How common is dwarfism?

[julskinka]

Last year I hatched a chick from a shipped egg that was a marans-based olive egger. He had very foreshortened legs, although the rest of his body was normal sized, and he got around fine. It almost seemed like achondroplasia. A bit of google-fu tells me it was likely something called the Creeper gene:
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep30172
I figured it was a rare, weird thing and I was unlikely to encounter it again (I only hatch maybe 10-20 chicks a year). But this year, I seem to have another one! A shipped egg, of a different breed (this time an orpington), from a different breeder.

Am I just weirdly unlucky? Or is this more common than I thought?

 

[julskinka]

Last year I hatched a chick from a shipped egg that was a marans-based olive egger. He had very foreshortened legs, although the rest of his body was normal sized, and he got around fine. It almost seemed like achondroplasia. A bit of google-fu tells me it was likely something called the Creeper gene:
[URL]https://www.nature.com/articles/srep30172[/URL]

I figured it was a rare, weird thing and I was unlikely to encounter it again (I only hatch maybe 10-20 chicks a year). But this year, I seem to have another one! A shipped egg, of a different breed (this time an orpington), from a different breeder.

Am I just weirdly unlucky? Or is this more common than I thought?

Here's a photo of the current orpington, next to its same-breed hatchmate.

 

[BluebirdHomestead]

Here's a photo of the current orpington, next to its same-breed hatchmate.
View attachment 2052456

Oh my gosh, I have never seen it before so I can’t give you input but I just had to say they are both SO cute.

 

[julskinka]

Oh my gosh, I have never seen it before so I can’t give you input but I just had to say they are both SO cute.

We named the little beige one Dumpling before we realized it was so, uh, stocky. It fits!

 

[BluebirdHomestead]

We named the little beige one Dumpling before we realized it was so, uh, stocky. It fits!

Hahaha omg that’s perfect. So precious.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

I've had 1. It's was a Marans bantam Cochin cross. Came from my own birds. She was the only 1 I've ever hatched out in probably 200+ chicks and many different sources. I didn't think it was a big deal. She was a wonderful little layer.

I'm not sure how common it is but that was my experience.