issue with chicks feet

[shannondee12]

I have 14, 8 week old "barnyard mix" chicks. After taking them from the brooder to the coop, I noticed a few of them walking funny. They were "high stepping" so to speak and their toes seemed to bend upwards instead of the usual claw formation. Only about 6 out of the bunch are doing this. I went to inspect them and found that the under side of their feet seemed to be in bad shape. Cracked in all the bends and discolored. They have pine shavings inside the coop and straw in the run. This appeared before the temps dropped but the coop is heated since they are still small. This is the same clutch that had some born with wry neck and curled feet but the ones born with curled feet are not the ones with the issues now. I am at a loss. Any suggestions on what is causing this and how to fix it? This is not my first hatch and I have always done it the same way.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would start them on some poultry vitamins for the feet issues. I don't know what has caused the discoloration and cracking. Is it dry enough in the coop and run? A lot of tiny rocks? I would just make sure to put extra bedding to pad the surface. I would normally recommend soaking their feet in epsom salts daily, but you can't do that right now with the extreme cold temps unless you bring them inside to do it, then make sure their feet are totally dry.

 

[shannondee12]

Thanks for the input. Do you think I should keep them separate from the rest of the group with administering the vitamins? Only 6 out of the 14 are having this issue. There are no rocks or anything that I can find that would cause this problem. Bring them into the house is not an option but I do have a heated garage that would work. I was just worried with the other problems of wry neck and curled feet when they hatched that it was a problem with the chickens that laid the eggs. Not really a genetic issue but more of an issue of them not having enough of what they need.

 

[dawg53]

It appears to be the beginnings of footpad dermatitis; moisture in litter and vitamin deficiency early on are causes:
http://ps.fass.org/content/89/10/2043.long

 

[shannondee12]

Thanks for the link. Never heard of that before. I want to think that its not due to litter moisture and more of a deficiency issue. I don't even practice the deep litter method. Their pine shaving are changed every 3 days. I'm not sure what mixture of breeds I have but I guess the ones affected could be a broiler mix. I have a liquid super B complex that I can try. It has the riboflavi
n in it.