what causes crossed beaks?

[Harpo]

I've just hatched my 2nd lot of eggs - the 1st was a disaster with 1 live chick as I ran the humidity too high at 55% and I had 11 perfectly formed chicks fail to turn and drown

This time I did a dry run and 1 hatched on day 21 all by itself, had to help 2 on day 22 and I had given up on the others and was candling to be sure on day 23 when I found 1 pipped mid egg and helped it partially zip... very active but it appears to have a mis aligned beak? crossed? does this ever correct itself? I think 1 also has a crooked toe?

What are the causes? could it be my rooster and hen are related?

Any replies would be greatly appreciated....

 

[Freckle Face Farm]

Could be your temp was to low in your incubator.. Or genetics..
And I dont think crossed beak will correct itself.

 

[Harpo]

HHmmm I had it running at 37.5 with hardly any fluctuations - maybe went up to 37.8 once or twice...

 

[GreenGoddess]

Genetics are a definite possibility.. I had one girl throwing cross beaks (hatched out 2 of them and found 2 others that died mid incubation).. There is no way to fix the problem but if the chickens are just "pets" then they can live full lives.. They will not be able to scratch or preen themselves but if you feed them from a deep container, they can eat..

One of the cross beaks I hatched, I culled.. The second not only had a cross beak but had one eye... A friend of mine has chickens "just to have them" and was willing to take her.. She's now 8 months old and going strong!! I also gave him the one that was throwing them so I shouldn't have any more... They named the little cross beak "Cyclops" LOL

I would personally suggest all cross beaks to be culled if you are selling eggs or chicks and also figure out which one is throwing them so you can cull.. Again, if they are just "pets", it's your choice...

Goddess

 

[Arielle]

I've had just a couple cross beaks and it's rather devastating to watch them fail to thrive. I asked a master breeder about this; he asked a friend who raised EE, and the return info was that cross beak is generally regarded as terminal. To cull the effected stock and possibly the parents. He didn't mention anything about incubator issues. I have one now that is only slightly off, mostly the lower beak is larger than the top. Odd.

I have not had any cross beaks do well; and the verdict is still out on the one with a slight misalignment. These have all been EE and half EE from 3 different sources.

Also the cross beak did not show itself until several week old. Each looked normal at hatch.

 

[Harpo]

Quote:
Well I just read this and had a look to see if it got out of the shell and it has.... AND IT ALSO HAS ONLY ONE EYE!!!

What upsets me is we purchased a trio of " OUTSTANDING SHOW STOCK" for my son to compete with and breed from - was suppose to give him a good base and it's all going wrong... they are Australian Black Standard Langshans...

I spoke to my Dad and he just laughed saying get it an eyepatch and give it a chance... it may be a girl and turn into your best layer...

I was just concerned about it starving to death...

I'll try and figure out which of the girls - only 2 but I guess it means collecting, marking and going through it again

I'm borderline "throwing in the towel"

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
Well I just read this and had a look to see if it got out of the shell and it has.... AND IT ALSO HAS ONLY ONE EYE!!!

What upsets me is we purchased a trio of " OUTSTANDING SHOW STOCK" for my son to compete with and breed from - was suppose to give him a good base and it's all going wrong...

I spoke to my Dad and he just laughed saying get it an eyepatch and give it a chance... it may be a girl and turn into your best layer...

I was just concerned about it starving to death...

I'll try and figure out which of the girls - only 2 but I guess it means collecting, marking and going through it again

I'm borderline "throwing in the towel"

Please take a deep breath. And try to relax a little. Hatching is very emotional. THe reality is that many times fluky things do happen. I had one chick pip and die, it had a malformed head and no eye on one side. Very shocking. I have have had many not hatch --thanks Irene. THese things do happen. I 'm not saying it is easy to deal with; just saying it goes along with hatching. Sorry this has been a particularly difficult hatch.

If you have been able to get good stock; stick with it. The good chicks will be really good.

GL

 

[GreenGoddess]

Quote:
I agree... Take a deep breath and don't give up... As with ANY animal, these things do happen and it may have just been a fluke of nature.. I would say to do a few more hatches and see what happens... The girl that I found was throwing them, was consistent.. I got one out of roughly ever other hatch...

While doing a few more rounds of hatching, check the newly hatched chick out AND most importantly, do eggtopsies on any that do not hatch... To me, doing eggtopsies is fascinating because I have learned so much about incubation doing them.. Yeah, it's gross but it's scientific.. Look at the dead chicks head, beak, legs, etc and see if they didn't thrive because of temp issues, humidity issues, physical issues or it was just one of those things that cannot be explained.. Just like with miscarriages, sometimes it just happens and there is no reason why.. Many times you can pinpoint it and fix a problem too... It's a learning thing and because we are not hens, we aren't perfect nor can we perfect it but we can come as close as humanly possible...

There are a few really good sites out there outside of BYC.. Here are a few that I have found to be very helpful!

http://zzz262.multiply.com/photos/album/107/Chick_embryo_-_Stages_of_development#

http://www.resourcesstore.com/egg-incubation/crippled-and-malformed-chicks.html

Goddess