White feathers on Day old Lavs

[mustangsaguaro]

I have some lavender chicks that are about 5 days old now. I am noticing on some of them where the wing feathers are starting to come in that some of them have white wing feathers coming in. And others have strictly lavender coming in. My question is will those white feathers disappear or not?

I had some black lav splits that I hatched last year same thing. White feathers came in. I figured that those white feathers would go away and they did not.

So my question is should I cull those chicks w/ the white feathers or wait? I am going to be putting more eggs in my incubator in about 2 weeks.  I have a limited amount of birds I am able to hatch so should I hold onto the white feathered ones for a while and wait to see what the next batch of chicks bring?

Thanks

[Cloverleaf Farm]

So the white primaries on the black / lav splits NEVER went away?  Did you cull those birds or breed from them? Is that where these lavs came from?

[mustangsaguaro]

You are correct the white primaries and it\'s maybe 1/4 of 1 or 2 feathers never went away.

These lavs w/ the white coming in could have come from my other lavs or the black splits. I don\'t know. Right now my only Ameraucana\'s I have are the Lav and Lav splits and everyone free ranges. And I don\'t know who lays what eggs unless I am out in the coop and get there egg right after they laid. I have 2 Lav split hens and 5 pure Lavs w/ 2 Lav roos. I guess the only way to know this is to lock up the black splits and take and mark there eggs and incubate those eggs and see if when those chicks start to feather if any come in white. If they do I will know who the culprit is.  I didn\'t cull the blacks because that is all I had to start w/ them and my 5 Lav girls.

[crystalcreek]

I had this issue with a split hen.  She produced chicks with more white tiny first wing primaries than you would normally see.  For example, instead of the outermost one or two wing feathers being white, said chick might have four or even five white ones the first time feathers came in.  After growing some out, I learned that the melanizing genes were insufficient to completely cover all that white at final plumage, and a wingtip or two would have a white section at the tip.  I culled the hen and her offspring.

[crystalcreek]

For this reason, I personally think it is better to immediately cull those chicks with more than two white wing primaries as soon as you see the trait popping up....saves you lots of feed....and those hens can still be great layers for somebody else...

...and the roosters make great dogfood at about 4-5 months, if you\'re so inclined.....

[Christie Rhae]

...and the roosters make great dogfood at about 4-5 months, if you\'re so inclined.....

So glad you suggested this to me a few months ago.  I never would have thought of feeding culls to my dog.  After my husband and I processed our first roosters we realize we can totally do that and I am no longer stressed out thinking \"what am I gonna do with all these cockerels??\"   lol

Oops! back to white feathers on lavendar.  Sorry off subject.  lol

[mustangsaguaro]

For this reason, I personally think it is better to immediately cull those chicks with more than two white wing primaries as soon as you see the trait popping up....saves you lots of feed....and those hens can still be great layers for somebody else...

Well, last night I checked my 2 black splits and only one of them has the white feathers on 2 of her wings (not the full wing maybe 1/8-1/4 of the wing).  

What I am thinking of doing is this, please let me know if this is a good idea or not. Is lock her and the other black up during the day until they lay there eggs and mark who laid what egg. I will incubate a bunch of there eggs and see what ends up happening/hatching in regards to if I get white tips or not. Is this a totally bad idea? Right now I have a limited amount of stock and one of the reasons why I kept that hen.  I have also have another Lavender hen that I will probably sell this year too after I know what I have female wise in Lav chicks as one of my hens has a very sloppy tail that I don\'t like. Trying to increase my flock size by hatching a bunch of chicks for this season.  I can only work w/ what I got when finances and amount of birds are limited.  

When you say cull, do you end up killing the birds at day olds or do you try to find a new non breeding home for them where if the chick ends up being female at least she will be useful for eggs and not breeding purposes? Also, on something like this what would you sell a not up to par day old or older for?

Finally, getting a bit off topic from the original post but as day olds how can you tell what to keep and what to remove from the flock? Anything specific you look for in day olds? Perhaps down color if it\'s a consistent color throughout, what else do you look at in day olds? I know a lot of times it is very hard to tell what they are going to mature into when they are that young. Thus the reason to keep them for a few months until say they are full feathered  or a bit older.  I know I have a few lavenders that are much darker than some of my other ones. I don\'t like the dark ones and am wondering if there is a way to tell when they are day olds which ones will be darker than the others or is that a sit and wait one too?

Thanks

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Well, you gotta do what you gotta do. At least it\'s a trait you can see.  Unless there are hidden genes at work here too, which I can\'t answer to...anybody else know the answer to that one??

[Mike Gilbert]

Any chicks I would otherwise kill at hatch, as long as they are strong and have no deformities, I list on Craigslist and have no trouble giving them away.  Many backyarders are delighted to get them.  

[HarryS]

Mike,
   That nice you give them away but remember your name is associated with them.  That is why I KILL everything now that is not at least breeder quality.  You will see them advertised somewhere that they came from you.  Even the hatching eggs that hatch and the people keep the culls to breed will use one\'s name.  IMO

[Mike Gilbert]

Harry, I\'m pretty much past the point that I care what others might say or think about me or my birds.   There is only One that I will try to please, and that because of what He has first done for me.   And of course my spouse, who was truly a gift from above.   When you are old, retired, and don\'t give a rip as to what others may think it does lift a certain amount of weight off your shoulders.

[dixieland]

Harry, I\'m pretty much past the point that I care what others might say or think about me or my birds.   There is only One that I will try to please, and that because of what He has first done for me.   And of course my spouse, who was truly a gift from above.   When you are old, retired, and don\'t give a rip as to what others may think it does lift a certain amount of weight off your shoulders.

That was well said, my friend!!!!!
I am a few years younger, but pretty much subscribe to the same idea! If my actions make or keep the Lord and my sweet husband happy, then I have succeeded!!!