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!
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!