Help - Silkie feet possibly deformed

[tlatham72]

Hi all. My first chickens. 12 hatching in incubator. Today is day 22. One silkie chick hatched 3.5 hours ago and still is unable to stand up and walk around. It tries but flops around and then lays down. Is this normal?

I think its feet look very strange but I've never seen the feet of a 3.5 hour old chick.

I've tried to capture a couple pics through the incubator top. Not sure if they will be clear enough for help. But any opinions or advice is welcome. Everything I read says not to open the incubator so I have not looked up close. There are two other eggs that have single pipped hole.

 

[tlatham72]

It looks to me like the feet/claws are turned inward. Tbe legs don't seem to be splayed. They are under the chick's body. The feet also look really large.

 

[featherhead007]

I'm no help, sorry. I have never even seen a silkies feet

 

[tlatham72]

A couple more pics from a video

 

[Kiraeh]

Fresh babies aren't great at walking, but this one seems to have its feet under it most of the time. That's what matters, it'll get the strength to stand properly once it's had a little rest and isn't so alarmed at being born and alone.
Feet look fine to me, it seems to have feathers on them which can make them look weird, especially when they're close in colour to the skin and you can't tell what's what in the incubator.
Silkies normally have black skin and an extra toe, I'm not sure if there's an extra toe there but if there is, that can look a little strange. Is this a cross, or is it possible you have a different feather footed breed?
Update us this evening, you'll know by then if baby's feet need any help.

 

[featherhead007]

Maybe you can find a (PET-diatrist) near you?

 

[tlatham72]

Thank you do much!
I'll definitely update later.

I ordered my eggs. It is supposed to be pure silkie. I definitely don't see any extra toes. I seem to only see three on each foot.

It was walking much better about 30 minutes ago and was extending the legs. Bht the feet still look strange to me. I agree that there are some feathers there possibly causing some confusion for me.

More later!

 

[tlatham72]

I totally forgot about the black skin. My 12 eggs were a variety of chickens, so it might have been mislabeled or I accidentally mixed it up with my identification by label. Ill recheck when back home and determine what it was supposed to be. I have a sultan, japanese bantam, and several polish also.

 

[Kiraeh]

Ahhh I bet it's a sultan then, they have feathered feet.

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

If his toes are pointed in, it's called crooked toe. It's completely correctable at this age with a bootie.


One of my rescue roos, Pigeon, had a severe case of it. It was too late for me to correct the issue, but he got along well enough.