Gout?

[DressageRider]

A lot of our Australorps have had crooked toes since a very young age. Recently I’ve been reading about gout and wondering if it’s genetics.

The roosters have been the worst it seems. We had one so bad that he had to be culled very young, he got to the point he couldn’t walk and was kinda hunch backed. After further investigation his whole body was calcified looking, no muscle on him.

Fast forward a few years, I found this on a roo the other day and suspected gout. And here is a hen on the roost with what her toes look like. She’s starting to possibly have issues getting around.

With these problems we are slowing starting our flock over, I’m just curious as to what it is and the cause. If it’s the hatchery I don’t want to use them again or is it common for the breed or something I’ve done wrong is more my thinking...

 

[dawg53]

Crooked toes in chicks is usually a vitamin/mineral deficiency or genetic. I received 4 Salmon Faverolles from a hatchery once and the cockeral chick had crooked toes as well as two of the pullets. I had to cull the fourth chick for a different reason. I found out that it was genetic in that particular breed. Maybe too much inbreeding, I'm not sure.

As far as the swelling goes, you might be dealing with Mycoplasma Synovaie (MS) or maybe Infectious Synovitis in your flock. Bloodwork can determine either.
As for gout, there are quite a few causes:
Eating layer feed before layer age, dehydration, high protein diet, vitamin A deficiency, kidney damage due to Infectious Bronchitis (IB.)
If your birds are on a high protein diet, consider feeding them a 16% layer ration.

 

[chickens really]

Bumble foot.

 

[dawg53]

@DressageRider I forgot to add that the young rooster you had that was hunch backed, it's called Roach Back. It's a deformity of the spine and is genetic.

 

[DressageRider]

Crooked toes in chicks is usually a vitamin/mineral deficiency or genetic. I received 4 Salmon Faverolles from a hatchery once and the cockeral chick had crooked toes as well as two of the pullets. I had to cull the fourth chick for a different reason. I found out that it was genetic in that particular breed. Maybe too much inbreeding, I'm not sure.

As far as the swelling goes, you might be dealing with Mycoplasma Synovaie (MS) or maybe Infectious Synovitis in your flock. Bloodwork can determine either.
As for gout, there are quite a few causes:
Eating layer feed before layer age, dehydration, high protein diet, vitamin A deficiency, kidney damage due to Infectious Bronchitis (IB.)
If your birds are on a high protein diet, consider feeding them a 16% layer ration.

Thanks, I’ll definitely be reading more about it. I did read about some deficiencies causing it at one point too. Also wanna read more about the hunch back, that was awful. Thank you for your reply.

 

[Eggcessive]

Dawg53 has given good advice. Crooked toes is quite common, and if you catch them early in the first days or week, you may be able to fix them with tape shoes.

The bulbous ends of some toes in your picture reminds me of very mild frost bite. The tips will become bulbous like that, many times with the toenail falling off, but in very mild cases the toenail stays on. That might not be the problem with your chicken. This picture shows what I am talking about:

 

[dawg53]

Dawg53 has given good advice. Crooked toes is quite common, and if you catch them early in the first days or week, you may be able to fix them with tape shoes.

The bulbous ends of some toes in your picture reminds me of very mild frost bite. The tips will become bulbous like that, many times with the toenail falling off, but in very mild cases the toenail stays on. That might not be the problem with your chicken. This picture shows what I am talking about:

View attachment 1616494

Thanks for pointing out the frost bite causing swollen tips of toes. I've never had to deal with that thankfully living down south here.

 

[DressageRider]

Dawg53 has given good advice. Crooked toes is quite common, and if you catch them early in the first days or week, you may be able to fix them with tape shoes.

The bulbous ends of some toes in your picture reminds me of very mild frost bite. The tips will become bulbous like that, many times with the toenail falling off, but in very mild cases the toenail stays on. That might not be the problem with your chicken. This picture shows what I am talking about:

View attachment 1616494

Oh wow, I didn’t know that. I will definitely be checking out the rest of the flock as we cull, rather not repeat errors with our new flock. Hopefully if it is frostbite our new coop will help that issue.

 

[Eggcessive]

Since you live in PA you will always be dealing with the possibility of frostbite with large combs and wattles, or toes during the months of Jan and Feb and maybe more. Preventing them from getting toes or wattles wet, or high levels of moisture inside the coop,) or sleeping on metal (I have one who like to roost on my garbage can food container.) Good overhead air circulation, no direct drafts, keeping spills down, and keeping waterers high enough to keep wattles out can help, but most of us with freezing weather will see some. If you see frostbite, do not massage or touch the area, since it is painul and tissue may be damaged.

Here are some good articles on frostbite and prevention:
https://www.hobbyfarms.com/6-ways-to-avoid-frostbite-in-your-chickens-3/

https://the-chicken-chick.com/frostbit-in-backyard-chickens-causes/

https://www.tillysnest.com/2013/01/frostbite-and-backyard-chickens-html/