random mutation or something to watch out for?

[KaziCritter]

i hatched out 14 chicks about 2 months ago, father is a french blue copper maran and mothers are a mix of breeds (these are just for laying eggs so no need to keep to a breed). out of the 14, 2 came from eggs from my easter egger (identified by their fluffy faces and the blue green eggs they hatched from). this question is about one of those 2. one of them has what seems to an extra claw growing out of the outer toe of each foot near the base. none of the others have it and even a google search didn't give me anything. i only now noticed it since about half the chicks have partially feathered legs/toes and when little it looked like this one did too. both parents are completely normal in appearance with normal feet.

is it some weird version of polydactyly, a random unwanted mutation, or something else? if anyone has seen this before, please let me know. is it something likely to get passed on or just an oddity for the specific bird? one claw is white/cream and the other mostly black and they seem to be twisted, they also are able to move but i cant tell if they are only in the skin or are attached to a toe. the chick is the most skittish of the hatch and doesnt much like being handled.

 

[staceyj]

Genetics in action.
Go to the BYC search engine
Type : Fifth toe
Lots of info there.

 

[KaziCritter]

just looked it up. everything i found here and on google for "fifth toe" was normal polydactyly which at least in chickens seems to mainly effect the first/inner/back/thumb position (take your pick of descriptor) toe and then goes up the leg from there, nothing about a claw or extra toe doing that on the outer most toe. ive got 2 hens and 2 chicks with polydactyly but neither of them is this one.

the mother of this chick is 4 1/2 year old easter egger from meyer hatchery (an old girl but still laying reliably) and the father (a 2 year old french blue copper maran) is supposedly from a good breeder (got him for free and owners said they got him from a specific breeder but couldnt keep a rooster). both have perfectly normal legs so this isnt normal polydactyly which is a dominant gene (hence my having 2 chicks from that rooster and one (or both) of my polydactyly (silkie if you want to know) hens.

i know there is a recessive polydactyly but what info i can find on it describes it the same as the dominant version. and what are the chances of both a hatchery bird and a bird from a known breeder to have the recessive version when the rooster at least isnt supposed to have it at all in the line (wouldnt be too surprised to find it in a hatchery bird but for a type that has nothing to do with a polydactyly breed its very unlikely).

and its not possible that this chick came from any other hen. both it and its sib (who has normal feet) came from eggs that only that hen could lay (i only have 1 hen with eggs that color so far) and i had to assist both of them in hatching. except for the half silkies (who were laid a week behind the rest) they were the last to hatch and both were the only 2 with the fluffy faces of the main group. one of the half silkies also came out with that but they were easy to tell apart by their size and feet. and i currently only have 1 rooster out there so no question on who the dad is.

not trying to be stubborn with this and i do what to konw just what caused it so i can figure out what to do to avoid it in the future. but "fifth toe" or typical polydactyly it isnt unless you can point me to a specific post, gene, photo or something that can prove it is cause nothing im pulling up verifies it. and if it looked at all like typical polydactyly id put it down to both birds somehow having the recessive gene, but its the wrong toe on the opposite side of the foot for that.

 

[KaziCritter]

managed to get a better look at the birds feet. the tips were getting kind of long on those claws and they were twisting quite a lot. got them trimmed and it turns out they are hollow with thin walls, kind of like the shaft of a feather. could they just be deformed feathers? im sure that this one had some feathers on its legs when it was little which is why these claw looking things are confusing. if they are feathers, they any idea what could cause them to come in like that when they were normal looking before? and why would one be mostly black colored and the other white? and its the actual thing that's black (just like a black claw with a white tip), not the bit inside coloring it. photos are a close up of the one on the left foot after trimming, just in case it helps.