Chicken Breeds Health Problems

[NatJ]

Okay, thanks for the links. I couldn't find anything for the seramas or araucanas especially (maybe i was searching the wrong keywords?)

For Araucanas, searching for "ear tuft" is much more useful than the breed name (especially because Araucanas in some countries do not have ear tufts).

For Seramas, searching "micro serama breeding" turns up some pages like this one:
https://lazeacre.weebly.com/serama-chickens.html
(I still haven't seen anything about fantails, though.)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

For Araucanas, searching for "ear tuft" is much more useful than the breed name (especially because Araucanas in some countries do not have ear tufts).

For Seramas, searching "micro serama breeding" turns up some pages like this one:
https://lazeacre.weebly.com/serama-chickens.html
(I still haven't seen anything about fantails, though.)

Okay, thanks.

I have 14 araucanas coming in spring, I'll see if any show signs of hearing problems. Be an interesting study since i imagine if its at all common, i should have at least one with some issues

 

[3KillerBs]

but this chicken is always surprised by things that it does not see coming, this can certainly cause stress.

It you're going to claim that it's invalid for me to point out the holes my Brahma digs as evidence that feather-footed chickens function perfectly well in the scratching department then it's invalid for you to say that one specific deaf chicken is stressed by it's disability.

It might be. Or it might just be a nervous, flighty individual and you're assuming that the trait is related to being deaf.

 

[NatJ]

Or it might just be a nervous, flighty individual and you're assuming that the trait is related to being deaf.

I've always thought chickens relied more on sight than sound, so I would be more concerned about the chickens with crests or giant muffs blocking their vision.

Considering that Araucanas with ear tufts are rather rare and expensive, there are many more crested chickens being surprised by things they cannot see, than deaf chickens surprised by things they cannot hear.

 

[kwik-kwak]

I've always thought chickens relied more on sight than sound, so I would be more concerned about the chickens with crests or giant muffs blocking their vision.

Considering that Araucanas with ear tufts are rather rare and expensive, there are many more crested chickens being surprised by things they cannot see, than deaf chickens surprised by things they cannot hear.

I share that concern. I was not aware that chickens are mainly sight-oriented. Especially because they are always fanatically chatting with each other. If so, then the suffering of a deaf chicken may be smaller, but still a point of concern. I find it especially sad that people pay more money for a chicken with ear tufts and therefore a deformity of the ear canal. I think it's definitely something to look at critically, why do we all want the impossible in animals. The weirder they look the more we enjoy showing them off and the more we pay for them. I think that this should change (it's 2022, we now know things we didn't know before, maybe it's time to act on them). It has now become apparent in various animal species that this really goes from bad to worse, until there is no turning back. With chickens, that level may not have been reached yet, as there are still many breeds without problems. At the very least, it seems to me to be something that is looked at more critically. I think a lot can improve by the enthusiasts of chickens (breeds), responsible outcrossing or by carefully checking ancestors and mapping out genes.

I tend a bit more to the extreme (with all 'pedigree' animals by the way) and I don't see why we should have breeds at all. Breeding certain types I can imagine (for instance climate related) but otherwise history has shown a bit that people are not very good at selecting the right 'genes'. I don't want to be too pessimistic and I know that many people do value those breeds, so maybe if breeding is critically examined with the help of scientific testing for certain genes, that it can be done without unnecessary suffering. It is only a pity that often breeders (in general, I suspect that this also applies to chicken breeders) do not want to know anything about it and continue in the same way, they are often too attached to the appearance described in the Middle Ages

 

[NatJ]

I find it especially sad that people pay more money for a chicken with ear tufts and therefore a deformity of the ear canal.

Due to the nature of the gene, chickens with ear tufts will always be rare, and because of that they will always be expensive-- but that's a good thing, because it means less people will own them or want to own them.

Araucana chickens with ear tufts are difficult to breed:

If you breed a tufted one to a non-tufted one, only about half the chicks will have tufts, and the other half will be non-tufted (they should hear just fine.)
If you breed two tufted ones, about half the chicks will have tufts, 1/4 will have no tufts, and 1/4 will die before they hatch.
So no matter how you do it, you cannot get more than half of your chicks to have tufts.

Anyone who wants cheap chickens, or who wants very productive chickens, will avoid the tufted gene. In the US, I see hundreds of breeds available from various hatcheries, but never Araucanas with eartufts. I see many breeds of chicks for sale in various stores, and again they never include Araucanas with ear tufts.

The only way to get them is to find a breeder and pay whatever price that breeder demands-- so people who know nothing about them are unlikely to get them by mistake.

So I really don't see it as a big deal. A relatively small number of people will have them, often for the breeding challenge of trying to get a really good one to take to shows. But most people just will not. (I'm one who does not have them and does not want them.)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I don't see why we should have breeds at all.

Because a lot of people like knowing what their chicken will look like. While I do have a mixed flock, its made of breeds I do like, with traits I like. I might be on the pickier side, but I absolutely do not want just any old mutt in my groups.

 

[kwik-kwak]

Because a lot of people like knowing what their chicken will look like. While I do have a mixed flock, its made of breeds I do like, with traits I like. I might be on the pickier side, but I absolutely do not want just any old mutt in my groups.

Of course I understand that's the reason, but maybe we just have to accept that not everything should be made the way we want it to be. Also, people often think that they have a 'right' to many things, such as a chicken that they like, too bad if the animal is in pain.

I think that is also the big problem, people are very attached to the idear of creating what they see as perfect beings (in terms of looks).

As for the Araucana, I understand that it is a problem on a smaller scale (with the 'elite' breeders so to speak). Still, I'm concerned with the complete mindset, isn't it simply insane to pay more money for a sicker animal?

In addition to the group of people who absolutely want a (sick) purebred animal, there is also a considerable group that is simply looking for a nice chicken. I regret that little publicity is given to these health problems. As a result, there is this large group that unknowingly buys an unhealthy animal and participates in this breeding problem.

I think that people who would rather see a sick 'beautiful' animal than a healthy, less beautiful animal cannot easily be moved from their ideals. Still, I think there is also a more moderate group that is quite open to adjustments for the welfare of the chickens.

 

[3KillerBs]

I don't see why we should have breeds at all.

Because different traits suit different climates, purposes, and functions.

To take just one example, climate:

I live in an area where for several months in the summer it's common to have temperatures of 95F at 95% humidity.

Some people live in areas where daily highs stay below 0F for weeks. The same breed doesn't suit both extremes.

For every single trait a chicken might have there is a reason that people bred it that way -- even color. @U_Stormcrow is breeding free-range suited birds with color patterns that match the color of his soil for better ability to hide from predators. Just yesterday I read in a book on keeping Turkeys that before modern confinment systems, farmers who kept turkeys on range in woodland would each breed a different color so that when the turkeys were rounded up together and driven to market each farmer could identify his own birds.

such as a chicken that they like, too bad if the animal is in pain.

You're anthropomorphizing again -- assuming emotional pain associated with a lack that a chicken doesn't have the abstract thinking capability to comprehend.

 

[YardMoa]

I don't see why we should have breeds at all.

Are you referring to ornamental breeds, or questioning human agricultural development?
Different breeds have different purposes, meat, eggs, etc. Even breeds that are technically ornamental, like Silkies, are bred for their broodiness and are used to hatch eggs of non-broody breeds/species.

Also, people often think that they have a 'right' to many things, such as a chicken that they like, too bad if the animal is in pain.

I'm not sure that's true. An animal living in pain isn't very useful, even just for show. A chicken living with physical pain isn't going to be much good for egg laying/breeding.

As a result, there is this large group that unknowingly buys an unhealthy animal and participates in this breeding problem.

And... I'm not sure what large group you're talking about. If an animal lives a natural lifespan doing normal activities and exhibiting normal behavior, is it really unhealthy?