5 toed EE?

[Mablethechicken]

Riddle me this folks…
Rooster is an EE hen is an EE and the baby we just hatched has 5 toes. Neither of the parents have 5 toes. Is this likely to randomly pop up in EEs or is it possible my EE roo has some other genes mixed in there? The hen is a through and through EE. My rooster does have lightly feathered legs also which I always thought was weird.

 

[Mablethechicken]

This is the baby

 

[Mablethechicken]

These are the EE parents

 

[JedJackson]

The rooster looks very much like a Salmon Faverolles, and is probably a cross of that breed. SFs have 5 toes. So that's likely how the chick in question ended up that way. Genes will do funny things, sometimes.

 

[deidreg]

The rooster looks very much like a Salmon Faverolles, and is probably a cross of that breed. SFs have 5 toes. So that's likely how the chick in question ended up that way. Genes will do funny things, sometimes.

Yep, the roo is classic Faverolles.

 

[Sortacountrychicken]

I agree

 

[JedJackson]

He's not pure Faverolles though. Wrong leg color and doesn't have 5 toes. But he nevertheless passed on the five toe gene even though he didn't have 5 toes himself.

 

[Mablethechicken]

The rooster looks very much like a Salmon Faverolles, and is probably a cross of that breed. SFs have 5 toes. So that's likely how the chick in question ended up that way. Genes will do funny things, sometimes.

Thank you!! Sooo helpful. Does that also explain the lack of the signature pea comb that EEs usually have? It’s always been oversized and pointy.

Follow up question, early on when we were trying to figure out gender of what turned out to be this rooster, I was advised that the pea comb in EEs is tied to the blue egg gene and that if an EE doesn’t have the pea comb it won’t lay blue eggs. Turned out to be a moot point because he turned out to be male but I guess my question is now…what are the odds that of this chick (assuming it’s a she) will lay blue eggs if the rooster doesn’t carry the blue egg gene but the hen does?

 

[Mablethechicken]

He's not pure Faverolles though. Wrong leg color and doesn't have 5 toes. But he nevertheless passed on the five toe gene even though he didn't have 5 toes himself.

Also, he hatched out of a blue egg. What color egg do SFs lay?

 

[JedJackson]

Also, he hatched out of a blue egg. What color egg do SFs lay?

Lightly tinted. And yes, Faverolles have single combs. It's probable that the Faverolles was the father if the hatching egg was blue, but not for sure. As I said, genes do funny things sometimes.