Chicks from same parents look different from one another

[AinaWGSD]

So I am basically hearing that the Orpington as we know it today is likely not a pure breed since there have been so many breeds used to make the Orpington??

Eh, I don't know that I'd say that. The breed was originally created in the 1880's, well over 100 years ago and more than enough time to weed out any "undesirable" traits from the foundation breeds. My point is more that "purity" in chickens is less important than the end result and there's usually more than one way to achieve your breeding goals.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Posting pictures of the actual parents, and telling what breeds they are, would make it easier for me or anyone else to give helpful answers.

Certainly would but now 4 pages deep and nothing.
Maybe it's a secret recipe.
Idk but this one's all yours now. I'm out.
Good luck

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Chick is rose comb so they are wyandottes but whats the end goal?

 

[NatJ]

Chick is rose comb so they are wyandottes but whats the end goal?

Does it say Wyandotte anywhere in the thread? I haven't noticed it. I did see a statement that the chicks were a mix of breeds, which is a point strongly against them being Wyandottes.

As far as I'm concerned, they could be part Wyandotte, but they could just as easily be mixes that include any other rose comb breed: Hamburg, Sebright, Red Cap, d'Anvers, Rose Comb Leghorns, etc. Or mixed with any of the breeds that have cushion or strawberry combs: Chantecler, Orloff, Malay, etc.

 

[Snugglesandwigglespetcare]

Thank you to everyone who has responded. I really appreciate it. I'm sorry I wasn't more forthcoming about the breeds, but I was hoping to keep that under wrap at the moment. I apologize if that presented an issue for anyone, but I certainly have appreciated the time people have taken to explain genetics and possibilities to me.

 

[NatJ]

Thank you to everyone who has responded. I really appreciate it. I'm sorry I wasn't more forthcoming about the breeds, but I was hoping to keep that under wrap at the moment.

You could just share the two specific parents (breeds and photos) of the chicks you are asking about. You don't have to tell us what you are trying to achieve as an end goal, if you just want to know what happened with this particular generation.

But I assure you, no matter what cross you made, someone has done it before, probably quite a few times. So you don't really have to worry about anyone stealing your unique idea, because it's already out there somewhere, probably quite a few times.

I apologize if that presented an issue for anyone, but I certainly have appreciated the time people have taken to explain genetics and possibilities to me.

If you really don't want to share what breeds you're working with, then I'll just wish you luck on figuring things out for yourself (researching and trying things). That definitely does work for some people, and hopefully you can be one of them.

 

[Snugglesandwigglespetcare]

You could just share the two specific parents (breeds and photos) of the chicks you are asking about. You don't have to tell us what you are trying to achieve as an end goal, if you just want to know what happened with this particular generation.

But I assure you, no matter what cross you made, someone has done it before, probably quite a few times. So you don't really have to worry about anyone stealing your unique idea, because it's already out there somewhere, probably quite a few times.


If you really don't want to share what breeds you're working with, then I'll just wish you luck on figuring things out for yourself (researching and trying things). That definitely does work for some people, and hopefully you can be one of them.

Thank you. I was looking up other posts on the same question and I was able to glean more information. Ultimately I will need to hatch a few at minimum to see what I come up with...As far as others doing the same cross...sure...I just am not seeing it anywhere for sale and the individual bird/color isn't available/too expensive, so I decided to go a different route, which is why I have the chicks from a cross. Likely, the one I originally wanted comes from another cross, but I am wondering if this cross will be more to my liking.

Thank you again for your response and kindness. I really appreciate it more than you know.

 

[Snugglesandwigglespetcare]

Chick is rose comb so they are wyandottes but whats the end goal?

The end goal is to have blue chicks of the combined breeds and see if I like the color outcome, breed size, body type, personality, and hardiness. I'm looking for something specific that is pleasing to me, but I won't know if I like it until I see them grown. I hadn't considered a multi-colored possibility, or penciled blue, which would be even more interesting. I'm not concerned with comb type at this point. But it is fascinating to know that a rose comb gene and a pea comb gene throws a walnut comb or a carnation comb as I had previous chicks that ended up with combs none of the parents have...super interesting stuff!!

 

[Snugglesandwigglespetcare]

Does it say Wyandotte anywhere in the thread? I haven't noticed it. I did see a statement that the chicks were a mix of breeds, which is a point strongly against them being Wyandottes.

As far as I'm concerned, they could be part Wyandotte, but they could just as easily be mixes that include any other rose comb breed: Hamburg, Sebright, Red Cap, d'Anvers, Rose Comb Leghorns, etc. Or mixed with any of the breeds that have cushion or strawberry combs: Chantecler, Orloff, Malay, etc.

I have previously hatched chicks that are grown and a couple of the boys have a carnation comb, a walnut comb, and a rose comb. I do have a hen and rooster with a rose comb, but neither of them were the parent of the chicks I hatched previously, lol. It is amazing to me that it is possible for some of my straight combed boys to have a walnut combed parent in their gene pool or a rose comb. Two of my boys ended up with carnation combs and I only have one hen with a carnation comb and she lays olive eggs. No olive eggs in that hatch though!! Crazy!

Thank you very much for your detailed responses. I really appreciate it! I have your last one on my phone, but I can't find it here on my computer, so I am responding a bit to that message as well.

Good to know about cross breeding colors. I am really into blue right now and then I will also be focusing on my Lavender Orpingtons, once I get my girs to stop flying out of their dedicated space, lol.

I did think that a purebreed was a purebreed, but I can see now that many breeds are various crosses and that is totally fine, I am just trying to understand cross breeding colors. Like the Isabelle, for example, that is not a standard color, yet it has become so popular that it is recognized on the breeding calculator. I find that color fascinating and bet many people are trying to get it across the different breeds.

I will check out the other threads and see what I can learn. This forum has so much wealth of information, it's insane!!!!! ))

 

[NatJ]

I have previously hatched chicks that are grown and a couple of the boys have a carnation comb, a walnut comb, and a rose comb. I do have a hen and rooster with a rose comb, but neither of them were the parent of the chicks I hatched previously, lol. It is amazing to me that it is possible for some of my straight combed boys to have a walnut combed parent in their gene pool or a rose comb. Two of my boys ended up with carnation combs and I only have one hen with a carnation comb and she lays olive eggs. No olive eggs in that hatch though!! Crazy!

If you want a basic rundown of the rose and pea comb genetics, I see they are in this article:
https://poultry.extension.org/articles/poultry-anatomy/poultry-genetics-an-introduction/

I think that one neglects to mention that two pea comb genes will usually make the comb smaller than one pea comb gene, and will also shrink the wattles.

I don't see duplex comb in that article either (Buttercup or V comb). It is controlled by a different gene than rose or pea, but it's hard to find information about how it interacts with them.

Carnation comb is (as best I can tell) genetically a single comb with side sprigs (little bits that stick out at the back edge.) I haven't been able to find anything on the genes that cause side sprigs, except that they are genetically controlled rather than simply random.

There is a linkage between the pea comb gene and the blue egg gene. They are near each other on the chromosome, so they tend to be inherited together. They can be linked in any combination:
pea comb, blue egg (example: Ameraucana)
pea comb, not-blue egg (example: Brahma)
not-pea comb, blue egg (example: Cream Legbar)
not-pea comb, not-blue egg (example: Marans, Leghorn, Wyandotte, Polish, all other breeds that lay brown or white eggs and have a single, rose, or duplex comb)

Because of the linkage, pea comb or lack of it can sometimes be used to track the blue egg gene in breeding programs.