Experience with cross-beak

[Guest]

Hello, all. I\'m new to ABC, and I already have a question! I have 2 splash Ameraucana roos ~ one went in the pen with my two Ameraucana hens and the other in a pen with some FBCMarans (for Olive-eggers). I\'m now considering selling the roo over my Ameraucanas because he\'s just plain difficult; however, a hatch last month of FBCM eggs produced a single chick that is cross-beak. This was the only egg out of 6 that was fertile and they were collected in the first few days of beginning to lay for this season. I hatched out 4 other chicks from this combination last summer, and they were all perfectly fine.

Most of my research indicates that cross-beak is a common genetic defect in Ameraucana. My questions are these:
Is this true?
Is this solely genetic or can it be caused by other factors?
Would you even consider keep this rooster for breeding?

Side note: I do have 7 more eggs from this combo. in the bator right now--set to hatch any minute.

Thanks in advance for any input here.

[Mike Gilbert]

Are we talking large fowl or bantam Ameraucana?  If large fowl, cross beak has not been an issue with mine.   It does happen in some strains of the bantams I raise, but it is not real common.   If you select breeders with good depth from top to bottom at the base of the beak, along with shorter beaks when possible, it will help to minimize and possibly eliminate the problem.   Also, don\'t breed from any chickens if their top and lower mandibles don\'t fit together well.  There should be no daylight showing between the upper and lower beaks when they are closed.  Just my opinion.

[Guest]

These are large fowl Ameraucana. I\'m glad to hear that it is not \"as common\" as a few things I read made it sound. I\'m still very new to the breeding, and I\'m learning more everyday. Thanks for the info! I will be sure to double check the beak & mandible alignment before making any decisions.

[Jean]

Briana,

I have found over the years that I get a chick or two every breeding season with cross beak.

I have also found that the ones that just can\'t make it out of the shell carry this deformity.  Try very hard not to help chicks out of the shell.

[Guest]

Thanks for the input...and--OH, NO! I helped one out a little bit ago, but I blamed the problem on the fact that the RH wasn\'t as high as preferred. The chick dried out on one side & stuck a little. I only gently peeled off that one area, and put it back in the bator to finish on its own (with increased RH). We\'ll see...

For the record, I didn\'t help the last one out that is now severly cross beak; however, it was a late hatcher.