Vaulted skulls... Are they actually a curse??

[destiny_56085]

I know these next pics are rather gross. I've talked to other breeders who have had this happen as well. Its rare but something you might come across. This was a chick hatched this last december. It came out with a definite vault but no skull covering or even down. It only survived a couple hours. I only pulled it out of the brooder for pics. You can see how that brain really is exposed. If there is even only skin over that it will still be very vulnerable.

Now you think of your other vaulted skulls where there is basically just skin and down covering it:

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I just had a blue chick from shipped eggs hatch out like that, with no skin or down over the brain. Had to cull it right away.

 

[rancher hicks]

What possible benefit could there be from breeding these poor birds? This reminds me of the "Munchkin cats" debate, except that this is much more cruel.

 

[destiny_56085]

Its the short route to getting those big crests. If you don't have the money to spend on the good bloodlines or spending years of raising/culling birds to fit your goals, its much simpler to go this route. Some lines are just more predisposed to these issues.

It comes down to....

Do you want this?

Or do you want this?

Do you want this:

Or do you want this?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Not exactly correct. There is a hole in the skull that sometimes grows to cover the vault, and sometimes remains open. No idea on the timing if it grows to close.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
For polish, the standard requires a vault, so finding one without would be difficult.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Rachel's Hobby Hatchery :

confused here, what causes the "vaulted skulls"??? also, if there is no benifit but a lot of reasons not to then why do people still breed/keep chickens with vaulted skulls? Why not just dispatch the vaulted ones and breed the ones that have regular skulls, eventually the problum will breed out of the blood line. Im worried about the life of adult birds with this condition... Im not an ARA, but come on, if the bird is suffering than why keep it live???? maybe I just dont understand?

Becuase the vast majority of them do NOT have problems. I realize it is from ignorance of birds with vaulted skulls, but that is similar to saying that animals with heavy thick fur, fleece or feathers near their rectum can suffer from flystrike, so why not put down all the ones with heavy, thick fur or feathers. Or that blue eyed animals can be deaf, so why not put down all blue eyed animals?​

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
It originally started out as a mutation. Its a trait that people selected to keep in the gene pool. 10 years ago when I was just looking into raising silkies, I never saw a vaulted skull on a bird period. Within the last 5-7 years or so it seems like this trend has taken hold. Its just like in other animals. Why do they raise satinette pigeons with beaks so short that they can't feed their young? Why raise bulldogs with heads so massive that you have to do a C section to get them out versus a natural birth? Its because you can...... Alot of people equate vaulted skulls with big crests. Get the right bloodlines and this isn't something you have to worry about. In the beginning people didn't care if they had fragile birds as long as they were breeding for monster vaults. They are finally starting to realize the negative consequences. Same goes for those breeding for the shortest backs possible and S shaped stance. Great for the show ring, but eventually you will end up employing AI on all your birds because they can no longer breed naturally.

I think a lot of breeders start out with the idea of breeding either for or against vaults, but after they gain experience, they tend to ignore vaults in breeding selection, breeding neither for nor against them.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
See my comments in posts 26 & 27. Most birds do not have problems; people don't typically post "my vaulted skull bird doesn't have problems!" they post when they DO have problems.

 

[horseshoecreekranch]

We have never had a problem with any of our vaulted skulled silkie chicks being weak and none of our started or adult silkies that were vaulted have ever died or been injured. They have all been perfectly normal just as any other Silkie chick or adult. To us it doesnt matter vaulted or not.