Chick born with gunky feet?

[Schoolcop]

I have a chick that hatched out 10 days ago in an incubator with one other chick. The incubator was clean, no dirt or junk in it. The chick came out with obvious walking problems and I really did not expect it to survive more than A day or 2. It is getting around fine with the other chicks and I assumed it was just deformed feet but now taking a close look it seems like there is some kind of crud on the bottom of both feet in the claws are a kind of wrapped around it. A person I know that raises chickens said it look like it's probably just some kind of dirt stuff and to soak it in attempt to peel it off but I am kind of afraid to do that because the chick has not been exposed to any kind of dirt mud or any other crud it went from the incubator right into a brooder lined with paper and then shavings . Any suggestions

 

[aart]

Are it's toes always curled up like that?
Probably just dried poop stuck on there....
....soak them until poop dissolves, might take a while.

 

[Schoolcop]

Poop from when in the shell? Cause it came out that way

 

[123RedBeard]

My guess is that it is a deformed issue, and should be culled.

Seems like for some reason it's tendons are either too short, or muscles are contracting the toes closed.

Can't be much of a life walking around like that ... and chickens are supposed to scratch the ground ... that poor little one can't do that.

 

[FishMtFarm]

My guess is that it is a deformed issue, and should be culled.

Seems like for some reason it's tendons are either too short, or muscles are contracting the toes closed.

Can't be much of a life walking around like that ... and chickens are supposed to scratch the ground ... that poor little one can't do that.

Now I wouldn’t cull it just yet. Soak the feet in epsom salt and water and just see if it softens and comes off or not. If no then leave it. If it’s healthy and getting around then just wait and see how it grows and gets around. You can always cull later if it seems like the quality of life isn’t there. There is more to a chickens life than scratching the ground. Just wait and see how it goes before making a harsh decision.

 

[Abriana]

No don't cull it yet!
Clean up the feet by soaking them in warm water with epsom salts, and cleaning off all of the gunk. Then tape the toes so that they are in a normal position (there are endless diagrams online on how to do this, search how to fix curled up toes in chicks and look at images). Change the tape once a day and maybe do a soak in the warm epsom salt water to relax them when you change it. He/she may be handicapped for the rest of her life if there are other issues besides just the curled toes, or if they don't uncurl completely, but once you've tried to fix the problem for that long I'm sure you'll be attached and willing to help him/her along. Keep us posted!

 

[Chickassan]

I'm not so sure that is gunk. I can't see very clearly but it appears to have feathers growing out of the masses.

 

[aart]

Poop from when in the shell? Cause it came out that way

I'm not so sure that is gunk. I can't see very clearly but it appears to have feathers growing out of the masses.

So some kind of deformity.

 

[Chickassan]

Possibly, i'm looking into it. To me it almost looks like keratin overgrowth.

So some kind of deformity.

 

[Chickassan]

Ok, just to be on the safe side try to soak the feet don't pry or try to force anything just soak and see if there are any changes.
If there are none, then i'd wager those are keratomas and since they're causing the feet to be in an curled position and probably have been since before it hatched culling would be the kindest route.
It is very young to have such an issue, but it isn't unheard of.