Spitzhaubens

[Alaskan]

I am hoping to be pretty ruthless as to which Spitz to keep as breeders ..... And have great hatchlings next year.



Hard to do though. I used to have Marans, and they kept rarely and randomly kept popping up toe issues (with them it was outside toes too short, too much webbing, amd I had one where two toes fused together at the nail). I couldn't figure out which breeders were giving me the issues. Drove me crazy...so I got rid of them all. I like hatching out perfect chicks, thank you very much!

 

[Faraday40]

I've never seen any of the issues you mentioned. I would guess scissor beak & other deformities would be naturally self-culling in a way. My mutt hen with the crooked toe was able to run, scratch, roost, etc. and live a good life. It was her egg-laying ability that we admired most, but when she passed a crooked toe to her chick, we decided it must be genetic.

We did have an orp with an unusual comb. He had way too many points & an extra on the side. Likewise, we decided not to breed him. He stayed around to protect the girls until we could hatch & grow out a prettier roo from a diff breeder.

 

[Alaskan]

How funny.... That little extra point on the rooster.

 

[PhoredaBurds]

What funky toe issue did you have?

My Spitz toe issues that hatched this year were:

A couple with too much webbing (one with just a bit too much, ignorable, one with two toes webbed up against each other, so pretty bad)

I also had a couple that were missing the end of the toe (no toenail, nothing nasty looking, just a "huh, no nail")

I had one that looked perfect, but on close inspection had a rudimentary (very small) extra toenail/toe end near the tip of one middle toe.


I also had several that hatched with one nose hole way bigger looking than it probably should be.


And with all of the chicks I hatched (over 100, less than 200) the only other deformities was one cross beak from my Dominiques..oh, and one Spitz with a completely exposed brain.

I had a couple with webbed toes early in the year. I thought it was bc the eggs got too cold prior to incubation, bc it was 2 unrelated chicks. The toes were easily corrected with a scalpel and some cornstarch.

The chicks were sold as pets & haven't hatched anymore with webbing since. I'm sorry about the exposed brain chick. I've never seen that in person. Must have been horrible!

I think we'd all like to hatch only perfect chicks

 

[Alaskan]

Yep, agreed!

The Marans chicks in years past, I would do surgery to fix the toes. The only Spitz this year that I should have maybe cut, I decided not to (she is fully functional), because from the Marans experience I know that a good surgical job means you can't really tell anything was wrong when they grow up.

I wanted to make sure I don't mix her up when grown.

 

[PhoredaBurds]

Yep, agreed!

The Marans chicks in years past, I would do surgery to fix the toes. The only Spitz this year that I should have maybe cut, I decided not to (she is fully functional), because from the Marans experience I know that a good surgical job means you can't really tell anything was wrong when they grow up.

I wanted to make sure I don't mix her up when grown.

Valid concern. I gave them zip tie anklets to keep track of them.

 

[Alaskan]

I use zip ties too...

 

[ArtLady1]

My boy Benny

 

[Alaskan]

My boy Benny

Looks like a fun rooster.

 

[Carpenter]

One month old today!