A few questions about my Sussex chicks

[Reurra]

I was looking over my 5 chicks today when i noticed one of them always walks around with a crooked tail.




His glands look ok, so I dont know whats going on there. Can some chicks be born with malformed tails?

Second question is, I have 2 chicks with weird combs. Bear in mind these are Sussex, but it almost looks as though thier combs are trying to double up. The pictures arent that good, but the comb goes from the nose back, ends and a second comb, very small starts and ends to the left side of the chicks head...sorry the pictures really are pretty bad and dont do full justice. From what I can discribe, the comb ends one point past the tallest point, then the new one pops up from there. This is chick 1.








The following picture is chick 2





Has anyone seen this before in Sussex chicks? I got these from a breeder who had them imported to Nova Scotia from British Columbia.

 

[debid]

The first has a wry tail. Yes, it's a deformity. The chick may do fine or it may have difficulties with dirtying the fluff on its backside. My mom has a wry-tailed barred Rock and has to keep her fluff trimmed or she gets manure buildup. There can also be laying difficulties. Do not breed it, the condition can be passed on.

The second has side sprigs. Unless you were planning to show, no biggie.

 

[Reurra]

No I wasnt planning to show, thankfully. What is sprigs? Extra comb? What causes this? Inbreeding?

The one with wry tail I am sure is a roo, it will be made into soup when its big enough. Hpowever i was planning to cross the girl birds into my flock under my Rock roo. Now I have to worry about wry tail in the genes. How often does it show up?

 

[debid]

As I understand it, the wry tail gene is recessive. Both hen and rooster were carriers to produce a wry-tailed chick. The only way to know if the others are carriers is to see wry tail in their offspring. But, if they are from the same pairing, odds are they carry the gene.

The sprigs are impurities in comb type and a DQ for showing. It doesn't matter if you're just mixing breeds for a backyard flock.

 

[Reurra]

yeah, Im not in it for show, I just want to bring a good set of genes for meat production and egg laying. I dont want any weirdos though, I dont need that in the flock, especially if it can cause problems for laying hens.