Black Copper Marans Hatch - Fused toe issue

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pfmoore17

pfmoore17

Songster
10 Years
Jan 13, 2010
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I have had 3 Black Copper Hatches over the last month. The first 18 days, all the eggs were incubated in a Brinsea Eco 20 at a temperature of 100.5 and 35% humidity. They were than hatched in a Hovabator at 100.5 degrees and 65% humidity. The chicks have hatched on the Day 20 in all cases. The eggs were sourced locally and were never more than 5 days old. Parents came from a mail order hatchery. Out of 40 eggs, 31 hatched and 12 of them have had their outer toe fused with the middle toe on both feet. In some cases, the middle toe was curled. All these chicks had the webbing clipped between the toes by 4 days and are active and healthy at day

I am trying to figure out why this toe issue has been a problem. I have never had this issue before in this equipment.
Do you think it is the genetics of the birds or the temperature? Thanks in advance.
 
The fused toes has nothing to do with the incubation process. It is an issue of genetics. You may want to check in on the Marans thread. This issue is not new, and others have had the same thing happen.
Marans thread is HERE.

By the way, my guess as to why you hatched out on day 20, instead of day 21, is because your temperature is too high. You should be at 99.5 throughout the incubation.
 
Here's somebody who got a bunch of fused-toes Marans a few years ago from a hatchery: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...on-fused-toes-hope-it-is-alright#post_3299184 I wonder if it could be the same place? Their story is a sad one, with most of the chicks dying before 6 months of age, but it seems that they did not fix the issue. I might keep any of these fused-toe birds that turn out to be hens as egg layers, but I'd be careful not to breed them.

Sad.
 
angusb said:
Here's somebody who got a bunch of fused-toes Marans a few years ago from a hatchery: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...on-fused-toes-hope-it-is-alright#post_3299184 I wonder if it could be the same place? Their story is a sad one, with most of the chicks dying before 6 months of age, but it seems that they did not fix the issue. I might keep any of these fused-toe birds that turn out to be hens as egg layers, but I'd be careful not to breed them.

Sad.
Click to expand...
That is Germaine, a friend of mine. I can also tell you she did not get her birds from a hatchery. They were chicks she hatched from a breeder.
 
Thanks for pointing that out, Kathy. I actually went back and looked after I posted it and saw that it just said they were from a "well known place", which I took to mean a big (hatchery-type) place, but after re-reading, I realized I might have misunderstood. If these chicks are from that same place, it's a shame they haven't been able to cull out this deformity by now. I'm giving them (and I have no idea who they are) the benefit of the doubt by assuming they've tried...
 
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I've hatched out FBCMs from at least 5 different breeders here on BYC.

Sadly, 3 of the 5 had the fused toe problem and I culled or rehomed all the chicks from those three breeders.

I used a roo from one of the good breeders to put over the gorgeous girls from the other good breeder and with many chicks out of that combo, I have never seen a fused toe. I have since given those good birds to a friend (as I can no longer have roos) and I use him now to get my FBCM eggs for hatching.
 
Thanks for the replies.
I have seen the info on the internet regarding this issue with black copper marans. I suspect in the zealousness to meet demand for these birds they have been over breed and led to the fused toe issue. As I said, these did come a hatchery and they have acknowledge the issue. I plan to keep all the hens for eggs and I will not produce any offspring. The roos will go to my local friend who raises them for meat just like back in the old country. Hopefully, all deformities are external and I won't get any deaths down the line.

I was concerned about the high "cook" temperature of 100.5 and have backed down to 99.5. As I said, never had an issue in the past, but I always hatched eggs from breeder (read small farms) rather than the hatchery houses. My friend who gave these to me had a hatch the other day and none were born with fused toes.

Thanks for the replies.
 
I just finished my 3rd hatch of BCM. 10 out of 12 hatched and only one has a fused toe.
I have turned down the temperature on my fourth hatch to 99.5 degrees F.
Many thanks for the responses.
 
Can I ask how you clipped the webbing. We just received one in the mail that has fused toes on both feet. I'm pretty bummed!!
 

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