Crooked toes?

[tygrysek75]

Hi,as some of you know i had hatched some babies recently,but today I had noticed thet one of my Marans chick(first born)has a toe which is always sligtly bent.i heard about condition crooked toes and i thing this is a case.I noticed that this toe when he had hatched was not really straight from the biginning as with other chicks.i was putting this to his clumsines in the begining when he had startrd to learn to walk.Today as i was taking them out of the box to make some photos,he definitly has somthing wrong with it.I had not found in any of my chicks rearing books any treetment for it just a mention that later in life it will correct it self.has any of you has any advice for me if I should live it at it is or try to correct this somehow?You can see the problem on this picture;

 

[chrismahon]

Hi Tygresec. It could be an injury but it doesn't look like it. It may be momentary nutritional deficiency in the parents or even a minor congenital problem. We had a Wyandotte chick with some toes just like that. They didn't correct themselves but otherwise she seems perfectly happy and moves around as normal. She was the only one in the hatch. Lays well and is very pretty. Don't know if it will lead to problems later, but she is 20 months now.

 

[tygrysek75]

This is the only toe afected and is not broken just out of shape.He had a tough time to hatch but did it on his own and I suspecting it may have been to dry?My book says 'This condition,and a genaral weakness in the young birds,can be promoted by incorrect incubator temperatures(too high or low0 combined with poor ventilation.Poor diet in the breeding stock can be another important contributory factor not to be overlooked'(Hatching and rearing your birds-apractical Poultry)
I do not thing is the second reason as eggs where from darkbrowneggs maybe temperature was a problem.Wrong temperature has may undesirable effects on many things with hatching.
If sombody else has any expirience to share please let me know.
Thank you Chris for your input.

 

[Chuck]

Temp and humidity can affect toes and I think problems at hatching time too. Bent toes tend not to get better and often get worse. Some people splint them with a bit of tape but I did try it once without success. I think your one is worth a try but should harm it long term if you leave it alone.

 

[tygrysek75]

Chuck there is also condition called twisted-toe when all toes are curled under feets-do you refering to that maybe? I wonder what I could use to straighten that toe?

 

[VALBURNHAM]

I have a hen with two crooked toes. I rescued her as she had a bad limp,which I found to be caused by the crooked toes. She does walk with a funny gait but her quality of life is good and she lays eggs regularly and lives happily with my bantam hens. She is by the way a LF heavy breed

 

[Chuck]

Yes. I expect I mean twisted toe. One or more of the toes is twisted.