Chicken Breed Focus - Sebright

[Alex1010]

Awesome!  What general area of NC?  I have a sister that travels back and forth between WV & SC, passes right through NC.

in Greensboro

 

[Kusanar]

Can't help with the eggs. We went to a farm to buy some fertile marans eggs for DDs experiment & they happened to have Sebrights, Silkies, & Old English breeding pens. It was just dumb luck. Of course, DD thought those tiny chickens were adorable, so we ended up getting quite an assortment of hatching eggs.

However, we did discover that the tiny bantam eggs were more difficult to incubate using our traditional incubator, but our broody did very well with the ones given to her. The eggs were from the same source & started at the same time, so the incubation method was the only variable. We normally get 85-95% hatch rate from our incubator, so we were shocked to get only 70% hatch.

I've read that seabrights are harder to hatch than normal chickens due to some lethal gene in the hen feathering.

 

[WVduckchick]

in Greensboro

Pretty sure she goes close enough to Greensboro that I could have her swing by and get eggs from you sometime! Keep in touch!

 

[Alex1010]

Pretty sure she goes close enough to Greensboro that I could have her swing by and get eggs from you sometime!  Keep in touch!

Yeah definitely let me know when she's down here

 

[WVduckchick]

Yeah definitely let me know when she's down here

Sent you a PM...

 

[GitaBooks]

I've read that seabrights are harder to hatch than normal chickens due to some lethal gene in the hen feathering.

Don't worry, I don't think sebrights are linked with lethal genes (thank goodness). The hen feathering is said, by some, to be linked with lower fertility in males, but I have not found this to be true. Some of my best breeding roosters are sebrights and they are full of themselves and most of the bantam chicks hatched are from them and not my other bantam breed roosters.

The hen feathering is caused by a dominant gene and only works in males because it is connected with the hormones of the male chicken, so young roosters and old roosters (with less hormones) may actually show male feathering. To my knowledge it is not linked with any health problems.

I have read, however, that sebrights bred to be small for showing and the like are more delicate and difficult to ship. In which case, certain strains may have weaker chicks that have trouble hatching.

 

[Kusanar]

Quote:
Oh, ok, I must have mis-remembered, thanks for clearing that up. I know in other animals there are certain things that carry a lethal recessive gene that is only an issue if both parents carry it. Overo Paint horses are one, breeding 2 overos together is always risky unless they have been genetic tested to not have the lethal gene, otherwise you get all sorts of issues with the foal, some dying before birth, some living up to a week...

 

[WVduckchick]

Oh, ok, I must have mis-remembered, thanks for clearing that up. I know in other animals there are certain things that carry a lethal recessive gene that is only an issue if both parents carry it. Overo Paint horses are one, breeding 2 overos together is always risky unless they have been genetic tested to not have the lethal gene, otherwise you get all sorts of issues with the foal, some dying before birth, some living up to a week...

Japanese bantams are another, creeper gene, short legs. Its lethal in certain combinations.

Also cresting in ducks can be lethal if 2 crested ducks are mated.

 

[Alex1010]

Sent you a PM...

I responded

 

[GitaBooks]

Oh, ok, I must have mis-remembered, thanks for clearing that up. I know in other animals there are certain things that carry a lethal recessive gene that is only an issue if both parents carry it. Overo Paint horses are one, breeding 2 overos together is always risky unless they have been genetic tested to not have the lethal gene, otherwise you get all sorts of issues with the foal, some dying before birth, some living up to a week...

Yeah, I've been studying lethal genes (a lot) lately so I know what you're talking about. As mentioned, the creeper gene in short-legged chickens is one, as are tufts in chickens. There are also health problems associated with Lavender Orpingtons, Frizzled chickens, and others. Crested chickens can be more prone to head injuries but to my knowledge it is not lethal like in Zebra Finches, Canaries or ducks. It isn't lethal in geese either.

Lethal genes are commonly linked to color and shape in animals. There aren't that many in birds, surprisingly, but there are a lot of them in mammals, fish, and some in reptiles. Some "lethal" genes aren't actually deadly such as deafness in double merle dogs, double harlequin dogs, or white boxes. However, some forms of white mice, gerbils, guinea pigs, syrian hamsters, dwarf hamsters and rats are linked with lethal genes.

Sorry, don't mean to ramble, I just love studying animal genetics.