Month old chicks with bent toes - Lots of Pics Added

[Engteacher]

Will do! It's certainly worth a try and probably not a coincidence that it has shown up after I stopped. Thanks!

 

[dc3085]

I know this is an old post but I'll add a cent or two

If it was not present when they were chicks then it can be due to a genetic defect. Cute as they are, those birds are probably not the genetics you want to show, if this is a developmental problem (these birds if still alive are probably quite elderly). If this happens at or shortly after hatch you can splint the curled toes or make a little snow shoe with an old credit card. Splinting must be done early if it is going to work as chicks develop extremely quickly after hatch.

I have noticed many quail breeders are not specific with their breeding stock, leading to inbreeding and reproduction by low quality birds. Having begun breeding birds with parrots, the lack of genetic interest i see some flock owners display is upsetting and its generally negligent to the fowl keeping community. A good way to avoid this is by buying eggs from an NPIP certified seller, or someone here on backyard that has good feedback. Even then because of the amount of purpose breeding and interbreeding done to these birds, you will have plenty of culls in your coturnix career.

That said those pictures don't look like it will affect the quality of life too badly once they are grown. There are plenty of healthy birds out there with crooked toes, I hope everything went well with these.

 

[bbsnooks]

I know this is an old post but I'll add a cent or two

If it was not present when they were chicks then it can be due to a genetic defect. Cute as they are, those birds are probably not the genetics you want to show, if this is a developmental problem (these birds if still alive are probably quite elderly). If this happens at or shortly after hatch you can splint the curled toes or make a little snow shoe with an old credit card. Splinting must be done early if it is going to work as chicks develop extremely quickly after hatch.

I have noticed many quail breeders are not specific with their breeding stock, leading to inbreeding and reproduction by low quality birds. Having begun breeding birds with parrots, the lack of genetic interest i see some flock owners display is upsetting and its generally negligent to the fowl keeping community. A good way to avoid this is by buying eggs from an NPIP certified seller, or someone here on backyard that has good feedback. Even then because of the amount of purpose breeding and interbreeding done to these birds, you will have plenty of culls in your coturnix career.

That said those pictures don't look like it will affect the quality of life too badly once they are grown. There are plenty of healthy birds out there with crooked toes, I hope everything went well with these.

thanks for adding this info. esp the credit card.. and the timing .. that it must be done early. and about getting eggs from the NPIP < i'm going to look that up.>
debra

 

[mrshaggie810]

Where can I get the vitamins to supplement with? I have 2 meat chicks (Cx) with a slightly curved middle toe, one EE with a slightly curved middle toe, and one EE with a slightly curved middle toe, and her legs sort of slightly cross when she walks...any ideas?

 

[Jimtherunner]

I just noticed a 4 month old pullet limping and discovered two deformed/bent toes that were not bent before either! I will add vitamins to their water, but I am thinking it is probably more likely to be a genetic defect? I wrapped her toes tonight because I just could not think of anything else to do, but I will catch her again in the AM, remove the wrap, and add some vitamins to the water. I think what I have is electrolyte powder...is that the vitamins recommended?

 

[costello]

I'm having the exact same problem as the OP. Month old chicks who were fine before now have curled and bent toes. These 10 chicks hatched on Nov. 23-24. I just noticed the problem with their toes this evening. It's very upsetting. It looks like they're all effected to greater or lesser degrees.

I'm new to raising chickens, but this is the fifth set of chicks I've had, and none of the others had anything remotely like this. There are more in this batch than the other groups I raised. One older article mentions crowding to reach a heat source as a possible cause. I added a second heat lamp this evening, so they could more easily find a warm spot without crowding.

I'm wondering if it's worth trying to tape the feet of chicks this old? Can this be fixed?

I wish the OP had come back to let us know how her situation came out.

 

[Eggcessive]

Try some B vitamins and taping the toes. Some curling of toes is hereditary, and some is due to vitamin B2 (riboflavin deficiency.)

 

[Engteacher]

The taping didn't improve the toe issue. I kept the pullets as layers but didn't use them in my breeding stock. The cockerels were delicious.

 

[costello]

Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know how things came out. It's good to know the pullets survived and are laying. I wasn't planning on breeding these birds anyway, but I really want the eggs.

Riboflavin deficiency makes sense to me based on the symptoms, but I can't figure out why now all of a sudden. I started adding cod liver oil to their feed a week or so ago. Could that have caused a malabsorption problem? Or possibly the higher vitamin A or D requires more riboflavin? I feel like I've done something wrong, and I'd like to fix it or at least avoid it in future chicks.