Araucana tuffs in breeding

[Anonymous__]

Will crossing a big tuff Araucana with a really small tuff Araucana have a better hatch rate than a cross of two big tuff Araucana? Basically, if the parent Araucanas tufts are bigger will the tuff gene be more lethal?

 

[Chicks in VA]

that won't matter if you have 2 Araucana's with muff that are huge the chick might grow up to have small tufts its tufts come out how they come out as long as both parents have muffs/tuffs

 

[NatJ]

that won't matter if you have 2 Araucana's with muff that are huge the chick might grow up to have small tufts its tufts come out how they come out as long as both parents have muffs/tuffs

Muffs and tufts are not the same thing.

Muffs are found on Ameraucanas, Faverolles, Sultans, and some other breeds. They make puffs on the sides of the face, and extend down to make a beard under the chin. (Some people say muffs, some say beard, both effects are caused by the same gene. The gene gets called "muff-beard," abbreviated Mb)

Tufts are also called "ear tufts," and they are what Araucanas have. The are caused by a different gene. Two copies of the tuft gene will kill the chick before it hatches, so you can never get true-breeding tufted birds. You can breed tufted to tufted (about 1/4 of chicks die before hatching, 1/2 have tufts, 1/4 have no tufts.) Or you can breed tufted to not tufted (about 1/2 have tufts, 1/2 have no tufts, and you do not have a lot of dead-in-shell chicks.)

Will crossing a big tuff Araucana with a really small tuff Araucana have a better hatch rate than a cross of two big tuff Araucana? Basically, if the parent Araucanas tufts are bigger will the tuff gene be more lethal?

Sorry, I don't know the answer to that.

I have read that all chicks with 2 copies of the tuft gene die, and the ones with only 1 copy of the tuft gene live and have tufts. But I have also read that even 1 copy of the tuft gene can cause more chicks to die (as compared with ones that have no tuft gene.) I have no personal experience, and I haven't studied it very much, so I don't know whether the size of the tufts makes any difference to how lethal it is.

 

[Amer]

It doesn’t matter if the tufts are big or small, it doesn’t change the lethality of two copies of the gene.

 

[Chicks in VA]

Muffs and tufts are not the same thing.

i have been misinformed from others then, and ignore my fist post