HELP! First Ever Chicks, One Has Deformed Toes...Leave Or Splint?

[my_first_chicks_]

First off, thank you in advance for responding. This is my first time ever having chickens. We ordered 8 baby chicks, recieved 11. Got them last Friday, they all seem to be eating and drinking their water. I have a mixture, Americanas (fiesty bully little guys!) Opringtons (the bullied) Barred Rock and Wyndottes. Not sure how many I have of each since they all resemble eachother, and we got three extras. Anyways, I have them in a 4 foot by 2 foot box, light waterer, feeder and All Natural Kiln Dried Pine Bedding. They all seem to be growing.

My problem is that yesterday I noticed one of my bright yellow chicks (Oprington?) has 2 deformed toes on her right foot. These toes point at a pretty harsh angle inward. She seems to walk around OK, but it looks like she lays down more than the rest. (When I walk in a room the rest run away and she lays there. Not sure if this is because of her toes or because she is more docile.) She can walk around OK and seems to get bullied and jumped over by the other birds. I am not sure if this is a serious issue, remember I have never had chickens, or if it someting she will grow out of. I could not find anyone else online that seems to be facing the same problems.

Additionally, should I try and splint it, or leave it alone and see if it becomes a bigger issue as she gets older and has more weight to put on her poor little deformed toes?

Thanks

 

[DancingHen]

This is a pretty common occurance in chickens. It can be genetic, or caused by problems during incubation or hatching. It can also be a condition caused by a riboflavin deficeincy. The deficeincy could have been in the hen that laid the egg. I would start adding liquid infant vitamins (poly-vi-sol) to their water. Get the kind without iron as it can be toxic to them. Add a dropperful to the water each time you change it. If it is a vitamin issue the toes will correct themselves after a few days on vitamins. If it is just a deformity caused at hatching due to low humidity then you can sometimes correct it when the chick is still young. Not sure how young they have to be. Here is a link to a website that may help....scroll down the page to find help and pictures on splinting the toes. http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKRaisingChicks.html Hope that helps. Also, I do have a chicken I got as a grown hen whose toes are crooked. She gets around fine and seems totally unbothered by it. So don't rush to cull the chick....give it time and see how it develops.

Also, welcome to the forum and to poultrykeeping!

 

[my_first_chicks_]

Thank you. Should I seperate her out from the rest of the chickens? I want to make sure she gets the appropraite amount of vitamins, but I was also told its important for them to be together. Is this something I can find pretty easily at the store? I am not sure how old they are either to be honest, we ordered them from a feed mill in our hometown and they were just given to us in a box, shipped from another state I'm guessing by the brouchure I recieved with them. They are all very small still though, and growing fast. I am feeding them "Home Grown Starter/Grower. Was told its medicated.

 

[my_first_chicks_]

How do I know if her bones have hardened to the point past splinting?

 

[CherryChick]

This happened with my chicks. I took mine out with the deformed toes. Put a foot splint on with pipe cleaner and bandage tape. Then I made a seperate place for her and picked a docile friend to go with her so she wasn't alone.

Hers did correct its self in time.
Good Luck!

 

[DancingHen]

The infant vitamin drops are available at almost any grocery or drug store. You find them in the baby section or the vitamin section or jus ask a pharmasist. I would leave her with the other chicks for now because they really do better with the company. Remove her only if they seem to be making her worse. I think if it's just her toes she will be fine with her chick friends. I think you will know if the bones are too hard if you just try to manipulate them very gently. If you can put them into the right shape with your fingers and she doesn't freak out about it then you can probably splint them. I used scotch tape on a chick's foot once and it fixed it completely in about 3 days....but it may take a week if she is a little older. As long as she is drinking water the same as the rest of the chicks she will get enough of the vitamin supplement. Good luck.

 

[DancingHen]

Quote:
Yes, if the other chicks are trompling her a lot you could seperate her with one or two of the calmest chicks to keep her company.

 

[my_first_chicks_]

Thank you for the response! Is there a specific brand you recommend for the drops?

 

[Pele]

By all means splint! Baby chicks are made out of rubber, and their toes can be easily corrected in the first two weeks.

 

[DancingHen]

Quote:
poly-vi-sol is the name of a brand. I have also used generic infant vitamin drops. Just be sure it has no iron in it. Have you try the splint yet? I'm sure it will help if she is under 3 weeks old.