Deformed Silkie chick picture

[SundownWaterfowl]

Here is my Silkie chick that hatched yesterday afternoon.

Im thinking she is splash. She came from a blue/splash/black pen egg.

She only has 3.5 toes. One toe on the end of each foot is a small stump. She can't be used for breeding, so im going to keep her as a pet.

 

[steffpeck]

She is very cute! I was told that if you have a chicken with wrong toes and breed them to a chicken with proper toes that the chicks should be fine. I haven't tried it, but that is what I was told.

 

[Jaimi]

I'd rather NOT breed and KNOW that they will the fine than to breed and assume they "should be" ok....

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

>>>She only has 3.5 toes. One toe on the end of each foot is a small stump. She can't be used for breeding, so im going to keep her as a pet<<<

This is quite common in Silkies. She actually has 4 toes, its just one is a little short.

"Polydactyl" is the term for 5 toes in silkies, and though most Silkies are born with it, the 4 toe gene still pops up from time to time.

The good news is that if she is really nice and "typey" then you CAN use her for breeding. A 4 toed bird can stil throw 5 toed chicks, and 4 toed birds are OFTEN used for breeding.

I am using a 4 toed Lavender Silkie Rooster now as a breeding bird.

 

[Psittizen Shikkin]

Correct toes or not...... she's cute.

 

[silkiechicken]

I've got a silkie like that too! She's a pet quality buff and her last toe and foot are kind of joined together with a web. Mine has a 5th toe nub though. Had a 6 toed male silkie too once. One of the 6th toes grew out the side of the 5th and was a knob and nail that kind of flopped around. His off spring all had 5 normal separated toes but were used for soups.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
And your not getting 4 toed chicks. I might just try it then, but not sell the eggs, just try to breed "her" and see what happens.

 

[cthrash1]

I have a silkie with 4 toes on one foot and 6 toes on the other.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

>>>And your not getting 4 toed chicks. I might just try it then, but not sell the eggs, just try to breed "her" and see what happens<<<

You will probably get more 4 toed chicks than you would if you had a 5 toed bird, but like I said, 4 toed birds can throw 5 toed offspring.

Its one of those personal decision things. A LOT of people use 4 toed birds all the time for breeding, especially if they are nicely put together otherwise.

And you never know, that bird may NEVER throw a four toed chick. You just have to try and see.

I guess what I am trying to say is, don't exclude her from a breeding program based on one small thing. TOO MANY people are quick to disregard a NICE bird for something minor. On the same token, MANY show birds have come from parents with DQ's. And the flipside of that is, two CHAMPION birds do not ensure a quality chick.

So try her and see what she does. Don't discount her breeding ability on a little thing like toes.

 

[goldensunriseranch]

The problem with this is that the gene for 4 toes is recessive, so even though all the chicks hatch with five toes which is the incompletely dominant trait and is overriding the 4-toe gene at the moment for that first generation, most if not all your birds will then carry the recessive fault. When you go to breed those resulting birds you are going to start seeing a higher percentage of 4-toed offspring and eventually have them pop out in droves. IMHO I wouldn't recommend it.