Limping pullet

Pooders5

Songster
9 Years
May 11, 2015
18
25
102
Sydenham Ontario
I have a pullet that was born with crooked toes, her name is Forest. I tried several times when she was a chick to splint them but she kept getting them off. I gave up and she has been fine but she is now really limping, I think she hurt the leg jumping off the roost.
Has anyone been successful splinting crooked toes in a pullet? Do I straighten the toes? Or just separate her and hopefully she will improve with rest?
She was hatched in May
 
Can you take clear pictures of her legs while she is standing?
Or even better a video of her?
 
I had a similar issue with an EE. She wasn't born with crooked toes but she slowly developed them with age. I tried splinting them myself as I heard of a success story, but it didn't work for my girl. She never limped or anything, but she slowed down a lot when they started going that way and never improved.

Are there any signs of injury? If you can't see any, gently run your fingers down her shank, over her toes, and on her thigh and joints. You're feeling for any swelling and watching for any indicators that you hit a sore spot. (Feel the same areas on the other side for comparison if you're not sure what you're looking for.)

If this is an injury from jumping off the roost, then you want her on a flat hard service where she can't jump up onto anything until she's better. For the basic injury of this type, she should be better in two weeks. If there's no improvement after then, there's something more going on. If this is a more serious injury (broken bone, etc), then you'll want her in a setup where she can't put any weight on her leg at all.

On a side note, is she vaccinated against Marek's disease? Have you added any new birds to the flock recently?
 
Pictures would help. Crooked toes are a birth defect, and may be a result of humidity issues or heredity. Those may be helped in the first day or two of life, but later it is permanent. Curled under toes are usually from a riboflavin/vitamin B 2 deficiency or nerve damage. Vitamin B complex tablets which contain all B vitamins 1/2 tablet daily can help if started early enough.
 

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