Curve toes issue.

[techick]

Hi all,

I need some help. I bought 9 baby chicks and one of the chick have developed curve toes. They were bought from a reliable farm, that were sexed and vaccinated.

The issue appeared at around 1 weeks old. She is now at 9 weeks.
You can also see the wing is a bit droopy. The comb is also a bit more reddish and larger than other chicken of her age. She sit down a lot and can't walk up the ramp to the coop at night (I have been carrying her up every day). Apart from that, her weight is about the same as the other Australorps.

Is there anything I can do for her?

 

[nuthatched]

Most chickens have weird toes, it's not a problem. What's their diet? The other problems aren't likely connected to her feet.

 

[CheerioTheBuffRooster]

What a pretty girl My guess is that she may have been dropped/fell off a roost at a very young age and broke a couple toes, and they healed incorrectly. Or, when she was growing in the egg and her bones were all soft, there was some malformation in her toes. Or a calcium deficiency in her youth- could be a number of things.
I have a light brahma with a very similar problem, she is pretty heavyset and spends a lot of time sitting on the ground and roosting on the lower roosts. I just try to accommodate and make her as comfy and happy as possible.

I don't think there's much you can really do about the toes, just make sure she has a good amount of calcium in her diet, if needed add something like crushed oyster shells.
The droopy wing may be from any imbalance she may be feeling because of the toes.
A bigger comb and wattles are usually normal, and the red color just means adequate blood flow. Nothing I'd worry about

Hope this helps!

 

[Tonyroo]

Hi all,

I need some help. I bought 9 baby chicks and one of the chick have developed curve toes. They were bought from a reliable farm, that were sexed and vaccinated.

The issue appeared at around 1 weeks old. She is now at 9 weeks.
You can also see the wing is a bit droopy. The comb is also a bit more reddish and larger than other chicken of her age. She sit down a lot and can't walk up the ramp to the coop at night (I have been carrying her up every day). Apart from that, her weight is about the same as the other Australorps.

Is there anything I can do for her?

She was born with that deformity, there's nothing to correct it. You will have to assist her throughout her life if you want to keep her or cull her for meat. Also she will be at the bottom of the pecking order. If she gets bullied by her flock mates you have to intervene. She won't be able to runaway or defend herself.

I have my own disabled rooster with the same problem with one bad eye that doesn't focus well. Although I decided to keep him to study his development and tolerance of living with severe leg and feet deformity. And to see how long he can live with the disability.

He is at the bottom of the pecking order and lives in the outdoor brooder with my chicks. He has his own feed and water but spends the day with the flock in my backyard. And I put him in his brooder everynight, sometimes he knows when to go in on his own. Spending time with his needs has made him very pet friendly and he knows his name. Which when I need him to come to me I just call for him.

Hope this info experience can give you some insight for her future.

 

[techick]

Most chickens have weird toes, it's not a problem. What's their diet? The other problems aren't likely connected to her feet.

I have been feeding them days old to 8 weeks feed that I bought from the poultry farm.

 

[techick]

Thank you all.

She looked and behave pretty normal until after the first week, then she started to lay down a lot and struggled to move. She was able to feed herself, so I decided wait and see. At first, I thought it might be marek's disease. But now, I am not so sure. I am really hoping that it is just a normal deformity.

Last night, she actually returned from the enclosed fruit orchard and got up the ramp by herself to go to sleep. That was really surprising.

 

[nuthatched]

I have been feeding them days old to 8 weeks feed that I bought from the poultry farm.

is that a grower? What's the mill?

 

[techick]

It is this one. I hope it is good enough.