American game coloration

[Vcomb]

Tim, photographs of dam to some of chicks above. Multiple shots taken to show marking on various types of feathers and overall pattern on body. Later, I will upload pictures of hens that develope from the "redquill" color pattern shown above. My concern is you are going to say that is not redquill but rather brown red (gamefowl term only one I am comfortable with).

I believe your hen is the het. e+ version of this hen I had which was wheaton based:



That's her brother next to her. I believe they were out of my redquill stock and were throwbacks BUT I cannot prove it as these eggs were laid and hatched after I removed the hen from the broodpen and let her run the yard. the whole time she ran the yard she kept close to the redquill cock she had been with in the broodpen, she just refused to set in the broodpen so I got frustrated and turned her loose.

 

[centrarchid]

I believe your hen is the het. e+ version of this hen I had which was wheaton based:



That's her brother next to her. I believe they were out of my redquill stock and were throwbacks BUT I cannot prove it as these eggs were laid and hatched after I removed the hen from the broodpen and let her run the yard. the whole time she ran the yard she kept close to the redquill cock she had been with in the broodpen, she just refused to set in the broodpen so I got frustrated and turned her loose.

That is what the lighter colored version female looks like as an adult! Male distinguishable becuase breast more or less totally brown and duckwing is absent.

 

[centrarchid]

The dam could be carrying the pattern gene. She has a mixture of autosomal barring and single lacing in her feathers. Ya that hen is not red quill for sure. Does she have black pigment in her non feathered parts on her head? Pigmented comb, ear lobes and wattles are associated with the birchen allele not the brown allele. Also her beak does not look horn in color. She appears to have a darker beak color which is also associated with birchen. She could be a dark brown phenotype but also could be a birchen/wheaten heterozygote. Your birds do not conform to the normal phenotypes associated with homozygous birds. Tim

Tim,

This is starting to make sense.

Based on what you said, Vcomb's info and the colormorphs of the chicks, I agree dam of chicks is a heterozygote as is the sire. I am pretty sure light colored females will look very similar to Vcomb's light colored female (excepting type and leg color which is always green) as such were pretty common in our pure birds (not outcrossed with other games).

We discussed autosomal barring before, so you think the autosomal barring when interacting with either dark brown or extended black could generate true redquill as shown with redquill looking chick?

We did have true redquill colored (not breed) that where a result of the crossing but I do not have pictures of them.

 

[centrarchid]

I have been looking for images of wheaton chicks. Those I have found lack dorsal stripe. Could another mutation / allele give the lighter base coloration of wheaton but still operate otherwise like with autosomal barring?

 

[Vcomb]

I have been looking for images of wheaton chicks. Those I have found lack dorsal stripe. Could another mutation / allele give the lighter base coloration of wheaton but still operate otherwise like with autosomal barring?

Pure wheaton to my knowledge have no dorsal stripe. I've wondered if it is a sign that they are split to duckwing, but if that's the case I should've hatched out some with proper duckwing markings by now from that line. My morgans will usually come out solid yellow but some will have a single dark stripe down the head and sometimes down the back.

 

[Poultry Friend]

Any new pics of those chicks and how they look growing up?

This is a really interesting thread! I would love to see some images of the other colors as well. I am trying to figure out what my hens are. I really need to get a camera! LOL

 

[centrarchid]

Any new pics of those chicks and how they look growing up?

This is a really interesting thread! I would love to see some images of the other colors as well. I am trying to figure out what my hens are. I really need to get a camera! LOL

Sadly no. Having to do reboot since lost almost entire brood to cocci. Broods used recently from full-sibling pairings that produces highest frequency of desired color pattern. Normally breeding season over back in June but this and last round of matings pushed to get another try. Brood so far contains 7 eggs and hen (actually a pullet with all the baggage) is roughly day 4 into 21 day incubation period. When chicks hatched they will not be allowed to come into contact with any other broods until a good 4 weeks old and the coccidiostats will be used bigtime. This problem with late hatch date broods coming from pullets that have not matured enough to produce highest quality hatching eggs. Having chicks sired by full brother does not help and that mating would not normally be pursued for that reason. Should get between 1 and 2 chicks with desired coloration and they should show adult appearance by Christmas. Next year I can schedule multiple pairings of individuals that are not full siblings to give the desired phenotype without violating good broodstock selection protocols.

 

[3dqarrr]

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[mcnheff]

VComb - I know it has been a couple years since you posted the picture of your redquill game hen, but she looks just like the game hen I have. She is 100% free range as I only have a small chicken tractor, but a wooded/tropical brush lot adjacent to my property.
I have some questions about collecting eggs from them. Every week I have to perform a stake out to find the eggs she's been laying that week. Once I find them, she makes a new nest in a totally different location. Can I 'train' her to lay in a nesting box I provide for her? Have you had any luck with that? A month ago, I couldn't find her nest for 2 weeks and she went broody. After another 2 weeks, I finally caught her going back after her daily water break from sitting and got 12 eggs from her nest. I don't want that to happen again. There is no rooster to make fertile eggs, so those 12 just went rotten.
We are attached to Henny Penny now and want to do what's best for her. I have a buff orpington and speckled sussex that jump on her back and peck unmercifully at her neck and body. She completely submits to them, but sometimes cries out. My cochin banties tho - she dominates and I worry will seriously hurt them. I am seriously considering building a pen just for her, so I can get her eggs without going on a weekly egg-hunting trip through the Florida brush.
Thanks for any and all advice.
M.C.

 

[mcnheff]

VComb - I know it has been a couple years since you posted the picture of your redquill game hen, but she looks just like the game hen I have. She is 100% free range as I only have a small chicken tractor, but a wooded/tropical brush lot adjacent to my property. I have some questions about collecting eggs from them. Every week I have to perform a stake out to find the eggs she's been laying that week. Once I find them, she makes a new nest in a totally different location. Can I 'train' her to lay in a nesting box I provide for her? Have you had any luck with that? A month ago, I couldn't find her nest for 2 weeks and she went broody. After another 2 weeks, I finally caught her going back after her daily water break from sitting and got 12 eggs from her nest. I don't want that to happen again. There is no rooster to make fertile eggs, so those 12 just went rotten. We are attached to Henny Penny now and want to do what's best for her. I have a buff orpington and speckled sussex that jump on her back and peck unmercifully at her neck and body. She completely submits to them, but sometimes cries out. My cochin banties tho - she dominates and I worry will seriously hurt them. I am seriously considering building a pen just for her, so I can get her eggs without going on a weekly egg-hunting trip through the Florida brush. Thanks for any and all advice. M.C.

My Henny Penny...