FEEL RELIEF FROM ANXIETY, STRESS, AND WORRY IN JUST 4 MINUTES!

I'm a busy mom who manages my "motherload" with accessible methods you're going to LOVE. Start by picking up my FREE mini-workshop for anxiety — I guarantee you'll feel better FAST!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

We’re Practically Veterinarians

Oh my goodness, our chicks are so friggin’ cute! Our new babies have so much personality and are really starting to come out of their shells {ba dum dum}. During this first week, I’ve been obsessively researching the reason behind every little characteristic they display and every move that they make. We noticed on the third or fourth day that one of the Speckled Sussex chicks had curled outer toes on each of her feet. Once again, Backyard Chickens had tons of advice and instruction on how to make a quick repair to straighten her toes.



Some people just use Band-Aids to make “shoes” for their very young chicks. Usually, in chicks under one week old, the treatment can be successful in as little as 8 hours. For older chicks, it may take a few days or more. You can also make chick shoes from pipe cleaners and attach the toes with medical tape:


photo of baby chick in chick shoes by brandytab from the Backyard Chickens message board


the first shoe is for very young chicks and the half shoe is for chicks over one week old


Camilla was a real little trooper and stayed completely still while we taped her little toes. We started by taping the outer toe to the middle toe and left that on for two days. After a few minutes she wasn’t bothered by the tape at all.


She quickly settled down and took a little break on Justin’s arm. He adores Camilla and was the one who named her.


romance between man and chicken

After the bandages were on for nearly two full days, we took them off to check the progress… it looks like they worked! We cut the ends off a single bandage and wrapped just the sticky part around the outer toes to keep them straight. We’ll probably leave these on until they get too dirty and continue to bandage her toes for about a week – just as a precaution to make sure the toes stay straight permanently. Even with her bandages, she’s one of the most active and agile of the six chicks. She was the first to figure out how to get up and down the ladder to the chicken run and she flies all over the cage, jumping from perch to perch.


Camilla’s second set of bandages

I’ll keep you posted on the final result. Until then, keep your fingers and toes crossed for Camilla &hearts

xo
Bekah

129 responses to “We’re Practically Veterinarians”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *