Ameraucana Breeders Club
The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club => Breeding => Topic started by: Beth C on June 03, 2013, 12:04:59 PM
-
I have a lavender split cockerel out here that I had high hopes for - good size, well balanced, no leakage, pea comb is nice & tight (so far). But I noticed the other day he has a crooked toe. A few years ago I used a male with a crooked toe, and I had crooked toes everywhere, ended up culling all of his offspring, and I swore I'd never use one again. But I'm curious, since I based that opinion on a pretty small sampling of birds, what your experience has been.
-
There is definitely a genetic propensity, but I think there also has to be something else not quite right. Like to high or low incubation temps, inadequate breeder diet, chicks getting too cold or too hot, or perhaps inadequate chick nutrition. If I had a great bird with one crooked toe I would use it with those things in mind. In fact I have. I believe you can breed away from the propensity over time, but you might not be able to bring in the other genetics you need if you don't use him at all.
-
Thanks, Mike. I took a load to the sale on Sat. but just couldn't bring myself to put him on it. Something else I've noticed about crooked toes - I've seen reference made to culling for it early, and once in a while I've had a chick with obviously crooked toes, but mostly I've noticed it around 3-4 months old. Birds that appeared to have straight toes suddenly have a crooked one. Since there's a genetic connection, I'm guessing it's been there all along but the larger & heavier the bird gets the more stress on it's feet & the more obvious a defect becomes? The previous one I mistakenly assumed was from an injury, since he was half-grown before it became apparent.
-
When it develops late like that I had heard one time it was caused by a shortage of some B vitamin. Sorry, I don't remember the source. But if some birds develop the crooked toes and others do not, it has to be a genetic propensity. I would think that crooked toes caused by some type of injury would be extremely rare.
-
I had an issue with my incubator thermostat this year. I noticed several crooked toes from the hatches that had temperature problems. After I resolved the issue, I have not noticed any crooked toes yet.
I have heard possible calcium deficiency, but I have nothing to verify that.