Chickens, hormones, and red skin

[punk-a-doodle]

Not really sure where to put this, but it seems to fall most closely into "genetics". I am very interested in naked necks as my first breed to raise. I kept reading warnings about them getting sunburned on the exposed neck. However, I found photos of naked necks housed entirely inside or outside where only some birds (usually the roos) had red necks while none of the other birds did. This led me to question if sunburns were really at work here. After all, do turkeys and vultures sunburn? Are exposed combs and wattles sunburned? Apparently I'm not the only one who has wondered this:
http://www.gavan.ca/nature/animals/birds/do-birds-get-sunburns/

Looking into it a bit further, I found instances where hens that had been attacked turned red. Initially owners thought it was sunburn where feathers had been pulled, but found the redness covered the entire body, even under feathers. The redness remained, even after being moved indoors. This lead me to question whether it was hormonal (ie. stress hormones in this case). Then, I found a BYC member's post that shows two chickens with the scaleless genes. They were both raised in an indoor lab, but the hen was light, and the roo was a vibrant red all over. The poster said this was due to testosterone (hormones again). A major critique of the scaleless birds (who, IMO would be so very nice for those processing birds) is that they'll sunburn. I'm starting to seriously question if the redness found in chickens is sunburn, if sunburn is even possible in birds, and if the sunburn warnings have just been parroted until they have become common knowledge...but perhaps incorrect!

I've also found people advertising for "red necked" strains of naked necks. If hormonal, it is something that certainly could be bred for.

Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

 

[gootziecat]

I'm not an expert by any means, but I think you are correct in your line of thinking. I know the Naked Necks carry a gene that causes the red skin coloring. The roos definitely are more red skinned than the hens. Look at the Showgirls, which are NN x Silkies. You will notice it's a problem with the breed getting/keeping dark skin with the roos. Their combs and wattles tend to turn red as they mature. I have a few NN and I've yet to see one that was sunburned.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Thanks for chiming in gootzie! I had nightmares of needing little scarves for multitudes of NNs, and it sure would be nice if they actually aren't in danger of getting roasted.

 

[Kev]

You guessed well- it is testosterone, however direct sunlight also has an effect(can darken/solidify the 'red' color on neck and exposed parts of the body)- they can and do have separation of 'red vs pink' between the exposed and covered areas on birds with direct sun exposure. Deep red color is also a good indicator of the bird being healthy and vigorous.

Many of the 'sunburn' comments do seem to be simple assumptions which happen to be off the mark. It is also up on the Henderson breed chart- I emailed to inform that was incorrect several years ago however last I checked it was still up there, sigh...

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Thanks for weighing in and expanding on that Kev! Chicken skin is so gosh darn cool.