- Jan 13, 2013
- 55
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Hi All,
I just have a couple of questions which I hope some of you can help me with. I allow my Roo to run with his harem on five acres. It is a flock of Non-standard color Ameraucana/ Easter Eggers. I save the bluest eggs on the side for hatching by my hens when they go broody. This year I have had a couple of new and interesting things happen with my current young rooster, it is his first season breeding. His father and mother both had very nicely bushy and developed muff/beard and so does he. He also has had a tail from two weeks old. But...
First, I am getting birds with absolutely no muff, beard or wattles. Completely clean. Their heads look similar to Dove heads. The girls have very feminine faces with expressive eyes. Definitely not Ameraucana breed standard but very pretty just for layers and good in the cold. I do have two hens which I believe these babies are from, and they do not have muff or beard but do have pea comb and small wattles (previous babies from these two hens with my original rooster always gave muff and beards). Are these dove headed daughters considered complete recessives? From reading the forum threads I thought muff and beard was a dominant gene? So I think his offspring should have them? What would make that not happen? And will these daughters genes allow muff and beard to come out with their offspring? Or will the offspring be even more "set" in no muff or beard?
Second, from this same young rooster I am also getting tailless and delayed tail offspring. So far fourteen of them. All different types of colors, so I believe from different hens. Some of the offspring are still without tail feathers at five months (they do have a tail nub though). Some started growing tail feathers at about three or four months (when the hormones started coming up) but the tail feathers are not positioned upwards from the horizontal like normal. They are positioned from the horizontal downwards. So far this goes for the cockerels too. The sickle feathers are growing in slowly but they seem to be short and curling downwards and under the butt instead of shooting upwards out of the butt. What kind of a gene is causing this? What is the best way to experiment with this?
Any help, comments, opinions or questions welcomed.
Thank you!
I just have a couple of questions which I hope some of you can help me with. I allow my Roo to run with his harem on five acres. It is a flock of Non-standard color Ameraucana/ Easter Eggers. I save the bluest eggs on the side for hatching by my hens when they go broody. This year I have had a couple of new and interesting things happen with my current young rooster, it is his first season breeding. His father and mother both had very nicely bushy and developed muff/beard and so does he. He also has had a tail from two weeks old. But...
First, I am getting birds with absolutely no muff, beard or wattles. Completely clean. Their heads look similar to Dove heads. The girls have very feminine faces with expressive eyes. Definitely not Ameraucana breed standard but very pretty just for layers and good in the cold. I do have two hens which I believe these babies are from, and they do not have muff or beard but do have pea comb and small wattles (previous babies from these two hens with my original rooster always gave muff and beards). Are these dove headed daughters considered complete recessives? From reading the forum threads I thought muff and beard was a dominant gene? So I think his offspring should have them? What would make that not happen? And will these daughters genes allow muff and beard to come out with their offspring? Or will the offspring be even more "set" in no muff or beard?
Second, from this same young rooster I am also getting tailless and delayed tail offspring. So far fourteen of them. All different types of colors, so I believe from different hens. Some of the offspring are still without tail feathers at five months (they do have a tail nub though). Some started growing tail feathers at about three or four months (when the hormones started coming up) but the tail feathers are not positioned upwards from the horizontal like normal. They are positioned from the horizontal downwards. So far this goes for the cockerels too. The sickle feathers are growing in slowly but they seem to be short and curling downwards and under the butt instead of shooting upwards out of the butt. What kind of a gene is causing this? What is the best way to experiment with this?
Any help, comments, opinions or questions welcomed.
Thank you!