Astrolop or mishap?

[Goingsolo 24]

I bought Black Astrolop day olds from a local breeder. I saw his breeding pairs and they were beautiful strong big birds. the hens had lovely red wattles and the roosters well developed combs and wattles. Unfortunately of the 6 I got I ended up with 2 hens. I kept them and 1 rooster. When they were ready I let them hatch out chicks and I incubated a few too. Sadly I seem to be getting "mixed" chicks in each batch that I incubate. The 3 Astrolop are in a separate area to my other hens, at least 50m apart, so no other rooster is getting in.
I attach photos of the breeding pair as well as photos of the surrogate Mom and some chicks. Eggs hatched in controlled environment, so it's also not a case of accidental mix up.

What could the explanation be? The breeder iIbought from had plenty of chicks and none were "mixed".

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Your birds appear to be Australorp. I only see one chick that is marked differently. It could just be chick color, or it could be expressing some recessive genes, especially if all your birds are related. I would wait and see how it feathers out.

 

[aart]

Are you sure someone didn't sneak in some other eggs into the incubator??

 

[Goingsolo 24]

Are you sure someone didn't sneak in some other eggs into the incubator??

Nope, not a chance. I mark them clearly. My other hens have "chipmunk" looking chicks. Until December was not 100% sure that I had a problem, as I had another Astrolop in the area too, but at that stage I thought it was a she. one day I suddenly saw the tell tale ''tail feathers", so I removed him. At the time I thought he was the culprit as he was not a pure breed. But I'm still getting mixed chicks. I have my last batch in the Incubator now so let's see what happens.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I like @oldhenlikesdogs's theory about the recessive genes...and from Australorp crosses I've had, it seems plausible. I had a couple of Australorp x Brown Leghorn crosses that hatched out looking exactly like full Australorp chicks. When they feathered out, the only way I could distinguish them from their mother (full Australorp) was that they weren't quite as "fluffy" looking as she was, having the Leghorn lean build influence, and a slightly longer tail. Otherwise, in coloring, they looked just like Australorps.

I'm not suggesting the breeder intentionally sold you mixed birds - if something else got into the bloodline somewhere along the way (even way back), you could just be seeing it expressed now. They're cuties!

 

[Goingsolo 24]

Thank you. After talking to the breeder, I also believe it was not intentional. I do thinkthink it could be "family" although he had multiple hens and roosters. So these could be brother/sister. If I was to bring in a new rooster (or hens) do you think I could eliminate this. I had hoped to sell chicks or birds at point if lay, but don't want to sell under false pretense.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Thank you. After talking to the breeder, I also believe it was not intentional. I do thinkthink it could be "family" although he had multiple hens and roosters. So these could be brother/sister. If I was to bring in a new rooster (or hens) do you think I could eliminate this. I had hoped to sell chicks or birds at point if lay, but don't want to sell under false pretense.

Bringing some additional diversity into the bloodline is a good practice, IMO, even if there weren't some "surprise" genes in the mix. Genetically, it should decrease the likelihood of the "surprise" genes from appearing, but genetics can sometimes be unpredictable. Personally, if I bought "full" Australorps and hatched a differently-marked chick, I'd find it an intriguing mystery.

I'm not a genetic expert, though, so will defer to those with more knowledge in that area.

 

[Goingsolo 24]

Bringing some additional diversity into the bloodline is a good practice, IMO, even if there weren't some "surprise" genes in the mix. Genetically, it should decrease the likelihood of the "surprise" genes from appearing, but genetics can sometimes be unpredictable. Personally, if I bought "full" Australorps and hatched a differently-marked chick, I'd find it an intriguing mystery.

I'm not a genetic expert, though, so will defer to those with more knowledge in that area.

I'll send updated photos next week. . If they lay eggs it's still works for me!

 

[PirateGirl]

Australorps do come in other colors besides black, so perhaps somewhere in the lineage blue or white is present. I don't know all of the genetics behind black plumage, but I believe more than one gene may be involved so it's not always straight forward. I hope someone else can explain better.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Australorps do come in other colors besides black, so perhaps somewhere in the lineage blue or white is present. I don't know all of the genetics behind black plumage, but I believe more than one gene may be involved so it's not always straight forward. I hope someone else can explain better.

You're right! They actually come in BBS...black/blue/splash. I only recently saw an example: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/australorp-black-blue-splash-post-pics-please.1127472/.