturer's bag. The name escapes me now as I transferred the feed to an airtight container. I am pretty sure I saved the ingredients/tag so I will check when I am done with this and see if there is a date. There are a total of 8 chicks on this food and the first 4 are 1 week older with no issues in any of them. I am thinking this is isolated to the Welsummer and most likely genetic or incubation/hatch related.
Does the medicated feed typically contain riboflavin? If so, perhaps it's not enough for the curled toe syndrome/paralysis? PolyViSol does contain Riboflavin-but I am not 100% sure on dose. I think I will weigh the chick, and dose accordingly with my awesome math skills (haha....)
She has been like this for a few days so I am hoping it's not too late-however, a friend who has kept chickens for a long time did ask if she can perch. I had her out on my hand and she can move those toes so she is not paralyzed yet-hoping I am catching this early enough.

Thank you for your input. I will definitely be back to keep you all updated!!
Can I post pics in one of these messages? I will see if I can do some before/during/after pics of her toes.

Thanks again!!