Toe taping… is this right?

[Carterborchers]

I’m usually a pessimist, but very optimistic about this sweet guy. I used the masking tape method someone suggested (thank you!). It wasn’t easy to get it on right, but FAR easier than trying to cull him. I left tape on for 2.5 days. I would have waited a little longer, but noticed that when he began to finally stand up on his legs to use them, he wasn’t getting good traction and I worried about causing splayed legs too. Here’s the difference! I put him back in the brooder, expecting him to have a lot of trouble adjusting. A little wobbly, but walking with straight toes! So to anyone who sees this and has the same problem in the future, it’s possible for little button feet too!

I would give a drop or two orally daily right into the beak. So glad the toes are looking good.

not just looking good…now I wouldn’t be able tell which chick it was out of a group of 12 if he didn’t have a little bit of dried membrane on his left wing. It only took him an hour or so to adjust to the tape removal. I’m so happy and relieved that I don’t have to worry about culling the sweet little thing. He’ll now hopefully live a happy life on a family farm he’s going to. I’ve hatched chicks for this family before, and they loved the buttons so much, they asked me to hatch more. I’m always happy to see the little chicks, if only for a few days.

For anyone else dealing with curly toes and buttons, I found a video on here about using masking tape to fix the issue, and followed that (on a smaller scale).