One thing I wanted to address here (and which I mention in the auction I listed on
eBay last night for eggs), are things you can expect to happen, from time to time, with Buckeye chicks you hatch from hatching eggs.
One of the things that exists in the Buckeye breed, in almost all lines that I know of, is the single comb gene. It hearkens back to Nettie Metcalf having used single combed birds to create the Buckeyes, 'way back when. So be aware you may get a single combed bird from hatching eggs. It's annoying, but it happens. I find it happens in about 1 out of 100 chicks I hatch (give or take, sometimes more, sometimes less.) I don't consider that terrible odds at all.
Also, folks should know that in one of the lines I am working with now, occasionally there will hatch a chick that will grow up to have some mottling in their coloring (black splotches.) I tell you all this in the interests of full disclosure should any of you buy birds from me. Such birds will not be show quality, naturally, but the original breeder who started the line says that they will throw the best colored offspring, so they are very valuable for breeding, and should be kept for future use.
I am not a genetics expert, and cannot say for sure why this happens. But I thought you all should know, since most lines of Buckeyes are pretty related, that these things happen, and not to be too upset when they do. It's just part and parcel of working with a heritage breed that has relatively low numbers.
Just FYI...
