I just completed a hatch and the Barred Rocks and Polish hatched just fine. But some of the OEGB's were born with curled feet. I used the cardboard and tape to splint them and all but 2 are now fine. I guess I'll have to put those 2 down. Does anyone know what causes this? I have hatched several broods from these particular parents so I doubt it came from them. Although one of the hens, this time, is a daughter of the roo. Could it be a problem during incubation? I do have humidity issues since my home is air conditioned. Everybody gets the same feed so it' shouldn't be that. How can I prevent this from happening again? Lord knows how I hate killing newborn chicks.....
If you can get a hold of a copy of the latest Backyard Poultry issue there is an exhaustive article on the all the things that can effect a hatch -vitamin deficiencies, temperature fluctuations, lethal genes, etc. In fact, there was so much listed that could go wrong I was kinda scared off of incubation! Two things it listed for curled/crooked toes and feet were: temp too low, biotin deficiency. I'm definitely no expert, but this article was very informative and very interesting! I'm sure there's some good sources online if you google for incubation tips. Good luck!
I've also read that having a brooder with a wire mesh floor, along with using a red heat bulb, has been linked to curled toes. No one's really sure why. Since my brooder's got 1/4" mesh floor, I'm using a white light bulb (just a 75watt household bulb since the 150watt heat bulb was WAY too warm) and haven't seen any signs of toe curling yet. It can also be genetic, so if you're using the same breeding pair or trio for your eggs, that could be a big cause right there.
