Treating curled/deformed toes in adult birds?

[Gypsy07]

I have just been given six adult birds that are about two years old. They came from a local farm and were being given away to make way for younger birds. They look like they've been kept quite well as they're all fairly healthy looking, but two of them have badly curled toes. Is this something that can be treated or improved at all, or is there nothing that can be done? Both of the birds can walk fine and it doesn't seem to bother them much, but their feet really don't look nice.

I don't know what breed they are. They're dark grey and speckly, a bit like Cuckoo Marans, but the person who passed them on to me wasn't sure what they were...

 

[Yvonne37894]

Chickens are amazing!! They don't know that they are deformed.
We had a rumpless mixed breed that all of her toes curled around.
She could scratch, roost and lay a pretty blue egg.
I wouldn't do anything to them but feed, water and gather the eggs

 

[tnchickenut]

Quote:
Ditto.

It happens to heavier breeds who spend alot or all their time on the ground or their perches aren't ideal.

 

[Gypsy07]

Thanks for the info both of you!

Maybe I worded my question badly. I'm not bothered so much about how ugly their feet look to me, more that their feet look like they can't be nice for them to walk on. Do you really think it doesn't bother them at all? Will it not give them joint pain and/or arthritis (do chickens get arthritis???) later in life? I'm just thinking about how untreated biomechanical defects affect humans as they get older...

So is there no way of treating/improving the feet of curly toed chickens then? I've seen all the chick orthopaedic treatments that are possible but nothing about adult birds. Do I just leave them to get on with things in their own way?

 

[tnchickenut]

I would say just leave them. I have never come accross a "treatment" for it. I have a BIG Delaware rooster who is three and recently (in the last year) started to have his outter toes turn out. He prefers not to roost. I'd say he is just too big and heavy to want to. So, his toes turn out. It doesn't bother him, so it doesn't bother me. He runs even... and very fast too for a big heavy bird like he is.

You could try (and I'm just thinking now) to give them the perfect size perch at the perfect height and see if that doesn't slowly make it better... or at least not make it worse. just a brainstorm.

 

[askjcm2005]

Here is a treatment that could most definitely work!! I read about this on here the other day and I am going to try it on a chick soon. I call it giving them duck feet! lol

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=72885

 

[Gypsy07]

Yeah, I've seen toe taping for baby chicks but somehow I think it probably works so well on the babies because their bones are still soft and not fully formed. I don't know I'd have the patience to tape and splint, tape and splint, for months on end, and I'm not sure it would be the best thing for the hen either to have to put up with it for so long. That link mentioned two months of splinting (!) to correct toe curling in a nine month old pullet. My birds are two years old so it would probably take even longer...

I think I shall just concentrate on giving them the best environment and nutrition possible and hopefully if it doesn't get any better, at least it won't get any worse. The idea about the perfect perch seems very sensible. My original chickens are happy on the perch they already have but it's maybe a bit high for these ones, so I'm going to put up another perch the same size but a bit lower down.

Six more, what the **** was I thinking!?!

 

[Gypsy07]

Also meant to say, thanks everyone for the thoughts and advice. So nice just to get a bit of reassurance that I'm not being vile and neglectful to just let them be