- Sep 4, 2009
- 12
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I hope I am posting this question in the right spot.
Problem:
Two chicks which seem to have genetic issues
Background:
For the first time ever, I tried my hand at incubating and hatching eggs that I bought from a lady who said they were all Orpington (blue, black, lavender, buff, and white). Besides a low hatch rate (which I will take as probably my errors since I was new at it), two of the chickens are... weird.
Description:
The weirdest chick has decided not to grow and is just starting to get some feathers...at six weeks. It pecks constantly at the other chicks and I have seen it eat their feathers. Other than that, it is actually pretty scrappy and doesn't get beat up on and eats and drinks with the other chicks.
The other weird chick has grown at the same rate as the rest, but is not feathering out the same. It has bald spots and many pin feathers are just sort of hanging out as the hard part not the feathered part. Other than that, this chicken also seems normal (behaviorally)
What I think:
I think there is something genetically wrong with the chickens after I did some research (Temple Grandin's mentions pecking behaviors and cannibalism as genetic), but maybe it could be to problems with incubation??? I don't know if the two weird chicks are ever going to be normal so I don't want them, and I don't know how I would saddle them with someone else.
Question: My book on chicken raising, (Storrey's Guide to Raising Chickens) says to cull unhealthy chicks. Do these two chicks seem unhealthy? Should I cull them? Does anyone have suggestions for how?
Problem:
Two chicks which seem to have genetic issues
Background:
For the first time ever, I tried my hand at incubating and hatching eggs that I bought from a lady who said they were all Orpington (blue, black, lavender, buff, and white). Besides a low hatch rate (which I will take as probably my errors since I was new at it), two of the chickens are... weird.
Description:
The weirdest chick has decided not to grow and is just starting to get some feathers...at six weeks. It pecks constantly at the other chicks and I have seen it eat their feathers. Other than that, it is actually pretty scrappy and doesn't get beat up on and eats and drinks with the other chicks.
The other weird chick has grown at the same rate as the rest, but is not feathering out the same. It has bald spots and many pin feathers are just sort of hanging out as the hard part not the feathered part. Other than that, this chicken also seems normal (behaviorally)
What I think:
I think there is something genetically wrong with the chickens after I did some research (Temple Grandin's mentions pecking behaviors and cannibalism as genetic), but maybe it could be to problems with incubation??? I don't know if the two weird chicks are ever going to be normal so I don't want them, and I don't know how I would saddle them with someone else.
Question: My book on chicken raising, (Storrey's Guide to Raising Chickens) says to cull unhealthy chicks. Do these two chicks seem unhealthy? Should I cull them? Does anyone have suggestions for how?