Genetics behind my "Crested" roo's chicks ????

[olddairyfarm]

I know NOTHING about bird breeding and have probably committed some sort of breeding sin by creating all of these mutts, but here's what I'm wondering:

After having to eliminate 3 very mean "terminator" roosters, we kept our White Crested Black Polish rooster (the freebie from MurrayMcMurray) because he was SO nice.

Well, apparently he has been nice to the ladies as well. He mates with all of the birds that I have listed below my name, except for the white broilers. He's racist, but that's a whole other thread.

Anyway, when our White Crested Black Polish roo was a day old, he had a little cotton puff on his head. In fact, his name is still "Puff Daddy."

None of the chicks that have hatched thus far have a little "puff" on their heads like their dad did. Is there even a chance that they will? Does the hen have to be crested as well to produce a crested chick?

Some of the chicks are feather-footed, so apparently some of the feather-footed hens passed down that trait (I guess feathered feet are dominant then?)

Please let me know what you think.

Oh, and I don't mind if you tell me that keeping the roo was a mistake. I've already wondered if these chicks will have poor laying abilities b/c of their dad's show-bird genes.

Thanks for the help-

 

[onthespot]

I think feathered legs are recessive, and more common than you would think. If he has not produced any poofy heads, I'd guess it is recessive as well, but much less common in the general gene pool.

 

[fowlafoot]

That puff you noticed on day one with dad is a cerebral hernia that is what makes the crests so impressive in the polish. That can pop up again but usually doesn't first generation of a cross with a non-crested breed since it's recessive. Your chicks will have a version of a crest as they grow into their adult feathers but it's much less impressive.

She's a polish orloff cross

Some polish are actually good layers and you will have the whole hybrid vigor bonus so I wouldn't write them off just yet.

 

[Cabe]

I have a white crested blue polish and was thinking about breeding it with my golden laced brabanter...since they both have a crest i was thinking that their babies would to what I would like to know is what color would I get?

 

[fowlafoot]

http://home.ezweb.com.au/~kazballea/genetics/theory.html

This site has a genetic calculator that lets you play with color combinations... should be able to give you an idea of what color(s) you may get

 

[Cabe]

Thanks ! I'll check it out.

 

[olddairyfarm]

That was an interesting link regarding colors.

It's been a while since Biology 101 at LSU. I had to look up the term "hybrid vigor." That's why I love this forum...keeps my brain full.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_vigor