Anyone have pictures of baby Turkens?

[rebecca10782]

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That first picture is hilarious!

They are too cute!

 

[Kev]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

Funny, that's what most people think! But the breeder I got her from said they are very resilient in the cold weather and resistant to a lot of common diseases, like Cocci. When they're cold, they scrunch their necks down, and you can't tell them from a normal chicken.

Yes but.. but Alaska? Where igloo coops are the norm...

kimbpara- Midnight is pure for the naked neck gene & Sunshine is not pure for it.

For some genes, there is a visible difference between an animal or plant having one or two copies of a gene, this is called 'dose effect'. Naked neck has a dose effect.

Birds with one copy of the gene have a much bigger bowtie with feathers that cover most of the lower neck and birds with two have a smaller bowtie.

The difference can be seen on day olds from my pictures- all chicks are pure except for the dark blue one.. his bowtie patch is so large it covers the whole lower front neck, compare this to being able to see naked lower necks on the other chicks.

Rebecca It's that head cock, wasn't it?

 

[rebecca10782]

LOL I don't know, it's just funny. I think it is the look on his/her face, so angry

 

[Buff Hooligans]

The group pics were hysterical. It's like they're looking at each other going "hey, what the heck??? aren't we supposed to have feathers there???"

 

[Mrs MIA]

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Yes but.. but Alaska? Where igloo coops are the norm...

You are just teasing, right? You do know that we don't live in igloos, have running water (in most areas), working bathrooms, high speed internet, and the mail is delivered in trucks, not by sled-dogs... right?

I don't think my coop(s) qualify as an igloo... not by a long shot! LOL!

 

[rebecca10782]

LOL That's true. There probably all thinking "Man, these guys are really funny looking!"

 

[hatchaholic]

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Kev - Thanks for explaining that. So, if I wanted to breed, I'd be better off breeding Midnight and not Sunshine?

 

[Kev]

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LOL! That's a very good "LOLchicks" caption for that pic!

Here's another one, I thought this one looked like they were doing the Charlie's Angels group pose:

 

[Buff Hooligans]

[feather toss] "FREEZE SUCKER!"

 

[Kev]

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No problem.

It is up to you. Both are beautiful birds..

Birds not pure for the naked neck are extremely common, including those direct from hatcheries. Every time I've seen a batch there always were 50% with a very large bowtie patch. I'm not sure why this is.. other than maybe not really caring about purity or not knowing the difference is easily observed or what. A few owners/breeders have mentioned preferring the 'large bowties' so they could tolerate their cold winters better.

You still could breed Sunshine with a naked necked rooster and get chicks pure for the gene pretty easily. In fact all of the chicks in my current pictures were out of a rooster with a great big bow tie bred with two 'pure' hens, I got lucky with that clutch, with all except one turning out with small bowties. The previous clutch from the same birds did produce mostly large bowties though.

That's to be expected.. for example, Sunshine bred to a rooster with either no or small bowtie will throw chicks that are 1/2 small 1/2 large bowties.. Just keep the smalls and you're set for a pure breeding line. Midnight will throw 100% small bowties, of course.

Also, naked neck is dominant. Which means if you cross them with a rooster that isn't naked necked, there will be naked necked chicks. Let's say for this example: RIR x Sunshine= 1/2 naked neckeds, 1/2 not naked neckeds. RIR x Midnight= 100% naked neckeds. The only thing is, all naked neckeds from this cross will have large bowties.

Lastly, while Sunshine isn't pure for the naked neck gene, she has very clean yellow legs. The (show)standard calls for yellow legs.. it is very common for hatchery stock to have green or slate legs.. so she is a real valuable in the correct leg color department..

Of course if not breeding for show, then breed them however you wish.