- Sep 6, 2012
- 11
- 0
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Hello all,
I am pretty new to this backyard hen hobby, so I started out with eggs of various breeds to see which would be quiet and manageable in my setting. I obtained some Pyncheon eggs from a breeder on ebay and they hatched fairly well, but 3 of the seven who hatched had some kind of neurological disorder/failure to thrive problem, something like wry neck I believe. I have read that such is often a problem with inbreeding in crested breeds. Indeed, the three chicks who failed to thrive and passed away all had apparent crests(tassels?) shortly after birth, whereas the four healthy survivors did not.
Two of the four healthy birds have since matured and have grown the crests or tassels (one male and one female), however two have regular heads (both female). (I'm sorry, I'm new to this lingo, so I hope I'm making sense). So, what can I expect come spring? If the tasseled roo and the tasseled hen mate, then will their chicks be even more inbred and likely to present with this neurological/failure to thrive problem?
I'm crazy about these birds and eventually would like to have a few more Pyncheons, They are so cool - so fearless and great foragers, but so tame. I don't want to show the birds necessarily. But I am a huge fan of Nathaniel Hawthorne's writing, so I want to keep them true. Mine have the wrong color legs anyway. I wonder if mixing in an Olandsk dwarf pair might help boost the genetics some? But then the tassles will likely go away for good, right? True Pyncheons seem really hard to find. Or does anyone have any idea about how this breed came to be and how to recreate it or where to look that information up? Hawthorne's family was very American, but his Great, great grandfather (or something like that) was English. Could Pyncheons be derivative of a cross of OEGBs + Crevecoeur or something like that? Any thoughts?

I am pretty new to this backyard hen hobby, so I started out with eggs of various breeds to see which would be quiet and manageable in my setting. I obtained some Pyncheon eggs from a breeder on ebay and they hatched fairly well, but 3 of the seven who hatched had some kind of neurological disorder/failure to thrive problem, something like wry neck I believe. I have read that such is often a problem with inbreeding in crested breeds. Indeed, the three chicks who failed to thrive and passed away all had apparent crests(tassels?) shortly after birth, whereas the four healthy survivors did not.
Two of the four healthy birds have since matured and have grown the crests or tassels (one male and one female), however two have regular heads (both female). (I'm sorry, I'm new to this lingo, so I hope I'm making sense). So, what can I expect come spring? If the tasseled roo and the tasseled hen mate, then will their chicks be even more inbred and likely to present with this neurological/failure to thrive problem?
I'm crazy about these birds and eventually would like to have a few more Pyncheons, They are so cool - so fearless and great foragers, but so tame. I don't want to show the birds necessarily. But I am a huge fan of Nathaniel Hawthorne's writing, so I want to keep them true. Mine have the wrong color legs anyway. I wonder if mixing in an Olandsk dwarf pair might help boost the genetics some? But then the tassles will likely go away for good, right? True Pyncheons seem really hard to find. Or does anyone have any idea about how this breed came to be and how to recreate it or where to look that information up? Hawthorne's family was very American, but his Great, great grandfather (or something like that) was English. Could Pyncheons be derivative of a cross of OEGBs + Crevecoeur or something like that? Any thoughts?