New Chickie has fused toes on one foot??

[EggDropSoup]

Hi all! I've been reading the forum for awhile (and dreaming of a flock of my own!) and that dream has finally come true. Thanks to a generous friend down the street (who doesn't use her very large, fenced backyard), I was able to purchase my very first flock of chickens. I ordered from My Pet Chicken and bought 15. I'm splitting the order three ways with a couple of friends, though I'll be doing the initial "bringing up baby." I'm no stranger to animals--including chickens. I've worked on farms and for vets almost my whole working life, but these are the first chickens I'll have all as my own!

My chicks arrived this morning, all peeping their indignation at having been shipped from Ohio to Kentucky, but they were robust and immediately took to eating, drinking, playing, and sleeping (that's my little Ancona in my avatar). This evening, I offered them a bit of yogurt, and one of my little peeps (I think she's an Easter Egger...she has feathered legs) galloped through the yogurt and got all messy. I picked her up and started wiping her off with a wet paper towel and I noticed one of her feet looked odd. Upon closer inspection, I realized two of her toes are fused together, but she only has one toenail for both toes. This deformity does not seem to be affecting her mobility in ANY way. She runs around, climbs over her siblings, scratches, eats fine, drinks, etc.

I saw on another thread where someone with a similar issue separated the toes with a pair of scissors. I thought about doing this, but with only one toenail shared by the fused toes, I'm wondering if that would make things worse for the chick? Will this malformation present any problems as she grows up, that you can think of? If people think she'll be fine, I'd prefer to just leave her the way she is. What say you all?

I'm happy to be here amongst the chicken people!

 

[mljohnson05]

Do you have a photo so we can see how bad it is, or how it looks. it s/he waling ok, any balance issues?
Personally I cannot find it in my hear to cause pain if they are not having any issues with walking, perching, eating, etc....
Post photos if you can please.
Best Wishes and God Bless

 

[BGinVA]

Aw poor baby. I'm no expert by any means, but my first thought depending on which toes are fused would be to make sure that she has a wide enough roosting pole so that she doesn't have trouble grabbing on and not falling off. If she seems to get around okay and you find a roost that works for her, let her be is my thought. Good luck with your new chicks!

 

[EggDropSoup]

I will get a photo tomorrow and post it here. They're all sleeping at the moment. Thanks you guys, for your advice. I might do a little test to see how well she perches on my finger. That should give me an idea of how her "grip" is.

Thanks again! If anyone else has input, I'm all ears.

 

[ll]

-definitely subscribing to see your photo/photos-

If it is the way I imagine, two toes joining at the end to share a toenail, then I would think dangerous to cut.
Maybe if you had that styptic powder ... but I imagine that to be a mess -- and a bird that size losing blood would be bad news.

I hope someone with more knowledge posts for you ::free bump::
Good luck!

 

[EggDropSoup]

Here are two views (or as good as I could get) of my chick's foot (she's a wriggly little thing!). What does everyone think?

 

[ll]

Your 2nd photo - is the feathering hiding the "other" toe?
If you do surgery, trim the feathers away.
Is there a web of flesh between them where the yellow line is?
Seems risky ~ If it were mine I wouldn't cut it but that's just me.
Does it perch well?

Is the green toenail material? I can't see the sharing of the nail.

 

[EggDropSoup]

Yep--the feathering is hiding the other toe. There is a tiny bit of nail on that toe, as you outlined in green, and then a little calciferous nub on the other toe, but it hardly looks like a toenail. I really do think I'm just going to leave her be. She gets around fine, and her grip seems decent. I will most likely make a special, wider perch that she can use in the hen house when she's older.

 

[mljohnson05]

If it was mine, i would not cut it as long as she can perch well and is able to get around just fine. Her connection seems thick and i cannot see the point in hurting the poor thing unless it is effecting her. Most cutting is done because it causes the toe to be bent under or in a direction that prohibits the walking of the chick.
Best Wishes,
Laura

 

[Nathan Sampson]

The little fluff ball looks to be fine I would leave it be.