Will yellow legs turn into green legs?

[EriRojas]

I have 7 Joe Redmond Grey Gamefowl. They are around 2 months and one week old. They are suppose to come in only green legged but I have two who have yellow legs, one of them is like a yellow green color but one has very yellow legs. Are they going to go green eventually? All the rest of them are very dark green legged so in wondering what happened here. Could someone explain to me the leg color genetics and how it works. What will the dominat gene eventually take over?

 

[chooks4life]

I'm still learning about genetics myself but diet can do it. If they're short on kelp they can end up yellowish or white where they were supposed to be any other color. Luckily with kelp it doesn't matter how old they are when you correct this, they will respond.

Best wishes.

 

[nicalandia]

I have 7 Joe Redmond Grey Gamefowl. They are around 2 months and one week old. They are suppose to come in only green legged but I have two who have yellow legs, one of them is like a yellow green color but one has very yellow legs. Are they going to go green eventually? All the rest of them are very dark green legged so in wondering what happened here. Could someone explain to me the leg color genetics and how it works. What will the dominat gene eventually take over?

well there is a chance they inherited the dermal inhibitor gene Id which will turn green shanks to yellow, but it could also be a juvenile stage and will grow out of it... dermal inhibitor Id is dominant and sex linked

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Add to that that kelp is not a standard part of poultry rations. Yes, I know that some use it as a supplement, and that in No Corn, No Soy formulas it is sometimes used as a protein source, but that vast majority of chickens never have kelp in their diet.

 

[nicalandia]

Add to that that kelp is not a standard part of poultry rations. Yes, I know that some use it as a supplement, and that in No Corn, No Soy formulas it is sometimes used as a protein source, but that vast majority of chickens never have kelp in their diet.

agree

 

[Chris09]

I'm still learning about genetics myself but diet can do it. If they're short on kelp they can end up yellowish or white where they were supposed to be any other color. Luckily with kelp it doesn't matter how old they are when you correct this, they will respond.

Best wishes.

So what is in the kelp that is said to "correct" this?
Kelp is mostly used as a source of Iodine, and I don't believe Iodine is going to affect leg color.

Guaranteed Analysis --
Crude Protein, min 4.00%
Salt (NaCl), min 3.50%
Crude Fat, min 2.00%
Salt (NaCl), max 4.50%
Crude Fiber, max 8.00%
Potassium (K), min 2.00%
Calcium (Ca), min 1.50%
Calcium (Ca), max 2.00%
Iodine (I), min 500 ppm
Iodine (I), max 800 ppm
Phosphorus (P), min 0.10%
Urea*Urea Free*

I believe that genetics are more at play than nutrition, and no amount of kelp is going to change genetics.

 

[nicalandia]

no amount of kelp is going to change genetics.

I agree but as he said, he is still learning so its ok

 

[chooks4life]

Add to that that kelp is not a standard part of poultry rations. Yes, I know that some use it as a supplement, and that in No Corn, No Soy formulas it is sometimes used as a protein source, but that vast majority of chickens never have kelp in their diet.

It's not about kelp per se. It's about complete nutrition. The majority of chickens never have complete nutrition in their diet.

They have sub-par survival rations and that directly affects coloration as well as everything else. Kelp is one of the easiest ways for us to supplement them in the absence of their being able to forage as their wild ancestors did and obtain complete nutrition from the land. There are land plants as nutritious as kelp but kelp's just easier to get.

So what is in the kelp that is said to "correct" this?
Kelp is mostly used as a source of Iodine, and I don't believe Iodine is going to affect leg color.

(I deleted the analysis because it doesn't cover everything in kelp, certainly not the relevant components in this case, some of which are only just beginning to be explored).

It's not about iodine either. If you have a look around, i.e. on Pubmed, there are studies showing that kelp interacts with and regulates the endocrine system in various ways. Most of these studies are fairly new, some of it's old news, but all are only confirming what animal keepers have known for a long time now. If in doubt, try it out, I suggest. And not some cooked ration, either, it's long been known that cooking alters or destroys many nutrients.

It's long been known to alter coat/hair color, but I've personally seen it alter everything in some chooks who were at least two years old when I got them. They were pure white, laying white eggs. After being on kelp for a year, they developed smutty base coloration with black and red streaks in feathers, beaks, legs, claws, and got darker skin and irises, and started laying eggs with brown eggshells.

I believe that genetics are more at play than nutrition, and no amount of kelp is going to change genetics.

Genetics have some interplay with nutrition. You may have heard of epigenetics.

Yes, kelp, like all nutrition or lack thereof, can change genetics and alter expression of them. You may want to look into the selection for white coloration among animals in nutrient poor areas as an example. There's actually a lot of information available on the interactions between nutrition and genetics.

Best wishes.