newly hatched Cortunix quail

[Jules472]

Hello
We successfully hatched 12 chicks 2 days ago but one has deformed feet. It is eating and drinking and the others are not picking on it. Should we leave it and see what happens or take some action?

 

[Dragons4u]

Are the feet deformed or just curled up?
I had two in my last hatch that looked deformed, but turned out ok after a few days.

 

[Jules472]

They look deformed and curled up under it so it is walking on its ankles/wrist so to speak. It was the last one to hatch and nearly a day later than others but it does seem to be thriving.

 

[dc3085]

Search BYC for how to fix crooked toes. Basically you will need to cut out little snowshoes out of business cards (just cut little triangles the size of his feet) and tape his feet to the shoes. It'll need new shoes every few days for a few weeks, but if you do that it can be normal.

Curled toes are caused by excessive humidity, humidity fluctuations, or a chick that gets stuck in the shell.