I know I JUST had you guys help solve a crisis but LOOK AT THIS , help please

[Elsveta641]

I JUST got the illness in my last loooong thread diagnosed, and now I have another issue. Please bare with me. I brought a little crested hatchling into my house to prevent him from catching the illness. I was petting the cute little fluff on his head and noticed what looked to be a bit of leftover hatching crusties. I went to dampen it with water to wash it away and ...well I'll let the picture speak for itself. What should I do about this????

 

[MagpieDucks]

Can you take a picture without your thumb in the way? It’s looks like a web from this angle...

 

[NoFlyBackFarm]

What is that?

 

[HuffleClaw]

Is that his foot?

 

[roosterhavoc]

Is that a foot growing out of its head? Where are you getting these birds from?

 

[MagpieDucks]

I see y’all are seeing the same thing as I am. I’m afraid it’s not just hatching gunk. It’s your choice. You can either cull it (if your comfortable doing that sort of thing) or you can try and raise it. It will definitely have some issues...

 

[NoFlyBackFarm]

What is it SRSLY?!

 

[MagpieDucks]

What is it SRSLY?!

A foot. :/

 

[Fishkeeper]

Weird!
Don't cull him. He should do perfectly fine. Sometimes animals grow parts that aren't really supposed to be there. I've seen pictures of an adult, wild, perfectly healthy-looking mockingbird with an entire leg+foot growing out its back.
I'd say trim some of the feathers away to get a good look at what's going on, but, unless he shows any signs of being in pain, no need to worry about him. He should be perfectly fine. And I want more pics, especially as he grows up!

There are two possibilities here; either something went wrong as his cells were differentiating as an embryo, or he absorbed a twin in the egg. If it's the first, he hopefully won't have any trouble at all, it's just that foot sticking out. If he absorbed a twin, he may have some issues from whatever parts of said twin might be inside his body. Given the location, I'd assume they would be in his brain. If he's acting normal, it's probably safe to say that he doesn't have anything else internally going on.

 

[123RedBeard]

Twist it's neck ...