Chicken "mutt" club!!!

[babyfoot]

see, Hahhaah, no breed talk here, just colours, I am the same with cars "what make of car was it" says Hubby. "Blue" says I

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote: Oh boy, that takes me back to my school days doing biology and the genetic dominance of blue green and brown eyes
My white hen has had eggs of hers hatch before and the chicks both male and female have never been white, yet I have one chick now that is white, the two roosters are ginger and dark brown respectively. Which would be the male donor in this chick do you think?

Chicken genetics are WORSE!

Ok, are any of the males you are using now children from that White hen? Because if they are - then they inherited a copy of RECESSIVE White - which is what your White hen carries - not DOMINANT White that shows with one copy. If she was Dominant White all your chicks would have been white immediately - with possible leakage - but White. One copy of Recessive white does not show - so it hides under everything. Two copies - and it wipes out ALL colors - leaving ONLY White. Your hen has two copies (so she is White), she gave one copy to each chick she had. Cross back any chick - or any two of her children and you have a chance of getting two Recessive White genes together again and getting an all White chick. Also - you now have MORE chicks hiding Recessive White.... I told you it was worse - and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

P.S. - I think chicken color genetics are fascinating, and color genetics are not breed dependent - Mutts will follow the rules too. Too bad all the rules aren't defined yet...

 

[babyfoot]

Chicken genetics are WORSE!

Ok, are any of the males you are using now children from that White hen? Because if they are - then they inherited a copy of RECESSIVE White - which is what your White hen carries - not DOMINANT White that shows with one copy. If she was Dominant White all your chicks would have been white immediately - with possible leakage - but White. One copy of Recessive white does not show - so it hides under everything. Two copies - and it wipes out ALL colors - leaving ONLY White. Your hen has two copies (so she is White), she gave one copy to each chick she had. Cross back any chick - or any two of her children and you have a chance of getting two Recessive White genes together again and getting an all White chick. Also - you now have MORE chicks hiding Recessive White.... I told you it was worse - and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

P.S. - I think chicken color genetics are fascinating, and color genetics are not breed dependent - Mutts will follow the rules too. Too bad all the rules aren't defined yet...

Wow, almost too much to take in this early in morning. We inherited the chickens three years ago when we bought our property. As far as we know the previous owner picked up a mish mash of chickens from all over, including three ex cage rescues. Our ginger rooster is the son of the previous ginger rooster so it's possible that he was a mix of his dad and the white hen hence there would be the recessive copy hen and the recessive one copy rooster making another ???? copy hen??? (if it is a hen, it's still only three weeks old so hard to tell) Is there a difference in genetic colouring with hens versus roosters?

Am I getting it??? I didn't realise that white in an animal was a recessive colour, but I suppose it makes sense if you think about it in human biology and in physics terms too.

 

[babyfoot]

OMG it's incestual almost. Hahahhaa

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote:

Chicken genetics are WORSE!

Ok, are any of the males you are using now children from that White hen? Because if they are - then they inherited a copy of RECESSIVE White - which is what your White hen carries - not DOMINANT White that shows with one copy. If she was Dominant White all your chicks would have been white immediately - with possible leakage - but White. One copy of Recessive white does not show - so it hides under everything. Two copies - and it wipes out ALL colors - leaving ONLY White. Your hen has two copies (so she is White), she gave one copy to each chick she had. Cross back any chick - or any two of her children and you have a chance of getting two Recessive White genes together again and getting an all White chick. Also - you now have MORE chicks hiding Recessive White.... I told you it was worse - and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

P.S. - I think chicken color genetics are fascinating, and color genetics are not breed dependent - Mutts will follow the rules too. Too bad all the rules aren't defined yet...

Wow, almost too much to take in this early in morning. We inherited the chickens three years ago when we bought our property. As far as we know the previous owner picked up a mish mash of chickens from all over, including three ex cage rescues. Our ginger rooster is the son of the previous ginger rooster so it's possible that he was a mix of his dad and the white hen hence there would be the recessive copy hen and the recessive one copy rooster making another ???? copy hen??? (if it is a hen, it's still only three weeks old so hard to tell) Is there a difference in genetic colouring with hens versus roosters?

Am I getting it??? I didn't realize that white in an animal was a recessive colour, but I suppose it makes sense if you think about it in human biology and in physics terms too.

Ah yes, just noticed you are still waking up, I have been up for hours and hours and am thinking about what's for dinner now...

The White bird has two copies of recessive white. It is not an indicator of sex however, you will have to play "wait-and-see".

You ARE getting it - and there ARE some genes that have different genetics depending on the sex of the bird - its how we do auto sexing breeds. Gold/Silver is sex-linked, as is the Barring and Chocolate genes. All birds have Gold or Silver, but the Female only gets/gives ONE copy while the male gets two. So She can only be Gold - or Silver, while He can be Gold, Silver or Golden (one copy of gold/one copy of silver). All color genes are paired so they can be split between one dominant and one recessive gene... Lots-O-Fun, Huh? Go have another cup of coffee...

More fun information on chickens: The FEMALE determines the sex of the young, not the male.

Read AFTER THE COFFEE: Crash course on chicken feather colors: There are 5 BASE colors that say where the red/black is placed on the bird's body (and they can be split multiple ways with different ones being dominant over other ones) All birds have one of these "Bases". Then there are the Gold/Silver genes - all birds have one or the other. The other genes are mutations which can apply to only certain areas, only certain colors, or both. The purpose of several of these genes seems to be to strip the color off the feathers - whether in bands (barring, lacing or penciling) or completely (Dominant White, two copies of Recessive White, two copies of Lavender (incompletely) and two copies of Blue (incompletely)). Each gene has its opposite gene, all recessives have a dominant, sometimes more than one on the same allele. There are 17 of those in the simple form and all can be split except the sex linked on the females (they only have one). Now, take all those, mix them together and see what you get. So far somebody has charted most of the combinations and possible changes that one gene can have on the other - but not all are charted or even known. Some are stated simply when you first learn about them (i.e. Recessive White does not show unless there are two copies), but with further study you can see that they are not that simple in reality (it DOES show in certain mixtures and can be used to lighten gold on the necks in combination with other genes). Add to that genes that modify the skin, modify where feathers are grown - or not grown (legs, feet, where on the feet, crests, beards, naked neck, tufts..) how feathers are grown (silkied or frizzled), if boy feathers are NOT different from girl feather patterns (henny feathered), different types of combs and their combinations, short legs, 5 or more toes, different color for just the legs, color layers on the legs, egg colors (at least 8 for brown, 1 for blue, but they are different Alie's so you can have doubled of all of them).. oh boy - there is a lot going on in those small packages...

OMG it's incestual almost. Hahahhaa

Fortunately in chickens Parent/Siblings crossings are free from the major health problems of incest, and neither party knows they are related in the slightest. Chickens ain't that smart - their memories can be clocked in probably a week, anything past a week old is mostly forgotten.. However, full sibling crossings can have some doubling up of bad genes and that can cause health problems in future generations.

 

[babyfoot]

Thanks for all that info.

My original rooster I THOUGHT was a cream legbar cross of some kind. he was a big fella, the sibling of his is slightly smaller and less auburn with more grey. The other young rooster was crossed with what I think is a Rhode Island but she has feathered feet and a grey fluffy rump under her tail feathers.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Thanks for all that info.

My original rooster I THOUGHT was a cream legbar cross of some kind. he was a big fella, the sibling of his is slightly smaller and less auburn with more grey. The other young rooster was crossed with what I think is a Rhode Island but she has feathered feet and a grey fluffy rump under her tail feathers.

Very pretty boys - and did the last one leave you a present on that beautiful floor?

Your first boy I would agree - some kind of barring going on there. The second boy has similarities to Blue Laced Red. His chest is beautiful with that lacing. The last boy is a diluted version of the first - and yes, he could be the son of the White hen... Because she can carry Blue (that gray) too....

 

[babyfoot]

No, they never poop in the house for some reason. Nor scratch the floor, even when they are dining

The 'last boy' and the first in the previous post are one and the same. This is the baby pics of the one we have now and the original is in the background. ( he had a MUCH broader chest and more distinct barring on it too) I'm afraid they had a bit of a disagreement and the young fella won. My current two roosters appear to be getting on extremely well. I'm thinking that the last time it was because he (the old fella was approx 5yrs old) was so used to having his girls all to himself he disliked the youngster trying it on with HIS ladies

 

[ChickNmamma]

No, they never poop in the house for some reason. Nor scratch the floor, even when they are dining

The 'last boy' and the first in the previous post are one and the same. This is the baby pics of the one we have now and the original is in the background. ( he had a MUCH broader chest and more distinct barring on it too) I'm afraid they had a bit of a disagreement and the young fell won. My current two roosters appear to be getting on extremely well. I'm thinking that the last time it was because he (the old fella was approx 5yrs old) was so used to having his girls all to himself he disliked the youngster trying it on with HIS ladies

Such well behaved chickens! Even washing your dishes for you!

Ah, the last photograph was misleading with the glare from the sun. The last boy looks to have blue in his tail - the first boy is much darker in coloration.

Yes, the youngun will challenge the established rooster and sometimes win - and the older one really doesn't like that. The dad in the picture behind the son doesn't appear darker than the son - so I wonder what is really under that White hen...

Thanks for sharing this - its time to go to sleep for me, so good night.

 

[aussieposse]

Very unusual chicken-I like it