Russian Orloffs

[TomNY]

There are four locations for comb genes. R=rose comb. P=pea comb. r and p are the exact same thing, a blank spot[no comb gene]. It takes four blanks[r or p] to make a straight comb. At least one R and no P makes a rose comb. At least one P and no R makes a pea comb. At least one R and one P makes a Strawberry, cushion or walnut comb depending on modifiers. The other two locations can be R, P, r or p.

RR-PP RP-PP RR-RP PR-PP PP-RR Rr-PP Rr-Pp pp-RP pR-rP Etc. The list seems endless. Tom

Quote:
Do you mean that the combs are not (R+P)?
Walnut Comb (R+P)
Walnut Comb breeds can have any of the following Genotypes-
PP RR
Pp RR
PP Rr
Pp Rr


Chris

 

[Chris09]

Genetics of comb type:

Comb type in chickens is due to two genes, the rose comb gene, R, and the pea comb gene, P. These two genes are on different chromosomes. The lack of these genes is represented with lower-case letters, r and p. More correctly stated, r and p (or r+ and p+ to indicate they are the wild-type genes) are the genes that replace R and P when they are not present. A chicken with a single comb is lacking both R and P genes and so could be represented as (r, r) for rose comb and (p, p) for pea comb. Some authors will combine this ‘notation’ and write (rrpp) to represent the genes for single comb. I prefer the first way of writing the genes for the purposes of this text.

A chicken with a rose comb will have one of the gene combinations: (R, R) with (p, p), or (R, r) with (p, p). A bird with a pea comb will have (r, r) with (P, P), or (r, r) with (P, p). Since one copy of the rose or pea gene is sufficient for that comb type, these genes can be thought of as dominant. However, they act together to create the walnut comb when both rose and pea comb genes are present.

Poultry with a walnut comb have at least one copy of both the rose comb gene and the pea comb gene. The gene combinations that give walnut comb are: (R, R) with (P, P), (R, r) with (P, P), (R, R) with (P, p) and (R, r) with (P, p).

To explore the genetics of comb type, let’s cross a pea comb chicken, (r, r) with (P, p), and a rose comb chicken, (R, r) with (p, p). Because two genes on different chromosomes are involved, there is more bookkeeping than if there were only one gene involved, but the principle is the same and no more difficult. We first have to consider the combinations of the rose comb genes of the two parents, then the combinations of the pea comb genes of the two parents. Then we realize that each of the rose comb combinations can occur with each of the pea comb combinations. In the end there are 16 combinations in all.

The four possible combinations for the rose comb genes from the two parents are: (R, r), (R, r), (r, r) and (r, r). The four combinations for the pea comb genes from the two parents are: (P, p), (P, p), (p, p) and (p, p). Since each of the four rose comb combinations can occur with any of the pea comb combinations, we now have to consider each of the rose comb combinations with each of the pea comb combinations (16).

The figure above shows how to make a helpful drawing. Make a list (column) of the four rose comb gene combinations on one side and the pea comb genes on the other side. The combinations of the first rose comb gene pair with all the pea comb gene pairs is shown in the figure by the connecting arrows. Considering the (A, a) of the drawing to be (R, r), the possible combinations of the first rose comb gene pair with the pea comb gene pairs are: (R, r) with (P, p) twice [we get this combination twice], and (R, r) with (p, p) twice. The second rose comb gene pair with the pea comb genes gives the same combinations: (R, r) with (P, p) twice and (R, r) with (p, p) twice. The third rose comb gene pair with the pea comb gene pairs gives: (r, r) with (P, p) twice and (r, r) with (p, p) twice. The last rose comb gene pair with the pea comb gene pairs gives the same: (r, r) with (P, p) twice and (r, r) with (p, p) twice.

So, of the 16 possibilities, four of them are (R, r) with (P, p) and is walnut comb, four are (R, r) with (p, p) and is rose comb, four are (r, r) with (P, p) and is pea comb, and four are (r, r) with (p, p) which is single comb. We have four out of 16 chances (25% chance) to get a walnut comb from this cross, four out of 16 chances to get rose comb, four out of 16 chances to get pea comb and four out of 16 chances to get single comb.
From http://sellers.kippenjungle.nl/page2.html

Walnut Comb (R+P)
Walnut Comb breeds can have any of the following Genotypes-
PP RR
Pp RR
PP Rr
Pp Rr
From http://books.google.com/books?id=VMSF7m2CFTEC&pg=PA193&dq=walnut+comb+genetics&hl=en&ei=NkhdTdDMA8Wblgfr-umoCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=walnut%20comb%20genetics&f=false


Chris

 

[OrloffTom]

I'm gonna copy this info and keep it handy. I don't know anything about the comb genetics and I find this very interesting

.

***If anyone would like to join us, we have an orloff forums. Everything orloffs

. We are trying to compile information on this breed and we've got a website as well, where we have a poll to vote for the name of the group. http://orloffchickens.messageforums.net/ http://russianorloff.weebly.com

 

[furryloo]

When reading through here I saw a website mentioned for Russian Orloff breeders but cannot find it. Anyone know what it is?

Also, here in the US - I know we have the spangled breed, but what else do we have?

Also, has anyone crossed the orloff with another breed? If so, what kind and what were the result?

 

[furryloo]

Also, what do you think of the ones for sale here?
http://www.russianorloffs.com/

In search of fertile hatching eggs from good stock, but came across this.

 

[furryloo]

Okay, I know I am asking a lot of questions, but bear with me as I am a newbie to this breed. I was looking at the ALBC list for Orloffs and the desired traits. But then when I compare it to photos online, they are way off. For example, it says that there shouldn't be tips of white on wings but I am seeing a lot with this.

Could somone share photo links of what Russian Orloffs should look like? I am going to look through this thread yet once more but there are very few photos on this thread.

Here are a few I found, please critique them and let me know what you see that I don't.

http://www.faverollesandorloffs.co.uk/id4.html

 

[phasian]

Quote:
Thanks for bringing up such great questions. I love this breed and have had the same experience that many people listed, with them being very gregarious with both people and other chickens, as well as being weather hardy. Orloffs come in lots of colours, but I have yet to find breeders who raise anything beyond Spangled. (I currently have bantam Orloff eggs in my incubator that I got from another BYC member.) They do have a breeder association, which is listed on this page which also has pictures of the other colours- http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGK/Orloffs/BRKOrloff.html

 

[furryloo]

Quote:
Thanks for bringing up such great questions. I love this breed and have had the same experience that many people listed, with them being very gregarious with both people and other chickens, as well as being weather hardy. Orloffs come in lots of colours, but I have yet to find breeders who raise anything beyond Spangled. (I currently have bantam Orloff eggs in my incubator that I got from another BYC member.) They do have a breeder association, which is listed on this page which also has pictures of the other colours- http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGK/Orloffs/BRKOrloff.html

Thank you! I did find someone that does Speckled Orloffs. Is that still a Spangled or different?

Checking out that link now.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

Quote:
I am compiling a list of breeders for the new "club" website. I will probably have time to get it up this weekend.

I believe the only other variety commonly available is the Mahogany. Well, they aren't easy to find, either, but they are available.

Shelley may be willing to share her source for Cuckoo Orloffs? I know of a breeder that has blacks that are very close to being ready to share. Beyond that, I think we're limited to spangled. (My favorite variety anyway!)

Have not yet personally crossed the Orloff with any other breeds, but others have. Perhaps they will chime in. I particularly remember some Polish/Orloff crosses that were awesome!

To address other questions: Spangled and Speckled are referring to the same coloration, a tri-color pattern that varies in amounts of white and also changes as the bird ages.

The breeder's association on Feathersite is now defunct. If you e-mail the contact, you will receive no response. Which is why we are in the process of forming a new club.

The breeder at russianorloffs.com is a relatively new hobby breeder, but they appear to have some nice birds. However, they are in the UK, so you may have trouble getting eggs.

The birds you requested a critique of appear to be nice enough, upright, large birds, yellow legs, correct combs, good bears and muffs. I'd like more close up shots of the head.

This is a "head" breed. It all boils down to that rather "evil" eye, strong curved beak, and general imposing look. As friendly as these birds are, they should LOOK like grumpy, evil, scheming little bearded men. LOL If you had one i your yard, it should make people think twice about coming onto your property!

 

[shelleyb1969]

Quote:
A couple months ago, I accidentally hatched out a very unusual chick. Apparently, my cuckoo Orloff hen wasn't "clean" when I set her eggs. She had been running with my free ranging flock headed by a cute little buff splash frizzle BANTAM Cochin rooster. So now I have an adorable cuckoo frizzle chick with feathered legs, muffs, and practically no comb. I'll try to get pics of her this afternoon.