Allie & Bino, the albino orpington chicks

[paris_r]

Haha! (college comment)

Having naked necks and even naked all over chickens, I get a fair amount of assumptions and "free advice" from other people. Like they need sunscreen, they cannot mate naturally, they cannot.. they need this or that........ No they don't need X and they do Y just fine... To be fair, I have made wrong assumptions before, so I tend to be a little skeptical and just test things out firsthand.

Hope they won;t be affected by UV and do allright outdoors to do chickeny things...

the tolerance for sunlight is not the worry, nor how they feel. it is the known physical effects of UV an DNA. {that is one of the main reasons i place items i clean in the full sun for a day (and rotate them) -viruses have DNA and sunlight damages DNA.}with out pigment to protect cells from genetic damage they are at higher risk. the humans with albinism suffer much skin damage from the sun. now their feathers will protect most the skin, and there may be a non melanin pigment in the legs which could provide some protection. it would be best for them to have plenty of shade as they wont know they are being damaged. with humans albinism is linked to poor eye, but for many reasons-see link

http://www.visionfortomorrow.org/albinisms-impact-on-vision/

now one other site focuses again on the physics of how eyes (like ours and chickens) work
"Decreased pigment in the iris (the part of the eye with color) and the retina leads to a diminished ability to absorb light. As light reflects off normal blood vessels in the back of the eye and through the pale iris, the effect is the red color sometimes seen in people with albinism. Insufficient iris pigmentation also causes people with albinism to be more light-sensitive and experience discomfort in bright light." (http://www.visionfortomorrow.org/albinism-faqs/) ...and almost every human albino have blue eyes (i met a girl with purple -meaning limited blue pigment covering up the red from the blood) but most animals that are albino (full not partial) are red.

now i know chickens are really resistant to gamma radiation but UV ?

 

[Kev]

I just skimmed through google results and they do mention albino chickens indeed have vision problems with the sex linked imperfect albinos(aka pink eyed dilutes) having less vision problems than autosomal recessive albinos like Allie and Bino.

 

[chiques chicks]

In other words, chippy is going to be giving Allie and Bino special care for life? (And I love the names)

I'm guessing they will need primarily shade, limited area so they can find good and water, etc. She referenced to me that that peck around like a blind person. I guess that's a good analogy.

Sounds like her tractor idea is the way to go.

 

[paris_r]

In other words, chippy is going to be giving Allie and Bino special care for life? (And I love the names)

I'm guessing they will need primarily shade, limited area so they can find good and water, etc. She referenced to me that that peck around like a blind person. I guess that's a good analogy.

Sounds like her tractor idea is the way to go.

well if she wants to let them out for a while-sunblock! no really, it will work (but time after application has to be considered), or let them out after peak sun for limited times -like at 6 pm and they will come back at night. white chickens are ALWAYS a target for predators, and this is compounded for them as they wont be able to see where to run. i live under 300 year old oaks, so my runs are protected from a lot (not many bird predators) except raccoons! i have a friend who had a blind chicken before and for her they did limit the area she had. most of my chooks are in cages/tractors (except for the orpingtons sine they are huge) so once in a while i let them out to get a good dust bath (different than their boxed ones) and dig for novel items.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

The four eggs and four babies. As you can see, it is pie chance and they are very varied.

When I separated the white one to give it vitamins, it started chirping for its friends. They don't seem to be picking on it. I keep them in a very dim room with a red heat lamp at chippy's suggestion.

Awesome pictures! Thanks!

I don't know. That is what makes chippy's experiences so interesting. I'm following her lead.

We both googled albino chicken and found very little information other than they rarely live more than a few days. That she has them at three weeks is extraordinary.

I think she is uncharted waters. Our assumption is that light and UV will harm them. They seem to have vision problems.

She is three weeks to a month ahead of me. She will have far better information.

With luck she is keeping track of everything and will write a paper on it, become famous and pay her way through college off a couple free eggs!

I like the idea of paying off college with some free eggs! You guys really should call a University that specializes in Poultry (I'm sure there is such a place) and see if they have ever seen any albinos that have lived this long.

 

[Kev]

In other words, chippy is going to be giving Allie and Bino special care for life? (And I love the names)

I'm guessing they will need primarily shade, limited area so they can find good and water, etc. She referenced to me that that peck around like a blind person. I guess that's a good analogy.

Sounds like her tractor idea is the way to go.

The journals did mention keeping the albinos in smaller cages than others so they would have an easier time finding the food n water. Sounds like the chicks may need this. The good news is they can still do very well as long as they know where the food and water is. Probably be nice to separate from most chickens, if they are the dominating kind.

So you guys are already well aware in regards proper care for them.

p.s.- Personally I would not make a huge deal out of sunlight and albino birds as long as plenty of shade is present. And seriously- the sunscreen idea is absolutely unnecessary for birds, albino or not. Naked necks do just fine in full sun.. even in their advanced ages. I think we will have to disagree on the sunscreen idea lol

 

[Kev]

Awesome pictures! Thanks!
I like the idea of paying off college with some free eggs! You guys really should call a University that specializes in Poultry (I'm sure there is such a place) and see if they have ever seen any albinos that have lived this long.

There is mention in the poultry journals. They survive just fine with a few special accommodations- reduced space to make it easier for them to find food and water due to impaired vision.

It's a very common misconceptions that albino are also prone to a range of health maladies, aside from poor vision and for albino mammals to be protected against sunlight. Other than that, they have normal intelligence, normal lifespan, normal breeding etc.

With chickens, there is possibility of other chickens making life a little difficult on albinos due to poor eyesight. Such as a rooster possibly taking many chances to whup an albino rooster because he's an easy target. So separate quarters may be necessary or a thing to do out of kindness.

 

[Jryan18]

Following

 

[chiques chicks]

I was just told by someone I sold eggs to last year they hatched two of these I never heard about. Pretty sure it's from my rooster.

 

[paris_r]

I was just told by someone I sold eggs to last year they hatched two of these I never heard about. Pretty sure it's from my rooster.

did they live? did the person make the attempt to raise them specially?