Appearance of Biel X RIR as chicks?

[LaurenRitz]

A maybe odd genetics question. We recently hatched 4 chicks. Father is a Bielefelder, mothers could have been Jersey Giant, RIR, or Black Australorp. I believe the survivors were 2 RIR, 1 BA, and 1 JG. I know for a fact that there was only one JG, as the other JG failed to develop. The other BA egg never pipped. So by process of elimination, we should have had 2 Biel x RIR chicks.

Previously we hatched 3 chicks that were Jersey Giant x RIR. I expected that all of them would be black as chicks, and they were.

On the second group I would have expected a variety of appearances, but all are black with a white belly and a white spot on top of the head.

What coloring should a Biel x RIR chick have? I should think somewhere between the appearance of their parents as chicks, but that does not appear to be the case.

And while it is always possible that I mis-identified the eggs, I was hoping for a chick from our now deceased RIR.

 

[NatJ]

A maybe odd genetics question. We recently hatched 4 chicks. Father is a Bielefelder, mothers could have been Jersey Giant, RIR, or Black Australorp. I believe the survivors were 2 RIR, 1 BA, and 1 JG. I know for a fact that there was only one JG, as the other JG failed to develop. The other BA egg never pipped. So by process of elimination, we should have had 2 Biel x RIR chicks.

Previously we hatched 3 chicks that were Jersey Giant x RIR. I expected that all of them would be black as chicks, and they were.

On the second group I would have expected a variety of appearances, but all are black with a white belly and a white spot on top of the head.

What coloring should a Biel x RIR chick have? I should think somewhere between the appearance of their parents as chicks, but that does not appear to be the case.

And while it is always possible that I mis-identified the eggs, I was hoping for a chick from our now deceased RIR.

It sounds like all your chicks came from the black hens, and none from the Rhode Island Red mother.

Chicks from Bielefelder x RIR should be mostly red or brown, probably with some kind of patterning or striping rather than a solid color.

Bielefelder rooster with either kind of black hen should produce black chicks with a light spot on the top of each head (which is what you got.) The black back & white belly are normal for chicks of black breeds, and the spot on the head is caused by the barring gene (inherited from the Bielefelder father in this case.)

 

[Amer]

Chicks from biel x RIR would be black tailed red with barring.

 

[NatJ]

Chicks from biel x RIR would be black tailed red with barring.

Chicks from Bielefelder x RIR should be mostly red or brown, probably with some kind of patterning or striping rather than a solid color.

For clarification: I was trying to describe what color they would be at hatch. @Amer told how they should look as adults.

 

[LaurenRitz]

For clarification: I was trying to describe what color they would be at hatch. @Amer told how they should look as adults.

I got that, thank you.