Roo with curled toes.

[SamLockwood]

This is my Cream Legbar roo at 10 weeks, that I got from Meyer Hatchery with 5 other boys. He's got two curled toes (middle and inner) on his right foot. He first developed it at about 7 and a half weeks.

I can find lots of info on curly toes on younger chicks, but very little on a bird 8+ weeks old.

I tried vet-wrapping the croocked toes, and he threw that off in less than a day. I tried a "booty" with vet-wrap & cardboard, which he threw off in a couple of minutes.

I've been doing vitamin therapy (adding rooster booster to his water).

I've had better luck using medical tape (just strong enough he can't toss it off, but not so strong I have to worry about pulling skin off when I change the wrap), but so far the condition doesn't seem to be improving.


The good news is he gets around quite well: he doesn't limp, doesn't seem to be in pain, and can run and roost. The curled toes can get a decent grip on things, it's just they curl when he stands on them.

I'm likely to try splinting / wrapping for only one more week before giving up.

My main question is whether this was some injury or if it's genetic. If it's genetic I don't want to breed him and will have to re-home him.

 

[DotToDot]

It might just be something that never healed from chickhood. If it doesn’t hurt him, it doesn‘t sound… too bad?

 

[NatJ]

My main question is whether this was some injury or if it's genetic. If it's genetic I don't want to breed him and will have to re-home him.

I do not know for sure, but I would not breed him if there is any doubt.

If it is genetic, you do not want to pass that on (I see that you know that.)

If it is caused by a nutritional deficiency, but the other chickens were fine, then he might need more of that nutrient than the other chickens need-- another reason not to breed him, because you don't want to produce chickens that all need supplements.

I cannot think of any kind of injury that would cause the effect you are seeing, but of course that may say more about my imagination than about what actually happened!

And no matter what the cause, there is the matter of whether that foot would cause trouble for a rooster trying to mate (it might be fine, or might not be.)

This is my Cream Legbar roo at 10 weeks, that I got from Meyer Hatchery with 5 other boys. He's got two curled toes (middle and inner) on his right foot. He first developed it at about 7 and a half weeks.
...The good news is he gets around quite well: he doesn't limp, doesn't seem to be in pain, and can run and roost. The curled toes can get a decent grip on things, it's just they curl when he stands on them.

You say he is getting around well and does not seem to have any pain, but he is only 10 weeks at present. That may change as he grows bigger and heavier, so you should probably keep an eye on the matter.