After sending in my deposit to Holderread's and patiently waiting, I got an email last night from them confirming my order.
When I mailed in my check, I sent a letter letting them know what I was looking for...and explaining that my current gander (the one I'm planning to keep) has some twisting in his wing tips and I was concerned with that....
This was the response I got:
Hi Heather,
We received your deposit for the White Curly-breasted Sebastopol females. Before you decide which quality level you would like, it would be good if you would read the following information regarding Sebastopol wing feathers.
The unique plumage of Sebastopols places extra stress on their wings. Every time they stretch their wings by flapping them, upon re-folding them, the twisted and elongated flight feathers place uncharacteristic torque on the wing-tips. Over time (this can range from a few months of age to years), most Curly-breasted Sebastopols will develop twisted wing-tips in one or both wings.
We are very careful to breed only from those individuals that do not have twisted wing-tips when they first feather out, as this helps eliminate perpetuating a genetic based wing disorder.
Also, any time a Sebastopol is put under stress (such as sudden changes in weather or feed, shipping, etc), there is an increased incidence in the spontaneous stretching of the ligaments of the wing-tipsaise them.
The breeding of Sebastopols is one of the most complex endeavors in domestic poultry. It is complicated, and difficult to distill into concise answers. However, with that disclaimer, in very broad terms, four of the important concepts to keep in mind can be summarized as the following. Everything below is contingent upon the birds being from carefully bred strains and being raised in an environment that supports strong wing development (carefully study our bulletin on "Wing Disorders in Waterfowl").
1) The vast majority of smooth-breasted individuals will not have wing deformities.
2) Having at least one smooth-breasted parent reduces the incidence of twisted wing tips. (Please notice that I'm saying it reduces--it in no way eliminates the incidence of twisted wing tips. There is no way to eliminate twisted wing tips in curly-breasted Sebastopols due to the nature of the feathering.)
3) No matter how carefully bred, the majority of the offspring out of two curly-breasted parents will at some point in their lives develop twisted wing tips due to the tips of the wings being forced out every time the wing is folded and the connective tissue being stretched beyond its capacity to hold the wing tip in place.
4) Research done here at The Preservation Center strongly supports the hypothesis that the twisted wing tips in most curly-breasted Sebastopols is not due to a genetic defect, but is the result of the unique feathering of curly-breasted Sebastopols. In other words, breeding from curly-breasted individuals with normal wing tips does not reduce the incidence of twisted wing tips in their offspring. Another way of saying this is that the heritability of normal wings in curly-breasted Sebastopols is 0.
Many, if not all, of the old-time Sebastopol breeders routinely pinioned their Sebastopols. If a person cannot accept twisted wing tips in Sebastopolss as a common characteristics in this breed, the only real remedy is to not raise them. The majority of really curly, heavily feathered Sebastopols will develop twisted wing tips sometime between the age of 3 months and 5 years of age, and it usually has nothing to do with a genetic defect. As for twisted wings...carefully controlled research has shown that most cases are the result of an interaction between diet, environment and exercise (for detailed information on this topic, I suggest you read "Wing Disorders in Waterfowl" as offered in our catalog). There are a relatively low percentage of documented cases of true genetic wing disorders.
If you have further questions, let us know. --Wanita at HWFarm
Does anyone have any other experience with this? I'm not doubting what I've been told but I just want to learn more...
When I mailed in my check, I sent a letter letting them know what I was looking for...and explaining that my current gander (the one I'm planning to keep) has some twisting in his wing tips and I was concerned with that....
This was the response I got:
Hi Heather,
We received your deposit for the White Curly-breasted Sebastopol females. Before you decide which quality level you would like, it would be good if you would read the following information regarding Sebastopol wing feathers.
The unique plumage of Sebastopols places extra stress on their wings. Every time they stretch their wings by flapping them, upon re-folding them, the twisted and elongated flight feathers place uncharacteristic torque on the wing-tips. Over time (this can range from a few months of age to years), most Curly-breasted Sebastopols will develop twisted wing-tips in one or both wings.
We are very careful to breed only from those individuals that do not have twisted wing-tips when they first feather out, as this helps eliminate perpetuating a genetic based wing disorder.
Also, any time a Sebastopol is put under stress (such as sudden changes in weather or feed, shipping, etc), there is an increased incidence in the spontaneous stretching of the ligaments of the wing-tipsaise them.
The breeding of Sebastopols is one of the most complex endeavors in domestic poultry. It is complicated, and difficult to distill into concise answers. However, with that disclaimer, in very broad terms, four of the important concepts to keep in mind can be summarized as the following. Everything below is contingent upon the birds being from carefully bred strains and being raised in an environment that supports strong wing development (carefully study our bulletin on "Wing Disorders in Waterfowl").
1) The vast majority of smooth-breasted individuals will not have wing deformities.
2) Having at least one smooth-breasted parent reduces the incidence of twisted wing tips. (Please notice that I'm saying it reduces--it in no way eliminates the incidence of twisted wing tips. There is no way to eliminate twisted wing tips in curly-breasted Sebastopols due to the nature of the feathering.)
3) No matter how carefully bred, the majority of the offspring out of two curly-breasted parents will at some point in their lives develop twisted wing tips due to the tips of the wings being forced out every time the wing is folded and the connective tissue being stretched beyond its capacity to hold the wing tip in place.
4) Research done here at The Preservation Center strongly supports the hypothesis that the twisted wing tips in most curly-breasted Sebastopols is not due to a genetic defect, but is the result of the unique feathering of curly-breasted Sebastopols. In other words, breeding from curly-breasted individuals with normal wing tips does not reduce the incidence of twisted wing tips in their offspring. Another way of saying this is that the heritability of normal wings in curly-breasted Sebastopols is 0.
Many, if not all, of the old-time Sebastopol breeders routinely pinioned their Sebastopols. If a person cannot accept twisted wing tips in Sebastopolss as a common characteristics in this breed, the only real remedy is to not raise them. The majority of really curly, heavily feathered Sebastopols will develop twisted wing tips sometime between the age of 3 months and 5 years of age, and it usually has nothing to do with a genetic defect. As for twisted wings...carefully controlled research has shown that most cases are the result of an interaction between diet, environment and exercise (for detailed information on this topic, I suggest you read "Wing Disorders in Waterfowl" as offered in our catalog). There are a relatively low percentage of documented cases of true genetic wing disorders.
If you have further questions, let us know. --Wanita at HWFarm
Does anyone have any other experience with this? I'm not doubting what I've been told but I just want to learn more...