Chicken Breeds Health Problems

[kwik-kwak]

Since I am orientating myself on buying chickens, I did some research about the health of different breeds. I found the health problems I encountered quite shocking, although I am familiar with these kinds of problems in dog breeds, I was not aware that this is also a problem in chickens.

I think it is very important to raise awareness about these kinds of problems. It's sad that animals have to suffer so much because we think they look cute. When I was a kid I had chickens (a mixed group of a local), a couple of them had a cute tiny crest, not realizing that this often goes together with a hole in the skull.

Below are a few examples of different breeds:

I read about the serama fantail hens that the hens can have problems with egg production because there is simply not enough space in the body.

The araucana chickens usually have problems with the development of the ear canal, or do not hatch at all. Limited hearing is quite stressful for a prey animal.

The breeds with feathers on the legs are also not completely free from suffering, they scratch around less, which is of course nice if you want to leave the garden intact because it feels uncomfortable for them if the feathers move in the wrong direction. But isn't it the natural behavior of a chicken to forage, be honest a healthy happy chicken is busy all day long?

The chickens with curls in the feathers have also suffered genetically badly, because of the poor insulation they cannot withstand more extreme weather conditions.

Of course I hope that these health problems are already well known here, then I'm sorry for the repetition and otherwise I hope to make people think twice before they buy chickens...

I'd love to hear what you think about this subject, feel free to start a discussion or just ventilate your opinion about it

 

[JacinLarkwell]

My frizzle chickens actually did decent in the winter. I lost them due to cold snaps (-20+ for a few days for my cemani and constant -3+ after no warning or slow temperature decline for weeks for my cochin [who was attually a frazzle and had issues already])

I see my feather legged birds scratching around just as much as my clean legged birds

Not a serama breeder so can't comment on them

Never heard nor read anything mentioning hearing problems in Araucanas

 

[CoconutCoffee]

I haven't really looked into breed specific health issues other than high production breeds having a shorter lifespan and higher risk for reproduction issues. So I avoid them. This past October is when I got my first feather legged langshans, I haven't noticed less scratching from any (the amount of leg feathers vary) but will probably pay closer attention now to see. I noticed that my langshan roo walks a little strange sorta like a dog wearing shoes but my BLRW walks similarly and hes clean legged. At first I thought it was due to the feathers but it may be down to lanky teenage growth. These boys are TALL and comparable to my full sized roosters at only 18 weeks old.

 

[kwik-kwak]

My frizzle chickens actually did decent in the winter. I lost them due to cold snaps (-20+ for a few days for my cemani and constant -3+ after no warning or slow temperature decline for weeks for my cochin [who was attually a frazzle and had issues already])

I see my feather legged birds scratching around just as much as my clean legged birds

Not a serama breeder so can't comment on them

Never heard nor read anything mentioning hearing problems in Araucanas

Thank you for sharing your experience. I also assume that not every chicken of a certain breed has these disorders to the same degree. But I think it might be similar to dog breeding, not every French bulldog has noticeable difficulty breathing, but within that breed it is a significant number that do suffer from this. I have a hard time with the fact that we humans make healthy animals unhealthy from a selfish point of view (we like the look of it).

The crested chickens I've had haven't had any problems as far as I know. However, it is possible that they had, for example, excessive headaches or small unnoticeable epileptic seizures. Although we know our animals, not all their discomforts are visible to us, animals always hide their pain and discomfort very well.

 

[kwik-kwak]

I haven't really looked into breed specific health issues other than high production breeds having a shorter lifespan and higher risk for reproduction issues. So I avoid them. This past October is when I got my first feather legged langshans, I haven't noticed less scratching from any (the amount of leg feathers vary) but will probably pay closer attention now to see. I noticed that my langshan roo walks a little strange sorta like a dog wearing shoes but my BLRW walks similarly and hes clean legged. At first I thought it was due to the feathers but it may be down to lanky teenage growth. These boys are TALL and comparable to my full sized roosters at only 18 weeks old.

There is indeed more information about the health problems in production animals. Although that is also a relevant and interesting topic, I think it is a different discussion. This can also be broadened towards the entire bio-industry, and I don't want to go in that direction with this topic.

Interesting that you say they scratch just as much as the other chickens as they are often recommended when people want to keep the lawn more intact. They also seem to be more bothered by mites. Now a lot of people will probably say that this is treatable, but why would you turn a healthy chicken into a chicken that needs these kinds of treatments. By the way, I think the feathers on the legs are the least serious abnormality, but people's way of thinking still bothers me.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Again, my feather leggeds don't seem to have those issues you're mentioning. I do bug checks weekly and while most og my assorted birds have bugs, its on their faces, hackles and saddles, not their legs.

I will say interstingly pplish dont seem to get bugs in their crests either for the most part.

And if you want to point out physical traits that might cause problems, the entire single comb causes problems in cold climates in my experience. They lose their combs and wattles to the cold to the point I've considered just dubbing next spring for the youngsters so they dont go through that

 

[CoconutCoffee]

There is indeed more information about the health problems in production animals. Although that is also a relevant and interesting topic, I think it is a different discussion. This can also be broadened towards the entire bio-industry, and I don't want to go in that direction with this topic.

Interesting that you say they scratch just as much as the other chickens as they are often recommended when people want to keep the lawn more intact. They also seem to be more bothered by mites. Now a lot of people will probably say that this is treatable, but why would you turn a healthy chicken into a chicken that needs these kinds of treatments. By the way, I think the feathers on the legs are the least serious abnormality, but people's way of thinking still bothers me.

I may just not have paid enough attention to see if my langshans scratch just as much, less, or even more than my clean legged chickens. More specifically, the langshan roo as his legs are more feathered than my pullets. I'll pay more attention now though since it's been mentioned. I just never heard this before.
As far as mites go, feather legged breeds can be more susceptible but preventative care should be done with or without them in the flock. Same with maintaining a clean coop and run to prevent bumblefoot, a feather legged breed makes this even more important but it should be done anyway to maintain a healthy flock. With or without feather legged chickens. So I don't view that as a huge issue or a moral question.
I think moral questions should be asked if a certain trait is due to a serious physical abnormality. Like if a crested breed has a higher risk for neurological issues due to skull formation or something. Similar to flat faced dogs having a host of issues but people choosing looks over the dogs health. I used to have a leopard gecko and on forums there was a huge debate over a certain coloring cause the genes that caused it also led to neurological issues.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

 

[CoconutCoffee]

Again, my feather leggeds don't seem to have those issues you're mentioning. I do bug checks weekly and while most og my assorted birds have bugs, its on their faces, hackles and saddles, not their legs.

I will say interstingly pplish dont seem to get bugs in their crests either for the most part.

And if you want to point out physical traits that might cause problems, the entire single comb causes problems in cold climates in my experience. They lose their combs and wattles to the cold to the point I've considered just dubbing next spring for the youngsters so they dont go through that

I think I'd avoid single combs if the weather was that extreme where I am.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Not exactly an easy feat when pretty everything else either isn't my type of chicken or isn't easily avaliable