Crossbeak in Breeding...when to cull the breeders?

[Ozarkhomesteader]

Alright, quick question!
I have a pair of silver sebrights bantams. I will make a disclaimer and say they are hatchery quality, not show birds. Unrelated (as far as I know) bought from different stores and in different years. Kept these two as a fun side project cause the breed is cute! I hatch and sell babies (I focus my most attention to my duck, turkey and goose flocks) in the spring to cover feed costs, so I do sell chicks as they hatch.

Recently a buyer sent me a photo and wanted to let me know, one of the chicks they got has a scissor beak (has become more pronounced as it's gotten older, but said they noticed it slightly a couple days after they got it home). This was from the first batch of the chicks I hatched from my pair.

So my question, is one of my breeder pair a recessive carrier for the cross beak? Does this happen often for no reason, or should I expect to see more crossbeaks pop up? Is there any way to rule out genetics other than breeding the offspring together and see what is going on? Might just sell this pair to a pet home, as I am not invested in the breed. I just enjoy them. Just curious what you guys do when things like this pop up! Cull heavily? Breed and determine the trouble bird? Throw in the towel with said breed or??

Y'all are so knowledgeable lol. So fell free to share your thoughts/experience on this matter! Thanks!

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I would examine both of their beaks very closely. In breeding, I've discovered hairline crossbeaks like to hide out in the breeding flocks, as they are harder to notice. Their beaks can literally be off just a little and most will never know.
Here's a post I posted awhile ago talking about hairline crossbeak:
Post in thread '#TeamCrossbeakAmber' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/teamcrossbeakamber.1529072/post-26426282

On a side note of that, how is the breeders' health? How well did the chick do during hatching? Was there any complications? Was the chick weak in any way? Crossbeak isn't always genetic, though most of us treat it as such. Sometimes a chick will become crossbeak due to another factor. If you can rule out that both of your birds' beaks are indeed straight and you don't get a lot of reports of crossbeak being a common issue with your other customers, then I’d question if it was another factor. I wouldn't quit on these birds yet.