Are side sprigs hereditary?

[huckleberryfarm]

I think one of my chickens has a side sprig. She has a little tiny bump on the side of her comb. That's it, right? Is it hereditary? Does that count her out of breeding or is it something random? Thanks!

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
It would all depend on if you are breeding to the SOP or just breeding for egg color. If you are breeding for the SOP do not breed her. Don

 

[wclawrence]

Side sprigs are genetic. In fact, one could breed for them if they chose to do so. Don't breed the ones that have them if you don't want them.

 

[OlyChickenGuy]

My house mate recently checked out the American Poultry Association guide book from the library for me, and there was a diddy about side sprigs in there. They're genetic and they automatically disqualify a chicken for showing. I have a rooster who's my best buddy in the whole world, and he has a side sprig - it's how I told him apart from his sixteen siblings when he was a baby, actually. He was the biggest chick with a teeny bump on his comb. Here's a photo of him at about six months old with his brother - he's the one in back and you can see the sprig on his comb:

Hope that helps!

 

[huckleberryfarm]

Ugh. Not what I wanted to hear! But thanks for answering. Guess she's out which is a shame because her coloring is perfect.

 

[tandersphoenix]

Yes, I agree too. Comb genetics are passed very strong. I have noticed on my birds almost all of the time the combs will look a lot like their fathers. I used a Leghorn rooster once that had a space between his last spike and the blade on his comb. Every rooster out of him looked identical. Had to cull all of them.

 

[lildinkem]

I had a very high end Blue Splash cockerel, who I would have loved to use. He had 9 points and his comb split into 3 near the back end. One of the folks who I trusted said to use him. I still had my doubts. This was one of my mentor folks. Luckily I have several others who are closer to twice the age or more then that one person. Larry said, "Oh no, you don't want that! That will keep popping up time and time again." Larry then said "I use a sprigged cockerel years ago, and I culled ALL the offspring with sprigs (which was a few) and only used those without. Only to have the next generation to have ALL sprigged offspring.'
My favorite mentor, who routinely not just wins Best of Breed in Orps at shows, but wins shows, also said "I had once bought a sprigged cockerel to use, only to get another of near equal quality and never used that sprigged male". He gave me the impression in a round about way to NEVER use a sprigged male cause of the high number of culls. And once it genetically is in your line you may never totally get rid of it.
So, now it comes down to, are you selling or showing? IF either are a yes, I hate to say DO NOT USE A SPRIGGED MALE!
I got rid of the sprigged 9 point male.

 

[Bo Garrett]

Side sprigs are genetically resessive, for the individual to express the sprig it must have both copies, one from each parent. This is where side sprigs present the problem, they may hide recessively in offspring who do not phenotypically express the gene. If you have a bird with a side sprig he/she will pass this recessive gene to every offspring they produce even though they may not express it outwardly. My advice is to cull any and all side sprig birds. If you wish to determine if your other birds are side sprig carriers you can mate a side sprig bird to them and if any side sprig offspring are produced then it means the other bird is a carrier. This method of testing can be done with other recessive genes that require both copies to be expressed, it will not work for co-dominant genes.

Bo

 

[blackdotte]

Side sprigs are genetically resessive

Sorry this is totally incorrect.
Side sprigs are caused when two dominant genes are concurrently present.
If only one or the other is present you will not get side sprigs, but will be breeding carriers.
This is the reason why side sprigs can suddenly appears when two perfectly combed, & totally unrelated birds are mated together.
Test mating is a very difficult & complex process for side sprigs.
David​

 

[KenK]

I wish I could see what ya'll are talking about. I would hate to have defective chickens and not even know. I saw some coop tags at the Newnan, Ga show that said DQ Sidesprigs. Should have looked closer I guess.