Can I test my rooster?

[sekeyslaks]

Hello BYC!

I was wondering whether it is possible to test the color genetics of my rooster Leon to see what genetics he actually has?You see my rooster Leon is an EE and because of his mutt diversity I can't really plug him into the chicken calculator to see what I will get accurately!Here is a picture of him.

Now when I breed him to my production Red hen,his son when full grown looks like him but with an odd difference that I didn't expect from the hen's genes,he has a black breast and some green in the wings!so is there a way to test the genetics by breeding to certain colors or breeds of hens?

 

[rainbowrooster]

The chicken calculator wont work even if you knew the birds genetic makeup because it assumes the birds are "pure". There are too many genetic variations for the calculator to show an exact result when using mixed breeds. Also, the genetics of a production red probably have a few unknowns in it too.

 

[sekeyslaks]

The chicken calculator wont work even if you knew the birds genetic makeup because it assumes the birds are "pure". There are too many genetic variations for the calculator to show an exact result when using mixed breeds. Also, the genetics of a production red probably have a few unknowns in it too.

So is there no way to tell what my rooster's genes are?I didn't plan on using the calculator because of the complicated mutt genetics,that's why I am looking for an alternate way of finding out my rooster's genes,can I breed him to certain hens and expect a result that shows a clue as to his genetics?Or will I just have to guess?

 

[englishcockers]

There are some things you can tell just by looking. For example: he's pure for gold ground color. s+
and for any other recessives which are evident.
For dominant genes like the pea comb, a test breeding would tell you whether he is pure or heterozygous.
but you know he has at least one gene for the trait.

 

[englishcockers]

The calculator can be useful in planning test breedings to decide which genes you want to test. It can tell you what the results would be of certain combinations, and which breedings would reveal the underlying genotype. Playing around with it, you can find which combinations would produce what you see. It has it's limitations, but you can plug any sort of "impure" combination into the calculator and get a good idea of how it will behave. Do you want to know if he is pure for pea comb? breed him to a single comb hen. Do you want to know if he is pure for Co? Breed him to a wild type or partridge hen. E locus might be hard to pin down but it's doable. I'm not that informed on shank color, but I think he's pure for id+ and has at least 1 W+ gene.

 

[rainbowrooster]

Is there a specific gene you want to test for? Is it just to satisfy some curiosity in a fun way or is there a definitive goal in mind? Depending on what genes you want to test for might determine what breed to cross with.

It seems like you already did one test mating with the production red. Did you just hatch the one male chick? You could repeat that cross but hatch out more chicks to see what variation or uniformity you get.

 

[sekeyslaks]

There are some things you can tell just by looking. For example: he's pure for gold ground color. s+
and for any other recessives which are evident.
For dominant genes like the pea comb, a test breeding would tell you whether he is pure or heterozygous.
but you know he has at least one gene for the trait.

Well I know he has a dominant gene for the pea comb and the beards,because every single one of his chicks has had this trait.Everything else I am not sure.

 

[sekeyslaks]

The calculator can be useful in planning test breeding's to decide which genes you want to test. It can tell you what the results would be of certain combinations, and which breeding's would reveal the underlying genotype. Playing around with it, you can find which combinations would produce what you see. It has it's limitations, but you can plug any sort of "impure" combination into the calculator and get a good idea of how it will behave. Do you want to know if he is pure for pea comb? breed him to a single comb hen. Do you want to know if he is pure for Co? Breed him to a wild type or partridge hen. E locus might be hard to pin down but it's doable. I'm not that informed on shank color, but I think he's pure for id+ and has at least 1 W+ gene.

I am definitely a student when it comes to genetics,for weeks now I've been studying the calculator but I feel like I need more education on it which is why I opened this thread.So I can find out clues to my rooster's genetics from the experts on here and learn a little in the progress! I am interested to know some of the terms on here like "pure and impure" and heterozygous.I don't what these mean.

 

[sekeyslaks]

Is there a specific gene you want to test for? Is it just to satisfy some curiosity in a fun way or is there a definitive goal in mind? Depending on what genes you want to test for might determine what breed to cross with.

It seems like you already did one test mating with the production red. Did you just hatch the one male chick? You could repeat that cross but hatch out more chicks to see what variation or uniformity you get.

I hatched several of his chicks with that hen,but only 2 made it to adulthood because of predators!I hatched out a pullet also!She is a dull red color all over,her brother is far more colorful.Each of these 2 chicks were all red feathered as chicks,the cockerel changed his colors like a chameleon when he got older(his dad did the same thing).I don't have a specific goal in mind because I can't make a goal if I don't know what I have to work with,that's why I am curious as to what genes my rooster is hiding!

I don't have a specific gene I'm looking for,I'm just wanting to know what my rooster has,and what those genes do when they are crossed to certain breeds!

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Quote:
"Pure for" just means homozygous. If a bird shows a recessive trait, then they are "pure for it" because otherwise it wouldn't show. If they show a dominant trait, you have to know if they are heterozygous (split) with one dominant and one recessive (as with black split lavender birds) or if they homozygous, have a double dose of the dominant gene. You figure this out by test breeding (e.g. if you want to know if your black bird is split to lavender, you breed with a lavender. If you get all back chicks it's homozygous for black, if you get black and lavender chickens, it's heterozygous/split).