foot problem

[shawnkfl]

what causes this, and can i fix it?

it doesn't hinder him/her in any way and he/she can roost just fine. it's about 7 weeks old i think. i'm feeding 24% starter/grower and 20% grower combined alsong with scratch. does it need calcium and/or grit now? it's in my coop, but not open to the run yet.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Has the foot always looked that way or is it recent? I've had chicks hatch with their toes curled like that. The always manage just fine. That's what it looks like to me.

 

[threehorses]

Reduce the scratch. If he can move his toes, he has a nutritional deficiency.

The calcium in his diet seems to be sufficient as his bones seem well formed. But curling toes are another deficiency. (Bowed or rubbery legs, easy breaking, 'rickets' are D3/calcium deficiency).

There are a few things that cause curled toes. Most notable is riboflavin deficiency. Riboflavin is a B vitamin. Curled toes can also be cause from more broad B deficiencies and are sometimes caused by a deficiency of vitamin A.

A good source of those vitamins in a non-water form is Enfamil brand PolyViSol (non-iron) baby vitamins. You can find the non-iron formula apparently at CVS (I had a hard time finding it elsewhere). Three drops in the beak daily for at least one week. If you see improvement, continue until improved. Otherwise let us know.

The reason I say a 'non-water' vitamin is that A, D, and E are all oil based vitamins. Because of that, A is often the first vitamin to degrade from a bag of feed - particularly crumbles because of the air to surface ratio. They don't do well dry or in water. They require fats/oils to be absorbed properly. So giving something like the ENfamil allows the vitamin to be more properly absorbed. That's another reason why I like to treat an entire flock with fortified wheat germ oil if there's a potential deficiency.

It's possible that this one bird requires more or has a problem absorbing what nutrition is in the food. Or the entire flock might have a light deficiency, this one just showing it first.

I would highly recommend feeding the REST of the flock some fortified wheat germ oil (from the feedstore, or health food store, but make sure it's fortified with A D E). Use a spritzer travel sized sprayer/mister and spritz the food with the oil in the morning before serving. You just need to barely wet the top. Otherwise it can be tricky to pour in. If you pour and stir, use a shot glass per gallon of feed and stir like crazy while you add it. Easier to just mist it on. You do't want to overuse it or any oil vitamin. Don't give this to the ill bird - it'd be too much combined with the enfamil. Give the wheat germ oil (fortified) three times a week for a couple of weeks, then weekly as you feel is needed. I Like it once or twice a month if my food doesn't smell VERY VERY strongly fresh. If it smells like cardboard, it's nutritionally degraded.

You can potentially keep him together with the other birds since he is doing well. Make sure to feel his weight so that he's getting lots of food and has a nice bit of meaty (not fat) flesh to each side of his keel bone.

I would also recommend that he receive yogurt daily. All birds can get this. THe milk in it is another source of very bioavailable riboflavin. Additionally, it contains living bacteria. Beneficial bacteria are the workers inside your bird that literally feed it. They also produce B vitamins, which will help more naturally add yet another source of B vitamins to this bird's diet. It'll make your flock more thrifty and vigorous.

In The Old Days, many flocks were given milk products and buttermilk as they still contained the bacteria. Now these products are pasteurized and don't have quite the same effect. Yogurt, too, is pasteurized but re-injected with beneficial bacteria after pasteurization! So that's how you can get your birds to thrive.

Use daily to every other day while this problem persists. Then use weekly to monthly to help your birds.

It's also a great source of vitamin D3 (which helps calcium absorbtion) so I recommend using that and free choice oyster shell at five months or whenever you see your first pullet's comb start to turn red. Use the yogurt daily then til they are all laying regularly.