Any one else having problems with Cross Beak from Ideal & Welp?

[halo]

Why does a hatchery sent cross beaked chicks? Dont they LOOK at them before they send them?

 

[EweSheep]

With the amount of order they go thru, including Ideal Hatchery, not everyone can account for EACH and EVERY chick for imperfections but you can do them a favor by calling them to credit your account OR let them know whats going on, if you do get a chick with cross beaks and crooked toes. At least they can hold themselves accountable for sending inferior chicks.

I had cross beaks and crooked toes in Ideal and other hatcheries and I immediately culled them out in case it is a genetic problem. The same for my Welsummers and Spitzhaubens from private breeders.

They make great pets tho!

 

[dirtdoctor]

Our chicks hatched out, we checked them and at two days we didnt notice the cross beaked bird. a week later we noticed it being crossbeaked.. it was smaller in size and extremely friendly. Buggar will be culled.

Genetical problems. cull quickly. save the breeds.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I got a cross beak from Xtreme Poultry. I informed them of this but they didn't care. No credit for it either. It got very bad very quickly. At 10 weeks old she could barely eat or drink and lost a lot of condition so I culled her.
The customer service was awful too.
I believe Ideal will make yours right. They have very good customer service.

 

[RuffTuffCreampuff]

Ideal's customer service is exceptional, if you contact them they will credit your account.

Pam

 

[luvmychicknkids]

I received an order from Ideal about 16 weeks ago. We ordered.....ummm....maybe 19 chicks (it was a split of my chicks and some for my mother) and got a ton of packing peanuts. All seemed very healthy and active except for my one tiny Porcelain Dutch who simply got trampled. We recently noticed one of my mother's chicks has a crossed beak (her Barred Holland) but is is quite minor and she is a sweetheart. It HAD to have developed a little later since we never noticed it before. I know these things can happen and certainly don't blame Ideal....so far they have been the best we have ordered from. As mfuchs said, if there is a problem, let them know so they can try to get it fixed!!!!

 

[calgal98]

So is crossed beak a genetic thing?

 

[exop]

I've been reading up on crossed beak myself. It's genetic but it's not as simple as one recessive gene. It looks like it's a condition involving several genes, at least, and there are a couple different types of crossed beak, showing up at different ages of the chick.

This is from Google Books, Poultry breeding and genetics, by Roy D. Crawford, Elsevier 1990, p.213:

The most common expression [of crossed beak] is that in which chicks hatch with normal beaks, and crossing of the beak begins to be evident at 1 - 2 months of age. ...

The genetic basis of the crossed beak trait has been studied by Mercier and Poisson (1925), Poisson (1929), and Morris (1932,1934). They all stated that it was inherited, but did not commit themselves on its mode of inheritance. Hutt (1932) suggested, based on his own data, that it was probably inherited as a simple recessive. Extensive studies by Landauer (1938) showed that the trait was recessive, but no true-breeding individuals were obtained even after considerable inbreeding, and many birds known to be genetically cross-beaked did not even show the trait. ... Landauer (1938) considered the inheritance of this trait to be recessive, but complex. ...

Another type of crossed beak was studied by Landauer (1938), in which chicks exhibited the defect at hatching. He found this congenital type only in White Leghorns and crossbred birds of Leghorn ancestry. It differed from other types only in that some chicks with crossed beaks became normal as they advanced in age. ... When birds with congenital crossed beak were mated inter se they produced a higher proportion of affected offspring than did the late onset type.

Best - exop​