Itchy chicks and chick with crooked feet. Help!

[slaird61]

I just received 15 chicks from Ideal yesterday and it's my first time ever to order chicks. I have a couple of questions. All the chicks seem itchy because they are always scratching at themselves and preening (or that's what it looks like even though they don't have feathers). What's going on? Do they have mites? If so, how can I treat them? Another thing I noticed is one of the black sex link pullets has crooked feet. Her toes curl in almost like she's trying to hold something. Can this be fixed and will it effect her quality of life?

 

[chicmom]

Hello-

Chicks do alot of preening, but what you need to do is just pick them up and look through their fluff real good to see if there are any mites or lice. If there is, just powder them up with some Seven Dust, and all will be well. I believe you have to repeat the process in appx 10 days. They may be just fine though, chicks do alot of preening and scratching, that's for sure. I've never rec'd any chicks from the hatchery with parasites before.

As far as the chick with the crooked feet. One thing a friend of mine did, was tape a coin, like a dime to the bottom of the chick's feet to act as a brace and hold the toes flat. Sort of like little booties. Since the chick is young, if you do it quickly, you can straighten out those crooked toes sometimes.

Good luck!

Sharon

 

[slaird61]

Thank you!

 

[bigspringshatchery]

You can also use pipe cleaners to build a boot for the chick with the crooked toe.

 

[slaird61]

How do I do that?