Loose piece on underside of chick's beak? And a bonus curled toes question!

[thecatumbrella]

I have a 2 day-old Silkie chick that's been pretty beat up (weak, curled toes, pasty butt, etc.), and we fed her some egg yolk the first night to help out. She got it all over her, so I've been working to clean her up today. I noticed she has a loose piece of something on the underside of her beak. It's grooved and a bit flaky, but matches the rest of her beak.

I was very careful while cleaning her up, but it's concerning and Google was completely unhelpful. Is this normal? Is the keratin not fully sealed or something?

As for the curled toes, she doesn't move around much on her own because she's been so weak. I'm guessing I should encourage her to walk around with her splint and use her muscles/put weight on the joints?

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

@Eggcessive

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

What are you feeding them?

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have any pictures of her beak and of her standing? Did you tape her toes? Are they curled under like a claw? Can you get some Poultry Cell at your feed store and give her 2-3 drops daily, and get her drinking by dipping her beak into food. Mushy watery chick feed may be easy for her to take. Pasty butt can recur for a week or more, so keep an eye on it.

 

[thecatumbrella]

What are you feeding them?

Unmedicated Nutrena Chick crumble.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Do you have any pictures of her beak and of her standing? Did you tape her toes? Are they curled under like a claw? Can you get some Poultry Cell at your feed store and give her 2-3 drops daily, and get her drinking by dipping her beak into food. Mushy watery chick feed may be easy for her to take. Pasty butt can recur for a week or more, so keep an eye on it.

I'll try to take some tonight and tag you. I taped the worst foot with 3M medical tape for sensitive skin (I tried to make a cardboard sandal with vetwrap and completely failed). The other foot isn't as bad, especially if she puts weight on it. Her gait is much improved, but she mostly wants to sit on her butt. I have to encourage her to run to me and move around.

Just started Poultry Cell this afternoon (direct 1-2 drops)! I also gave her some b-complex earlier in the day. She does eat and drink voraciously, but either needs to be coaxed out from the plate with the other chicks OR put on a heating pad for 1-on-1 time with her own feeder and syringed water. If I ignored her, she would 100% just wait under the plate to die.

I really don't know what to think. Like I said, she eats and drinks great if I'm the one directing her. But her energy level is so, so low.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is a good link for taping curled under toes:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...s-with-tape-picture-tutorial-and-video.75247/

 

[thecatumbrella]

@Eggcessive

I ended up taping both feet. It's really hard to see her beak, but it's almost like the bottom layer has a split that runs the whole length.

No change in energy level, but she eats a TON with the setup in her beak photo (heat pad underneath her and me propping her legs a bit).

 

[Eggcessive]

Make sure that your feeder in the picture is not sharp inside. The metal ones like that can be sharp. I don’t know if that could have caused the the loose piece on her beak. I would watch to see if any water or food is leaking from the bottom of her beak. There have been threads in the past of the tongue coming down through the bottom of the beak after an injury or puncture in the beak floor.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Make sure that your feeder in the picture is not sharp inside. The metal ones like that can be sharp. I don’t know if that could have caused the the loose piece on her beak. I would watch to see if any water or food is leaking from the bottom of her beak. There have been threads in the past of the tongue coming down through the bottom of the beak after an injury or puncture in the beak floor.

Feeders are plastic with rounded edges, but good to know on the metal! I did watch to see if anything's falling out the bottom (nope).

Toe bones are definitely moving in the right direction. Redid the tape this morning to get a better placement. Her legs do slide apart when she's on her butt, but not while walking. Should I give her a spraddle brace as well? I have the vet wrap, if needed.