BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[Kev]

Is there a good online primer for learning genetics you or anyone else can recommend?

I'm decent at genetics once I understand the basic genes and while I have rabbits down, I'd love to learn chickens.

http://kippenjungle.nl/basisEN.htm

excellent start on understanding the basics. It is easy once you get the hang of it but the tricky part is chickens have many genes that influence feather pattern versus mammals almost just having the Agouti for patterning on the hairs.


http://www.edelras.nl/chickengenetics/

This is more detailed but excellent for listing of the genes and also very nice charts on patternings and what exactly is the difference between a single lace and a pencilled.

 

[lpatelski]

Were any black or white legged birds used in their ancestry? I mention black as they can sorta hide their white skin due to their legs being covered up by black pigment.

White skin is dominant over yellow. It's not sex linked either.. as long as one parent of either sex is white skinned, there will be some white skinned offspring. I'm guessing she is white skinned with either or both barring and Id causing her legs to be white..

White skin is pretty easy to get rid of if desired- don't use any white or blue legs for breeding.

However I am open to possibility of something weird/unknown to me lurking in cx stock... all of the cockerels I picked up at the feed store last fall had clear bright yellow legs, however the one pullet had white legs.. can't remember if they turned yellow later or not.

btw nice birds!

@Kev I have 5 birds in my flock background. ! pure Dark Cornish: BamBam(roo), Marion(hen), Guinevere(hen) - CX Betty and Wilma. I believe Wilma is mom to Bob and Lavenia; they are so heavy breasted like her.
I have had a few green legs
I have some almost completely Black chicks


I have had cuckoo barred single colored


cuckoo multi colored: maybe pearl?


White lace red in three shades





I had one with a funky grey and rust color.

then you have seen the White, white with leaking red, white splash

 

[Kev]

@Kev I have 5 birds in my flock background. ! pure Dark Cornish: BamBam(roo), Marion(hen), Guinevere(hen) - CX Betty and Wilma. I believe Wilma is mom to Bob and Lavenia; they are so heavy breasted like her.
I have had a few green legs
I have some almost completely Black chicks

Thanks for the history- the cx is definitely the source of all the different things.

Green legs is the huge clue for Betty or Wilma not having Id- it's why there are grey legged birds in the previous post. Same thing for there having been black, non barred birds. See how the legs are dark on those black chicks.
Quote:
She is blue mottled, probably on a dark cornish color with a lot more black than usual.


Quote:
That's blue over a basic dark cornish color.

Blue and mottle are two of those genes sometimes used to help whiten white birds. Usually barring works good enough but there can be lines of white birds with practically everything that helps with whitening the feathers and clearing the legs. Barring is far the most common(was present in the cx I used), blue and mottle are also common but there are a lot of whites that don't have either one or both- blue was not present in the cx I used, too early to tell if mottle is present yet(on first generation right now) as it's a recessive gene.

Recessive white is another common one, so don;t be too surprised if a white pops out of two dark or WLR colored ones with cx blood in both parents.

The variations on red coloring is having differences in genes that help in deepening the red. Those genes are not desirable in white lines as they can make them brassy or make the white not so crispy plus give problems with buff color starting to show up. So the more buff colored birds are a result of the cx lacking those genes. Dark and WLR definitely have the necessary red intensifying genes- it;s what makes the darks, dark and WLR so red instead of buff laced,

I am not sure why some whites are clean or splashed or an off white with greyish cast.. got all three in my cx crosses with naked necks.






p.s. white legs is from a white skinned NN mother. All non whites are barred.

 

[NanaKat]

Here are my two Turkens that hatched from those eggs purchased last month from the 9 year old 4H boy. Both are now 5 weeks old. So far no idea on gender.
The white chick no


And the Buff/red chick. Have no idea on the second chick in the first photo...hatched red, black and blonde colored chicks.

 

[DesertChic]

Here are my two Turkens that hatched from those eggs purchased last month from the 9 year old 4H boy. Both are now 5 weeks old. So far no idea on gender.
The white chick no


And the Buff/red chick. Have no idea on the second chick in the first photo...hatched red, black and blonde colored chicks.

So cute! I think the white one is a pullet.

 

[lpatelski]

p.s. white legs is from a white skinned NN mother. All non whites are barred.

Both those girls are beautiful. It looks like your NN has stockings on, her legs are so white!

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

So cute! I think the white one is a pullet.

Very nice! I agree I think the white one is a pullet- and the red one I'm guessing is a cockerel.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Very nice chicks! I agree I think the white one is a pullet- and the red one I'm guessing is a cockerel.

oops sorry double post.

 

[lpatelski]

Okay @Kev have a chick to watch for a color I have not seen yet. It is the wet chick. It a little hard to see, and the color if off on the pic. The partridge stripe is blue. I will take another pic when it drys if I am still home.

 

[Kassaundra]

Have a big day ahead of me, freezer camp day at my house. I have to do it alone and have 10 boys to do. I have some fully feathered out of Nn pretty sure I'll skin those