Twisted, bent toe.

[Prareedawn]

Our 9 week old Rhode Island Red pullet, Buffalo, has a twisted toe. Im not sure how long its been that way but it doesnt seem to cause her pain. I can touch it and bend it and its sturdy, not floppy or anything. She runs fine and doesnt seem to have any issue at all. Just wondering if theres anything I should do? It looks more twisted then bent. Hers some pics I hope you can see it as she never stands still! LOL Thanks in advance!

 

[my sunwolf]

In my limited experience, the symmetrical toe on the opposite foot should start to do this too as the chicken matures. Usually if this happens, the crooked toe is genetic. If it's only on one side, I'm not sure, it theoretically could be an injury or a nutritional problem, though from the preciseness of the crookedness it looks genetic to me. I know that my guy with two crooked toes is friendly and healthy, roosts fine, runs just as well as the others, and doesn't seem to be in any pain, so I wouldn't worry about that part of all this. The problem comes if you were planning to breed her and the toes happen to be genetic. In that case, you would not want to breed her, because the crooked toes are considered an "undesirable" feature. Hope this helps