Blah!!! Just what I did not want to find at my place. I have a one year old buckeye rooster that I think has what is called "duck feet". Discussion in a thread recently indicated that this is a disqualification that we should be very aware of in our birds, if you want to keep the nicest birds you can, this is one other thing we must watch for.
I have not yet had the chance, after Sebas mentioned that he may have seen a duck foot condition on one of my young buckeye cockerels, in a thread I had began about the youngsters, with pictures. I said I was out to look and take pictures.
Well, time has come and I have not had the time, nor the weather to get pictures. But I keep looking and looking and never even once thought to have a really good gander at the adult male.
I always thought that he had a funny stance when he ran. He kind of squishes himself kind of down a bit when he runs, I thought it was just a determined look. This is particularly noticeable when he runs after a female, one thought in mind. I thought that he kind of flattened out, this is only a teeny tiny bit, to make himself look more inconspicuous so they don't see him
, and I thought it looked cool. His brother, rest his soul, did not do this odd kind of running thing. He is gone now to that rooster heaven (remember, he got into mouse bait 
) and died. I never saw this kind of huddle when he ran. It just looked very interesting. But...I think it is the duck foot thing that may make him do it.
Yes.....I will get a picture, yes.....pretty darn sure he has duck foot. I am away this weekend, but hopefully next week will be a good picture taking week, when I have that extra time on my hands. Just trying to ready things for a few days around here is a massive thing for me. I do not travel well. Our journey to the coast is only about 5 hours, but our car will be full of stuff for my siblings and their kids....like apples and home preserves, and a couple of muscovy ducks that (dead of course) that I never got around to cooking in our new life. They will make a lovely soup for my Sister's family, as they are rather old, been in our freezer for nigh onto two years now
.
Rats, ramblin', where was I? Right duck foot.
His fourth toe at the back does not stick out straight and down, as that toe should. I think that is why he runs funny, cause he is trying to get good balance, and closer to the ground, the better the balance, I presume.
quote from the Standard of Perfection:
DUCK-FOOT: A condition where the fourth or hind toe is carried forward so as to touch or almost touch the third toe instead of carried backward to touch the ground and ehlp balance the bird; a disqualification, (figure 24)
I have about 8 cockerels that are now 20 weeks old, so have lots to choose from to get a nice rooster for my group, with no duck feet.
This fellow will accompany several other cockerels at the end of November to the processor, gonna make a nice meal. I actually am kind of stoked to see how this one year old dude dresses out. I know his body mass is huge and he is tall and weighs, well, alot, he is heavy, but only time will be the teller of that tale.
So....anyhow, just wanting to put out some observations of what I am seeing. And it has actually kind of shocked me, but it is what it is. He is not in the breeding pool. I would venture to guess that this is a defect with genes and that should not be present, sigh...raised him for a long time, shoulda known about this defect a long time ago, my bad, but still learning, and will one day graduate from that school of hard knocks, smiling. Look at your birds, check out how their back toe is, it should be placed so that the fourth toe gives them balance, look closely. And if you look up on the internet duck foot, you will get lots of stuff about ducks' feet, I couldn't find anything about a condition in chickens about "duck feet", that was a difficult thing to get to find out more about and I still need to know more about it, sigh.
Anyways, just some food for thought and look at your birds closely in many ways if you want to be raising the best that you can, that is a very important thing to think about. Have a wonderful and beautiful day. CynthiaM.
Oh yes, I had every intention to bring this cock bird to the show in November in Armstrong, but he will be fattening up for the pot instead
.
I have not yet had the chance, after Sebas mentioned that he may have seen a duck foot condition on one of my young buckeye cockerels, in a thread I had began about the youngsters, with pictures. I said I was out to look and take pictures.
Well, time has come and I have not had the time, nor the weather to get pictures. But I keep looking and looking and never even once thought to have a really good gander at the adult male.
I always thought that he had a funny stance when he ran. He kind of squishes himself kind of down a bit when he runs, I thought it was just a determined look. This is particularly noticeable when he runs after a female, one thought in mind. I thought that he kind of flattened out, this is only a teeny tiny bit, to make himself look more inconspicuous so they don't see him
, and I thought it looked cool. His brother, rest his soul, did not do this odd kind of running thing. He is gone now to that rooster heaven (remember, he got into mouse bait ) and died. I never saw this kind of huddle when he ran. It just looked very interesting. But...I think it is the duck foot thing that may make him do it.Yes.....I will get a picture, yes.....pretty darn sure he has duck foot. I am away this weekend, but hopefully next week will be a good picture taking week, when I have that extra time on my hands. Just trying to ready things for a few days around here is a massive thing for me. I do not travel well. Our journey to the coast is only about 5 hours, but our car will be full of stuff for my siblings and their kids....like apples and home preserves, and a couple of muscovy ducks that (dead of course) that I never got around to cooking in our new life. They will make a lovely soup for my Sister's family, as they are rather old, been in our freezer for nigh onto two years now
.Rats, ramblin', where was I? Right duck foot.
His fourth toe at the back does not stick out straight and down, as that toe should. I think that is why he runs funny, cause he is trying to get good balance, and closer to the ground, the better the balance, I presume.
quote from the Standard of Perfection:
DUCK-FOOT: A condition where the fourth or hind toe is carried forward so as to touch or almost touch the third toe instead of carried backward to touch the ground and ehlp balance the bird; a disqualification, (figure 24)
I have about 8 cockerels that are now 20 weeks old, so have lots to choose from to get a nice rooster for my group, with no duck feet.
This fellow will accompany several other cockerels at the end of November to the processor, gonna make a nice meal. I actually am kind of stoked to see how this one year old dude dresses out. I know his body mass is huge and he is tall and weighs, well, alot, he is heavy, but only time will be the teller of that tale.
So....anyhow, just wanting to put out some observations of what I am seeing. And it has actually kind of shocked me, but it is what it is. He is not in the breeding pool. I would venture to guess that this is a defect with genes and that should not be present, sigh...raised him for a long time, shoulda known about this defect a long time ago, my bad, but still learning, and will one day graduate from that school of hard knocks, smiling. Look at your birds, check out how their back toe is, it should be placed so that the fourth toe gives them balance, look closely. And if you look up on the internet duck foot, you will get lots of stuff about ducks' feet, I couldn't find anything about a condition in chickens about "duck feet", that was a difficult thing to get to find out more about and I still need to know more about it, sigh.
Anyways, just some food for thought and look at your birds closely in many ways if you want to be raising the best that you can, that is a very important thing to think about. Have a wonderful and beautiful day. CynthiaM.
Oh yes, I had every intention to bring this cock bird to the show in November in Armstrong, but he will be fattening up for the pot instead
.
