Ok, here is the story. My 12 year old rooster, Mr. Mom, died on Mother's Day. One day later, my Brahma hen (his daughter) goes broody on the nest.
I KNEW that Mr. Mom had not bred the hens...he was hurting from arthritis. So..I left the eggs that were under her there until I could gather some fertile ones from another pen. I gathered them and candled the eggs "just in case" from under the hen.
Lo and behold...there's something in one of them. I KNOW I did not get the fertiles mixed up. The only hens that lay these size eggs are the Silver-Laced Cochins, who were in with Mr. Mom for 2-3 months before he died.
The chick has just hatched from this egg. It is a single comb (which was somewhat expected...Mr. Mom was heterozygous for the pea comb.)
The ODD thing is that the chick is also clean-legged. Mr. Mom was heterozygous for the feather-legged gene as well (when bred with a clean-legged hen).
Is it possible for a hatchery hen to be heterozygous for the feather-legged gene?
This chick looks EXACTLY like a cochin. Same coloring, etc. The only difference is that there is no leg feathering.
I KNEW that Mr. Mom had not bred the hens...he was hurting from arthritis. So..I left the eggs that were under her there until I could gather some fertile ones from another pen. I gathered them and candled the eggs "just in case" from under the hen.
Lo and behold...there's something in one of them. I KNOW I did not get the fertiles mixed up. The only hens that lay these size eggs are the Silver-Laced Cochins, who were in with Mr. Mom for 2-3 months before he died.
The chick has just hatched from this egg. It is a single comb (which was somewhat expected...Mr. Mom was heterozygous for the pea comb.)
The ODD thing is that the chick is also clean-legged. Mr. Mom was heterozygous for the feather-legged gene as well (when bred with a clean-legged hen).
Is it possible for a hatchery hen to be heterozygous for the feather-legged gene?
This chick looks EXACTLY like a cochin. Same coloring, etc. The only difference is that there is no leg feathering.
