Black To White Experiment

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

You keep finding more and more birds with this going on. Have you at all considered that there could actually be an environmental cause rather than a genetic one? How would all of these completely unrelated birds otherwise spontaneously start losing pigment all at around the same time? I would be seriously thinking about testing the soil and water if this was happening in my coop.

 

[MysteryChicken]

You keep finding more and more birds with this going on. Have you at all considered that there could actually be an environmental cause rather than a genetic one? How would all of these completely unrelated birds otherwise spontaneously start losing pigment all at around the same time? I would be seriously thinking about testing the soil and water if this was happening in my coop.

Doubt it's environmental, since this is the only case that's happened. Had chickens for along time out here since I was little, no real changes.

Breeding will rule out the Environmental theory.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I mean, things can change subtly. Water and soil can be contaminated even if it's not always something that you physically see happening. During my ecotoxicology course in college, we went to a seminar about a town I believe here in Indiana where one of the factories running nearby was contaminating a huge area with microscopic particles it was putting out through its smokestacks and the wind was spreading. This was years ago and I don't remember all the details, but they were testing trees in the area and could clearly see when the factory started up by how deep in the rings of the trees that contamination could be found. And of course water is contaminated all the time. Even if you're on a personal well, something could have seeped into it. I don't know, I would test those things just for my own peace of mind, personally, but my chickens drink from the same well that we draw into the house for drinking and bathing with.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I mean, things can change subtly. Water and soil can be contaminated even if it's not always something that you physically see happening. During my ecotoxicology course in college, we went to a seminar about a town I believe here in Indiana where one of the factories running nearby was contaminating a huge area with microscopic particles it was putting out through its smokestacks and the wind was spreading. This was years ago and I don't remember all the details, but they were testing trees in the area and could clearly see when the factory started up by how deep in the rings of the trees that contamination could be found. And of course water is contaminated all the time. Even if you're on a personal well, something could have seeped into it. I don't know, I would test those things just for my own peace of mind, personally, but my chickens drink from the same well that we draw into the house for drinking and bathing with.

We don't have factories near us.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Yes, but the wind can carry things very far, especially tiny particles. Just be safe, I guess, that's very scary to me. Things you're exposed to now, even if it's a tiny amount, can have a huge impact on your health through the rest of your life.

 

[MysteryChicken]

We're surrounded by people who have their own farms, poultry, cows, crops, etc..

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Runoff from farms, especially crop farms, can be a huge environmental contaminant as well, for the record.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Runoff from farms, especially crop farms, is a huge environmental contaminant as well, for the record.

Most of them are organic farms.
My neighbors is the only house that has property touching the edge of a field.

We touch a horse pasture.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

You don't have to have a property adjacent to a crop field or any sort of lawn that's sprayed with a pesticide or fertilizer in order for it to contaminate your soil or water. If that was the case, then we wouldn't be finding chemicals and fertilizers from farming all the way out in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the sort of thing I studied in college as an ecology major. Not a lot of people seem to understand how easily environmental contaminants can be spread, not just by water but on the wind and by movement of animals and people. Seriously, what other explanation do you have for completely unrelated birds losing pigment randomly in your flock? You can't seriously believe it's a genetic mutation that just happens to be occurring in totally unrelated birds all at the same time?

 

[MysteryChicken]

You don't have to have a property adjacent to a crop field or any sort of lawn that's sprayed with a pesticide or fertilizer in order for it to contaminate your soil or water. If that was the case, then we wouldn't be finding chemicals and fertilizers from farming all the way out in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the sort of thing I studied in college as an ecology major. Not a lot of people seem to understand how easily environmental contaminants can be spread, not just by water but on the wind and by movement of animals and people. Seriously, what other explanation do you have for completely unrelated birds losing pigment randomly in your flock? You can't seriously believe it's a genetic mutation that just happens to be occurring in totally unrelated birds all at the same time?

A flaw in color, such as Frosting(I believe is genetic related, since it could be passed down to offspring)could explain the Sebright, hen. A possibility.