Color genetics thread.

[Wappoke]

thanks just what to find out what gene the parents carry that will show i few pullets like this one clearly they carry something else.

this bird is a mixture of a number of genes to produce the coloration

a picture of the pullet as a chick would be very helpful

 

[Chicken5555]

Both birds in your pictures are of mixed genetic back grounds and have genes that are effecting the primary plumage pattern.

The E locus and sex linked silver locus determine the primary plumage color of a chicken

All the other genes act upon the plumage color produced by the E locus alleles and the sexlinked silver locus alleles


old english game bantams

birchen is actually silver allele plus the birchen allele
brown red is gold allele plus the birchen allele


wild type E locus plus sex-linked gold = gold duckwing females have salmon colored breasts

wild type plus sex-linked silver = silver duckwing females have a salmon colored breast

gold duckwing + sex linked barring gene(s) = crele

gold duckwing + dark brown genes = ginger

gold duckwing + one dominant white gene = red pyle

gold duckwing + mahogony genes + mottling genes= spangling ( actually mottling)

as you can see the E locus is a basic primary color pattern and other genes act upon the basic pattern to produce other color patterns

Extended black E locus plus melanotic = a black color pattern

Extended black E locus plus melanotic+ sex linked barring = barred

Extended black E locus plus melanotic + two mottling genes = mottled

etc.

Just when I thought things were making sense........

LOL

Seriously though, can you explain to me (if it is even possible) how my hen ended up with such intense markings? I know she is wild type. Some feathers look like they have cream lacing while others have cream bars.

The parents (according to the person I got her from) are a blue Ameraucana Rooster and a Cuckoo Marans hen.



Is there a way to guess what color offspring I would get from a cross between this hen and a pure wheaten Ameraucana cockerel?

Another question.....
Correct me if I'm wrong.... extended black is dominant over wheaten, so a cross between splash hen + wheaten roo, would create zero wheaten, right? Because splash is extended black with two copies of the gene that dilutes black to blue? but the children would all carry the wheaten gene. None of the kids would be plash, but instead blue because they would all one copy of blue from the hen? But if the splash hens carries wheaten, then there could be a few wheaten offspring right?

 

[Chicken5555]

Oh, and why does one of my wild type hens have a black head? She started out with markings like a silver Ameraucana, then she had regular blueish wild type markings for the first two months. After about 2 months old her wild type markings faded. Now she pretty much looks light blue with a few faint wild type markings on her covert, saddle and neck feathers + a black head.

This is her at seven weeks, she has even fewer wild type markings now. and is nearly all blue.

 

[Wappoke]

Just when I thought things were making sense........

LOL

Seriously though, can you explain to me (if it is even possible) how my hen ended up with such intense markings? I know she is wild type. Some feathers look like they have cream lacing while others have cream bars.

The parents (according to the person I got her from) are a blue Ameraucana Rooster and a Cuckoo Marans hen.



Is there a way to guess what color offspring I would get from a cross between this hen and a pure wheaten Ameraucana cockerel?

Another question.....
Correct me if I'm wrong.... extended black is dominant over wheaten, so a cross between splash hen + wheaten roo, would create zero wheaten, right? Because splash is extended black with two copies of the gene that dilutes black to blue? but the children would all carry the wheaten gene. None of the kids would be plash, but instead blue because they would all one copy of blue from the hen? But if the splash hens carries wheaten, then there could be a few wheaten offspring right?

I do not believe she is the product of a blue and cuckoo crossing. She should be black or blue. She appears to carry the dark brown gene and the pattern gene (not purebred for the genes). These two genes are responsible for autosomal barring in chickens. Her tail feathers and primaries appear blue to me so she is also carrying blue. She is also carrying mahogany and autosomal red.

extended black is dominant over wheaten, correct

so a cross between splash hen + wheaten roo, would create zero wheaten, right? yes,

But if the splash hens carries wheaten, then there could be a few wheaten offspring right?


this cross should only produce blue, it could produce melanized blue wheaten offspring- or in other words a bird that is wheaten at the E locus but also carries genes that add black to the plumage, the bird would basicly be blue and not look like a normal wheaten phenotype.

 

[Wappoke]

Oh, and why does one of my wild type hens have a black head? She started out with markings like a silver Ameraucana, then she had regular blueish wild type markings for the first two months. After about 2 months old her wild type markings faded. Now she pretty much looks light blue with a few faint wild type markings on her covert, saddle and neck feathers + a black head.

This is her at seven weeks, she has even fewer wild type markings now. and is nearly all blue.

The black head is usually due to a gene called melanotic. The most common gene found in chickens that adds black to the head and neck of a female is melanotic but there is another less common gene called charcoal that has a similar phenotypic expression in chickens. This could be charcoal because charcoal is closely linked to the pea comb gene.

Now I have A question for you. Why do you say your birds are wild type?

 

[Chicken5555]

Now I have A question for you. Why do you say your birds are wild type?

That's what I was told. Someone said they have a wild type pattern. You seem to know better though. Can you tell me what color to call them?

 

[Chicken5555]

I do not believe she is the product of a blue and cuckoo crossing. She should be black or blue. She appears to carry the dark brown gene and the pattern gene (not purebred for the genes). These two genes are responsible for autosomal barring in chickens. Her tail feathers and primaries appear blue to me so she is also carrying blue. She is also carrying mahogany and autosomal red.

extended black is dominant over wheaten, correct

so a cross between splash hen + wheaten roo, would create zero wheaten, right? yes,

But if the splash hens carries wheaten, then there could be a few wheaten offspring right?

this cross should only produce blue, it could produce melanized blue wheaten offspring- or in other words a bird that is wheaten at the E locus but also carries genes that add black to the plumage, the bird would basicly be blue and not look like a normal wheaten phenotype.

Thank you for the detailed explanation. That makes a lot of sense. The more I can learn the better!

 

[llalo8524]

I just got this pics of 1 month old. around 75%/80% of the pullets will be just like the mother (weathon, white legs) and the other 20%/25% will be like the one on the pic ( golden partrige ) either with white legs or blue legs..
what gene would make some pullets to show blue legs? and would turn the wheaton color to this (golden hackle and breast) partridge color... clearly a recessive phenotype

 

[Wappoke]

I just got this pics of 1 month old. around 75%/80% of the pullets will be just like the mother (weathon, white legs) and the other 20%/25% will be like the one on the pic ( golden partrige ) either with white legs or blue legs..
what gene would make some pullets to show blue legs? and would turn the wheaton color to this (golden hackle and breast) partridge color... clearly a recessive phenotype

I think there is a misunderstanding about the partridge plumage pattern. Partridge is a secondary color pattern found in certain breeds of birds ( in the United States). It looks like this

http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/e/e2/800x600px-LL-e2b0b8d6_IMG_0239.jpeg

The blue legs are due to a sex linked gene called dermal melanin- the pullets that have blue legs inherit the gene from the father. Roosters can carry one or two of the dermal melanin genes. If a rooster has one dermal melanin gene he can have female progeny that have blue legs and female progeny that have white legs. The pullets that have blue shanks inherited the dermal melanin gene while the chicks with white shanks received a gene called dermal melanin inmhibitor. Dermal melanin inhibitor and dermal melanin are alleles, they are found at the same locus on a chromosome.


What variety is the rooster that mated with the wheaten hen? Any pics of the wheaten hen and the rooster that mated with the hen.


this is wheaten

https://www.backyardchickens.com/content/type/61/id/5145570/width/600/height/450

wheaten males are black breasted red

 

[llalo8524]

this is I pic of the parents....and below 2 pics of the pullets with the recessive phenotype 1 with white legs( dirty legs) and the other with blue legs..