what is crooked feet a result from?

[silkies4penny]

I hatched a silkie a week ago that had both its feet curled to the inside. I delt with the splayed legs, got them corrected but the twisted up feet are aweful. I am thinking about killing the chick because It can still barely get around. I have tried every splint, tape and coin that people have suggested. My question is did an incubation error do this or was is luck of the draw? I had seen a post a while back that had troubleshooting tips for what goes wrong, I thought it might have said that crooked feet are because of too much tempreture fluctuation. Anyone know for sure?

 

[sourland]

Incubator conditions can cause feet and leg problems. When this is the case generally more than one chick are affected. Another strong possibility is genetic defect.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/206930.htm&word=curly%2ctoe%2cparalysis

These might help you. You might do a BYC search on curly toe paralysis to see if you think that is what it is (see second link).

 

[Arielle]

I just learned for an experienced hatching person that humidity during lockdown can effect the toes. Increasing the humidity and leaving the afflicted chicks in the moist environment of the hatcher helped alleviate the symptoms.

Not saying this is the cause, just that it could be. GL

 

[Higins00]

We hatched out 3 eggs as a school project. One egg did not hatch and the other 2 came out with the curled toes/feet. I read where the temp was too low, high enouph to form the chick but not high enouph to finish the job.
I checked out the temp and it indeed was too low. Someone told me to buy make up sponges set them around the legs and feet and get a bigger sponge to hold her up in a plastic container so her feet would not touch the bottom. . I splinted the toes and legs with tooth picks ( cut to size and ends filed down). It straighted the toes but the legs were to severe. I ended up culling it so it wouldn't suffer. Good Luck