Deformed toes?

[ekgb]

Hi. Before I get into my problem, I want to clear some things up. (So I don't get in trouble!) I just made this account and don't know if you are against me asking for advice that could be considered medical, so I'm sorry, please don't ban me or anything. O.O
So maybe like two months ago my family and I ordered forty chickens. Rhode Island Reds.
I didn't realize anything was wrong with the chickens until a few weeks ago. Thirty-nine of them are fine, but one of them has something I'm super concerned about; deformed toes. They're all twisty and he hadn't had a problem until today. The chicken (actually a hen) collapsed and was pecked at a bit by the other chickens. My sister found the chicken- I named her Wonky- and we isolated her. She's in a dog crate (a large one) with bedding, water, some kale, and grass.
Problem is, she refuses to move. She'll stretch her neck out peck at food, which is a good sign. She's standing up, and aside from not moving is acting like an active, healthy chicken.
But she won't walk!
If she refuses to walk because she's hurt, do you think we should put her down? What can we do about her feet? Why did she suddenly collapse? She's such a gentle chicken and a sweetheart and I'd hate to see her in pain. How long do we have with her? I looked all over the internet and there's NOTHING.

Thanks,
a very worried chicken owner.



please answer ASAP. It's an emergency. Thank you!!!

 

[BeastyBird]

Oh my, those look bad. I have fixed toes on tiny chicks before but I am not sure how much good it will be to try it on a grown bird. In the babies what you do is take some cereal box cardboard and the sticky parts of bandaids to lay the toes straight and splint them BUT I think splinting toes only works for growing birds...

If her toes have been this wonky for this long and she was walking up until now I would give her a day or so to just sit, hopefully being attacked just has her feeling off. Have food and water close enough to reach, and then in a day or two take her outside on some grass/dirt/nice easy to walk on not slippery surface, and see how she does.

If she does become mobile again she may not be able to live with the other birds, a smaller run with just a docile friend or 2 may be needed so an incident does not happen again.

 

[ekgb]

Thank you so much this really means a lot to me ^^ I'll follow your advice. Thanks again! ~

 

[ekgb]

Do you know of any ways we can help her support the weight of her body as she gets older? I'm worried her toes won't be adequate!
Thanks so much, by the way. It really means a lot

 

[BeastyBird]

I think the only thing can be done to aid in her future mobility would be to keep her lean and keep her in a small enough space that access to food and water is easy (but not so small that she gets stir-crazy)

She will likely also not be able to roost and if she is anything like my flightless frizzle would love a box to sleep in. A frizzle or silkie may also be a good choice for a buddy, both are small and generally quiet natured and would sleep on the ground with her.

 

[ekgb]

Okay! Thank you so much!

 

[ekgb]

Update:
Boot didn't work. Tried band aids. What do??

 

[BeastyBird]

I am really not sure if straightening out her toes will work at this age, from what I read it only works on babies. Is she moving around at all?

 

[BeastyBird]

found some reading o the topic https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/51112/chick-with-curled-toes