Color experiment

[oldmossinger]

I was hoping some of the geneticists (or someone who has done it) out there might have an idea. I have a tom who is a black x narri and 2 hens that are Bourbon Reds. (plus the BR tom but he is definitely second fiddle in the order). Come spring, I was wondering what color pattern(s) I may end up with? Reddish birds with narri wing patterns? darker birds with white wings? or just a mottled mess to call my own? I have peeked at Porter's sight, but found myself at a bit of a loss to figure it all out when I threw the black into the mix. It's not critical, just curiosity until spring gets here. Thanks.

 

[KrisH]

See if this link helps. It is Porters heritage turkeys feather genetics page.
http://www.porterturkeys.com/feathercolorgenetics.htm

also check out each turkey page for more info.

I have also been searching for turkey info and have not found much in the way of books or online resources either. the turkey forum is helping, but sooo many unanswered questions.


Robert

 

[Lagerdogger]

You have lots of possibilities.

Since your tom is Black X Narragansett, it has a Black based gene and a bronze based gene. Each offspring will get one or the other from this tom. Additionally, your tom has one Narragansett gene and one not Narragansett gene, and each offspring will get one or the other. Since these will be passed on independently of each other, there are four possible contributions of genes form the tom

Black + not Narri BNg
Black + narri Bng
Bronze plus not Narri bNg
Bronze + Narri bng

The bourbon reds are all the same, bronze with two red genes. This means that all of the offspring will get a bronze base + Not Narri one red gene. bNgr

So, what do you end up with?

BbNgNgRr= Rusty Black. You can find several pictures is you search this site for rusty black.
BbNgngRr = rusty black toms. SInce the Narragansett gene is sex linked, hens wlil try to express the Narragansett gene. But I think the black will overwhelm it and you will still get rusty blacks. Not sure about that.
bbNgNgRr = red bronze, one of my favorites.
bbNgngRr = red bronze toms. Hens that get the Not Narri gene, bbNg-Rr will be red bronze, while hens that get the Narragansett gene, bbng-Rr, will be golden Narragansett.

 

[oldmossinger]

Sweet, a rainbow!! Thanks for the info. Now the hard part is waiting until spring

 

[Henk69]

Black plus Narragansett would be white tipped black.

 

[oldmossinger]

Surprisingly,going by the above, the tom is black with faint white barring on his wings. No white on the rest of him. As a poult he had the black legs like the blacks. I know his father was black and there was only a narri hen involved. perhaps the original Black tom was not purely Black? I can post pics of my tom if requested. Obviously, IF Crispy isn't a "pure" Black, that changes the outcomes.

They are all fun, no matter what color they are.