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JustAChickenLoverOverHere
💙 JACLOH 💜
Thank you! That example of "split to lavender" gave me a great understanding of a hidden(/single?) recessive gene. So, if a chick has one copy of a recessive gene, it carries that gene and can give the second copy of it if the other bird has the recessive gene?Primary reason for using "recessive" and "dominant" terms is to describe one particular trait. Simple explanation is as follows:
1) A chick receives half it's DNA from mom and half it's DNA from dad.
2) A chick needs to receive TWO copies of a recessive gene for that recessive gene to be "visual" or "express" on that chick - that means they need to receive one copy from mom and one from dad.
3) If a chick only receives ONE copy of a recessive gene (so from one parent only) then they carry that one gene but it is "non visual" or "not expressed" on that chick. We often call that "being split to that recessive trait" - i.e. "split to/for lavender".
The secondary reason for using "recessive" and "dominant" terms is to describe the "heirarchy" or "order" in which multiple traits show on a bird.
For example Colour A might be considered "dominant" over Colour B. Or alternatively that Colour B is "recessive" to Colour A. So even though your chick might be genetically expressing both colours - Colour A is the only one you see and Colour B is hidden.