I am trying to restore the red quill component of my American game flock through a variety of measures. One is to select using birds I already have. Two hens out of 17 birds (male and female) exhibit the red quill phenotype. Roughly half of roosters are brown breasted brown-red and balance are wild-type. In my flock, red quill colored chicks show up only as result of brown breasted brown-red roosters being bred to red quill hens. Brown breasted brown-reds as roosters easiest to tell from red quill roosters as chicks through end of second immature feather set. Chicks of former look like wild-type except overall down coloration lighter, dorsal stripes lighter and narrower. Second method will be through introduction of red quill birds from outside flocks, impart to enhance disease resistance. As I understand it, with help from VCOMB, a key component of the red quill phenotype is the butter cup gene. Based on my limited records, the buttercup gene is recessive which apears to be in agreement with VCOMB. Also based on limited records where brown breasted brown-reds are bred to wild-type (in my case red jungle hens), the brown breasted brown-red allele dominates phenotype. Is it likely some of my wild-type males and females (balance of flock) also carry buttercup gene but it is not evident unless bird also brown breasted brown-red? If they are carrying the buttercup allele, sometimes in homozygous form, then will it manifest in phenotype in manner I can detect?
