3rd Grade Genetics and Inheritance Unit

mapurcel · Nov 14, 2020

Good chicken folk/breeders of Backyardchickens I need your help.

I am teaching a unit on traits and inheritance for the next few weeks and had an idea. Instead of looking at drawings in an online textbook, why not look at examples that are more authentic and ongoing?!

This idea just struck meso please be flexible thinkers and of course make suggestions.

If you believe you have a mating pair of chickens that produced some interesting phenotypes in their offspring; I’d love photos of both the mom,dad, and full feathered offspring. The more dramatic the inherited traits the better. This may look best with very different breeds being mixed (polish and old English) (silkie and frizzle) (serma and orph)(feather footed and bare)

Requirements:
1. A side profile of female, male, and offspring. (more than one offspring per family tree or more than one family tree would be great!)
2. 100% certainty the offspring in a submission is from the intended hen and male.
3. The offspring’s inherited phenotype/trait is very noticeable and clear in the photo. (Your audience are 3rd graders looking at photos via zoom)
4: Please no phenotypes that can’t be linked back to one of the parents by studying the photos. Students will not cover double recessive, mutations,etc in class.

Thanks fam!

MGG · Nov 14, 2020

mapurcel said:
Good chicken folk/breeders of Backyardchickens I need your help.

I am teaching a unit on traits and inheritance for the next few weeks and had an idea. Instead of looking at drawings in an online textbook, why not look at examples that are more authentic and ongoing?!

This idea just struck meso please be flexible thinkers and of course make suggestions.

If you believe you have a mating pair of chickens that produced some interesting phenotypes in their offspring; I’d love photos of both the mom,dad, and full feathered offspring. The more dramatic the inherited traits the better. This may look best with very different breeds being mixed (polish and old English) (silkie and frizzle) (serma and orph)(feather footed and bar

Requirements:
1. A side profile of female, male, and offspring. (more than one offspring per family tree or more than one family tree would be great!)
2. 100% certainty the offspring in a submission is from the intended hen and male.
3. The offspring’s inherited phenotype/trait is very noticeable and clear in the photo. (Your audience are 3rd graders looking at photos via zoom)
4: Please no phenotypes that can’t be linked back to one of the parents by studying the photos. Students will not cover double recessive, mutations,etc in class.

Thanks fam!

I have a blue laced red wyandotte hen (splash variety) and a buff brahma bantam rooster. I have 4 hens and one roo from them. Would pics of them work? I also have pics of a Black Australorp hen mixed with the same buff brahma roo, with a resulting cockerel, and a Partridge Cochin hen with the brahma roo, and a resulting cockerel. I know 100% sure those are the crosses. I can get good pics if you want. The chicks are all under 25 weeks old though. Two of the BLRW mixes are 24 weeks old, and consist of 1 male and 1 female, and the PC mix is also 24 weeks old, and a cockerel. The others are all 18 weeks.

BGcoop · Nov 14, 2020

I have a rose comb white leghorn rooster crossed with a crested cream legbar hen that resulted in a solid white bird with a crest that lays blue eggs. I do not have any photos at the moment but I should be able to get those for you tomorrow some time, will that work for you?

BGcoop · Nov 14, 2020

oh! and I also have an ayam cemani rooster crossed with an easter egger. That pairing resulted in a couple solid black hens with the EE puffy cheeks and also lay blue eggs. (again, i can get pictures tomorrow)

ackie · Nov 14, 2020

This is a cute idea. I hope it works!

mapurcel · Nov 14, 2020

As long as you think the traits are noticeable enough in the offspring that they can be connected back to the parents then I think it’ll work! Really cool breeds!

if you send more than one “family” I’d just make sure they are labeled or grouped together so I don’t accidentally confuse any of the family trees. Thank you so much for wanting to help!

MGG · Nov 14, 2020

mapurcel said:
As long as you think the traits are noticeable enough in the offspring that they can be connected back to the parents then I think it’ll work! Really cool breeds! if you send more than one “family” I’d just make sure they are labeled or grouped together so I don’t accidentally confuse any of the family trees. Thank you so much for wanting to help!

No problem! Mine all have feathered legs so they'll be able to see how that carries over too. I'll get pics tomorrow.

Egghead_Jr · Nov 15, 2020

You could also show pictures of sex link birds. The most common birds available at feed stores. They are sexed at birth to sell only female layers as chicks. There you can get pictures of Barred Rock Hen and Rhode Island Red cock for parent stock. Resulting black sex link is a black bird with red leakage on neck and chest. The cockerels are barred. At hatch barred birds have a white spot on head.

The other are red sex links. Red male to silver female. Again a Rhode Island red works and whit leghorn for hen. Result is columbian males and red females with white leakage as chicks. Sexed by down color.