Single comb and pea comb are different alleles of the same gene on chromosome 1. Rose comb is from a combination of the rose comb inversion on chromosome 7 plus single comb on chromosome 1. Rose comb on chromosome 7 plus pea comb on chromosome 1 gives walnut comb. Two versions of rose comb...
Most Ameraucana chickens are relatively light weight. A cold tolerant breed generally runs between 7 and 10 pounds. Pea comb, rose comb, cushion comb, and flat rose comb are common on cold tolerant chickens. Yellow legs are an important trait for cold tolerant chickens. White eggs are mostly...
I'm getting ready for another year of selection and breeding. My SLW's are laying about 8 eggs per day and should ramp up quite a bit in early February. One desirable trait in SLW is laying even in the coldest weather so long as they have plenty of food.
I have a two year old rooster tested...
Some interesting side effects from crossing Silver Laced Wyandotte with blue egg laying Brown Leghorns might be useful. I've had both red ears and white ears with chickens that visually are Silver Laced Wyandotte. I think there is an interaction with egg color as white ears correlate with sky...
Neither of the pictured birds is good enough for serious breeding. A has problems with smuttiness in saddle feathers and pointed lacing. B and C have too much black in hackle feathers. A is the better choice of the pictured birds.
One of the issues is from the slow feathering variant in...
"Laying eggs in winter in a cold climate doesn't sound like an evolutionary advantage to me"
Humans shaped chicken evolution for roughly the last 3500 years. We provided selection pressure to lay eggs in quantities well beyond what jungle fowl lay. We wanted chickens to lay in cold climates...
Single comb is an advantage in hot climates. Light body size is also an advantage. Light colored feathers are another heat advantage.
What about cold climate advantages? Pea comb, rose comb, cushion comb, and flat comb are all advantaged to different degrees in cold climates. But it takes a...
I've posted pictures here a few times. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/silver-laced-wyandottes-that-lay-blue-eggs.1559583/page-4 should show a few. I have several single comb hens currently though I am gradually shifting the genetics toward rose comb.
The blue egg laying Silver Laced Wyandottes I have would be close to ideal for your purposes. You could easily have a silver laced Orpington that lays blue eggs in a couple of years. Other than that, one of the stable Ameraucana lines would be viable.
Sounds like breeding elephants. You only get to observe one or two generations. Seriously, it could be effective, but has potential to compromise a lot of other traits.
IME, zinc white affects shell structure (making it slightly thicker) and color (by inhibiting production of porphyrin). It has positive effects on blue egg coloring. The prettiest eggs I am currently collecting are intense sky blue with the typical white background from zinc white combined...
Tail feathers are a problem. Color appears washed out black or maybe brown. The version of slow feathering is a problem, pattern shows distinct arrow tips. I can't tell if that is gold leakage or something else going on with the tint.
Sorry, I disagree, any time two genes are on the same chromosome, there is an inherent linkage. Granted that it may be very weak and easily broken. The chicken genome is littered with the debris of cross-over events. I'm taking advantage of one such cross-over where the oocyanin gene has been...
At least one gene in the porphryin biopath is on the W/Z sex chromosome pair. Slow feathering is on the W/Z sex chromosome. Therefore if certain feather types are desired in the offspring combined with porphyrin production, it would make more sense to make the cross in one direction than the...
In the Polish, I see hard tail feathers that exhibit lacing. In the SLW, I see soft fluffy tail feathers that are black shading into gray underneath. The point about hen feathering is that hackle and tail feathers have a different structure and can show lacing to better advantage. Either way...
This is not known or proven. At one time they were called American Sebright Cochins, but there is no proof Sebrights were used in the breeding. Hamburgs, Brahmas, and Cochins are documented as sources of particular genes, patterns, and colors. There was at one time a deliberate breeding...