quail chick with curled feet

[kateb77777]

so the good news three chicks hatched ok and seem fine. I moved them to the breeder as they were pecking at the newly hatched one and one had been in there quite a long time. These ones seem good so far, eating drinking sleeping pooping etc.

The fourth one still in the incubator has curled up feet/toes although they seem to be straightening out very slightly since it hatched about a couple of hours ago but they are still an odd shape and not normal. The chick is lying on its side. It looks like it's trying to get up but it cant.
This chick took a long time hatching from the egg as compared to the others, seemed a big struggle is that why this happened?

i'm new to all this, what do I do with this fourth chick? I'm leaving it for now as dont want to open the incubator again since moving the older chicks.

 

[kateb77777]

I found some info on taping their toes, how long after hatching should I do that? or should I wait and see if it improves on it's own?
sorry for so many questions! it's all just so new at the moment.

 

[DK newbie]

Honestly, I'm not sure taping the feet has any effect at all.
I hatched a single batch of cots last year - think there were around 30 chicks. Several - perhaps 6 - had some level of curled toes/bent ankles still present by the time I moved them from incubator to brooder (more hatched with what appeared to be issues but the issues were gone before moving the chicks). Of those, I tried taping the toes of a few once they'd been in the brooder for a bit. They still walked in awkward ways even with the tape on and leaving it on didn't change this. Some of the taped ones got over it at a few days of age, after I'd given up on the tape. Some of the not taped ones did as well. Some of both groups ended up dying without getting over the issues. Some got over it and died anyway.
My conclusion was it's probably not worth the trouble - if they are going to straighten up, they'll do so whether you put tape on them or not.

 

[maadroj]

I tried taping one of my chicks curled toes. It was really hard to manage such tiny feet. What worked best for me, after many attempts, was a painter's tape "sandwich": attaching one strip of tape to the floor, placing the chick's foot on it and gently straightening the toes, then placing another strip of tape over the top and carefully trimming around the edges to create the "boot."

But, at the end, the chick's toes are still moderately curled. It doesn't seem to bother or impede her.

Another chick hatched later with even more curled toes, and it did cause him to limp. He basically walked on the outer edge of his foot. But the toes straightened out on their own. He needed help hatching 30 hrs after pipping, which may be related to the curling. For a time I was afraid he wouldn't make it, but now he's perfectly healthy, fast, and bold.

Good luck!

 

[Nabiki]

I just had this problem with my recent hatch. 3 chicks had the curled toes. 1 of those 3 was more completely curled body and toes. I was able to save 1. I started about 30 minutes after hatch by gently massaging the toes straight, then used masking tape to make tiny boots to keep them straight.

 

[kateb77777]

oh wow when i got up this morning the chick's feet seem much better, this seriously surprises me because they looked really bad yesterday.

Thanks so much for all your replies, helps a lot!

 

[Nabiki]

Yeah, I gave up on my first one too soon, but the second that I couldn't save I gave about 36 hours to see if it could straighten up.

 

[Bluemonster107]

I say leave it be... if they can be corrected... nature seems to do it itself after about 2 days

 

[maadroj]

Just make sure their floor provides good footing for them, not slippery.