BEI duckling pipped can see its brains

[monarc23]

Should I even let the poor thing hatch anymore? Is it POSSIBLE to have teh skin grow over the brain if it does hatch??? Is this caused by the crested gene???

 

[Wifezilla]

Sounds like it. Were both parent crested?

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
I think there is a pair in the breeders flock that are both crested so maybe this baby came from that specific pair. So sad the reason i asked about the crested issue is because the brains out in THAT are where the crested feathers would go.

 

[gypsy2621]

Aww Nikki I am so sorry you had to see that.
I would gently put the little thing down. Infection is going to be high if allowed to continue to hatch out.
the skin rarely replaces its self,
Yes its the crested gene that created the issue, I hate those genes that double up in certain breeds and create havock.
Its just heartbreaking

 

[BackSwampGirl]

NIKI,,,I am sorry about that.I did not know u even had any BEI eggs.And I have never seen any Crested ones,but anything is possible these days.How are you doing.And has it finished yet.Do u have nay more that has hatched,,,Sandra let em know

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
hey Sandra, I had to sadly put the poor sweetie down I felt so horrible but there was nothing more that could be done. just by it moving around in teh shell its brain was bruised and the veins looked abotu ready to burst on the top of it..... it was perfect other than that... really broke my heart. None of the other babies made it either the ones that died in teh shell i didnt even check to see if they were also deformed, one othe rwas pipped but died soon after I have no clue why it was perfect looking. Yeppers I was lucky enough to find a breeder selling eggs and was soo excited! But this all doesnt suprise me though to be honest... hwen i want somethign REALLY bad it always ends unwell lol.

Thanks everyone for feeling so bad for me, I feel bad for me too haha! I had no idea about the crested gene doing this but it makes sense as the brain was hanging out right where the crest should have been *pouts*

 

[Wifezilla]

Just remember to only breed a crested to a non-crested and try again.

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
I dont own any cresteds and never plan to now

I'll now only buy from breeders who dont have cresteds for this reason that's too upsetting and risky....i was reading scientific studies on the malformation of their skull in them it's kinda sad.

 

[citalk2much]

I am so sorry!! So far I only have one silly egg if I get a couple I will send them in the post asap.

 

[RooptyDoo]

I didn't know that the crested ducks had that problem. This post is an eye opener. I hatched out some ducklings for a friend and wound up keeping four of them. They were just some duck eggs from some black ducks on their pond, that is all we knew. A lot of them hatched with some kind of poof on their heads. Three of the ones that we kept from the hatch were crested in some way. Weezy has a crest just a little off center on top of her head. Quacker just has one large feather that starts just behind her left eye and wraps around the back of her head, and then there was George, or Georgina, as we were not sure of sex. He had a large crest. When he first hatched he looked like a little seahorse. He had a large knob on his head that dried out and became a large poof. I will try to put some pictures of him on here. These ducks were not supposed to be crested. As far as we know the parents weren't crested, they were just described to us a black ducks.

George isn't with us any more as a predator of some sort got him. All we found was a wing. I never thought I would cry over a duck but my daughter and I both boo hooed over losing him. He was very spoiled and very special to anyone who saw him. We still miss him terribly. My two that I have left that are crested are both females,and the other, a drake that is not crested. If I allowed them to hatch eggs is there a danger of the skull problem in them? I can't stand to put anything down and hate it when I lose any chicks. We have always managed to find homes for any special needs babies we hatch but I wouldn't want to let the ducks set knowing there was a good chance that the babies would have this fatal deformity.

My George

Chilling in moms coop!

Baby George and Weezy