Arizona Chickens

[CaroleW]

I found this:

https://meyerhatchery.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017990812-Cross-Beak-Causes-and-Management#:~:text=Any injury to the skull,the development of cross beak.

Thank you for that article! I hadn't read that one. Part of the reason I keep her is to see how she does compared to everyone else.

 

[CaroleW]

I think that they are different chicken colors, I know that if you breed a silver hen and a red male, you get sex-links where the boys get the silver from their mom, girls get the red from the dad. That is something I am looking to see in the NN pullet from the "crossing red rangers" thread. She is probably carrying red, and so it might not work with her, but the other silvers I have are those white Rocks. Those would be good meat birds from the boys and good layers for the girls. Since the rocks lay brown eggs, it would be easy to tell who is who in the nest box.
The Red Dorking cockerel would also make black sex-links with the barred hollands. But I would not want the Hollands for that, I have hopes for some prue Barred Holland chicks. I am getting pretty small eggs from them still. Lots of them -- just pretty small.

I finally have a few medium sized eggs from the Barred Hollands - I put a few in the incubator - about 3 could potentially hatch around 7-27 along with another 1 or 2 that are (Roger) NN and Wyandotte cross.

 

[Parront]

I finally have a few medium sized eggs from the Barred Hollands - I put a few in the incubator - about 3 could potentially hatch around 7-27 along with another 1 or 2 that are (Roger) NN and Wyandotte cross.

Yes, I was hoping for a larger egg from them, more like the Leghorns. That is what you get with a rare breed. The Sandhill light beige eggs are larger now, and almost white. They are big hardy hens, too. I will be hatching some of those eggs next year, I am thinking.

 

[Parront]

How old is he when you first noticed his cross beak. I have a hatchery SS Hamburg hen that developed crossbeak at about 7-8 weeks. She is small but to my surprise she has laid eggs. I don't hatch any white eggs from that coop so no issue reproducing the problem if genetic. I would not consider keeping a cockeral with crossbeak of course. I did a little research and couldn't figure out from even scientific literature if it was a genetic, incubation, or nutritional thing with the breeding flock.

He looked normal up until about a week ago, that is when I noticed it. I do not think he is growing as well, maybe not as able to eat. But he looked fine as a chick. Some people have trimmed the beak, and that would bring it back into alignment, I believe. It is not easy to show in the photo.

 

[Parront]

I'm sure that he will taste just as good to you as a non cross beak cockerel does.

I am hoping to sample the legendary Dorking taste . . .

 

[Parront]

I found this:

https://meyerhatchery.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017990812-Cross-Beak-Causes-and-Management#:~:text=Any injury to the skull,the development of cross beak.

I doubt it is nutritional. It could be from others picking on him, from this article. He was not hatched this way.

 

[CaroleW]

I doubt it is nutritional. It could be from others picking on him, from this article. He was not hatched this way.

Yes, I think there can be issues like that more than we know - injuries not apparent until harvest sometimes with the bad boyz especially. That's why I still have 2 Barred Holland Roos (AND 2 separate pens)- to test their reproduction efforts.

 

[Parront]

Yes, I think there can be issues like that more than we know - injuries not apparent until harvest sometimes with the bad boyz especially. That's why I still have 2 Barred Holland Roos - to test their reproduction efforts.

The Barred Holland here is 100% on those "efforts"! My neighbor who has one of the roos and 3 of the hens had the hen hatch out 1 chick of the 3 eggs she was brooding, so neighbor went and got the "americans" as she calls them, for more chicks. The barred holland adopted those chicks. Her boy is smaller than mine, but he might be better for egg production.

 

[Parront]

Yes, I think there can be issues like that more than we know - injuries not apparent until harvest sometimes with the bad boyz especially. That's why I still have 2 Barred Holland Roos (AND 2 separate pens)- to test their reproduction efforts.

I am planning to pen up the young cockerels in a hoop coop, and maybe he can stay with the pullets with less competition. But, They could be pretty inbred, a rare breed. If his hatch mate is fine under my conditions, he is out of the running. But, he sure is pretty!

 

[Parront]

Getting a pretty good rain and lightening show here!