- Jul 25, 2014
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Hi. We were given 2 chickens around 3 1/2 months ago. They both went broody within a few weeks so we decided it woukd be a great opportunity to hatch some chicks. We got 2 fertilised eggs from my partners mother as she has a 2 cockles and we successfully hatched 2 chicks. They are now 8 weeks old. A few weeks ago we noticed one had her small outer toe on one foot curled in slightly. We touched it and she didn't react in pain so we just kept an eye on it and it seemed to improve however yesterday we noticed that all 3 toes on that foot are now curling and going under her when she tries to walk. She mainly now just lays on the grass alone or follows the other chick and chickens with the toes all curled under her foot falling over quite a bit and then when she reaches them she again sits down. We read online that this condition can be caused by a birth defect or a vitamin deficiency. The other chick and chickens are fine. If it is from a vitamin deficiency what tablets should I get to try to help this? I'm in the UK. We also saw people saying to split the foot so that the toes are all straight. We have done this and while the toes are all straight and when you put her down she stands flat footed with her toes straight out like she shoukd but as soon as she takes a step she seems to trip over the other foot and fall flat on her face and then just drags her foot behind her basically the same as without the splint apart from her toes are now straight and it's a bit more difficult cause she is also competing with the splint. I'm unsure if once we splinted it she is supposed to be able to walk correctly again or if it is ok for her to still be walking with her toes/foot under her as long as her toes are straight so that eventually when the splint it permanently removed the toes shoukd be straight again and she should walk as normal? Also how long shoukd we wait for an improvement? I undersrand the splint shoukd be removed each day to check for progress? We are
going to keep an eye on her again tomorrow and if there is no signs of improvement we were going to consider taking her to a vet the following day to see if they believe we should put her to sleep. We do not have the cash to be paying for operations etc and everytime i see her struggling to walk and falling on her face it breaks my heart and know that sitting in the grass alone watching the other chickens happily have the run of the large garden finding it very
difficult to move is no way for her to live. Any advise at all would be greatly appreciated. I don't have any pictures at the minute as it is night time and she is safely tucked up in the coop with her sister and two mummy's.
going to keep an eye on her again tomorrow and if there is no signs of improvement we were going to consider taking her to a vet the following day to see if they believe we should put her to sleep. We do not have the cash to be paying for operations etc and everytime i see her struggling to walk and falling on her face it breaks my heart and know that sitting in the grass alone watching the other chickens happily have the run of the large garden finding it very
difficult to move is no way for her to live. Any advise at all would be greatly appreciated. I don't have any pictures at the minute as it is night time and she is safely tucked up in the coop with her sister and two mummy's.