yes the tips of some of the breast feathers should be white. The dark brown gene changes the black down of a birchen or extended black bird to a brown color as can be seen in your chick. Dark brown is a restrictor and when a bird has two of the genes- the genes will remove black from the breast and body of a bird. Males that have one gene express the gene on the breast feathers as white or gold tips on the feathers. The expression can vary in males and there is a modifier that can make a male have a completely white or red/brown breast.
the easter egger is the source of the dark brown gene. The offspring could be birchen/brown. eb does not effect sex-linked barring and birds like the pullet can have lacing patterns on brown or birchen. The F1 rooster appears to carry the dark brown gene.Inital breeding was F0 double barred Golden Cuckoo marans rooster to F0 Black copper marans hen.
Rooster:
Hen:
1 F1 single barred rooster was retained and mated to f1 hens to check for recessives.
F1 rooster and hen:
This rooster is alone in a breeding pen with 2 hens, no other roosters are present. I get a brown chick:
I get another brown one:
I cross my F0 Gcm rooster with an easter egger and got two brown chicks.
F0 rooster:
F0 easter egger:
Chick started brown similar to the above pictured one and went to this:
And ended up like this:
But it started off brown, not penguin looking like an ER black copper would.
I gave some hatching eggs from the F1 x F1 cross pictured above to someone here on byc, and she ended up with a pullet:
That being said, is it possible that my F0 rooster is ER/eb, and at least 2 of my f1s are as well? Would this cause the brown that keeps popping up. Does eb cancel out barring or cause the lacing appearance that is shown on the pullet?
The chick in question is penciled, not laced. The Pita Pintas are mottled, which is a recessive gene. Their extended black pattern can hide a ton of other pattern genes. And Buffs can carry all sorts of pattern genes.Ok I have a breeding pen of Pita Pinta's with a couple of hatchery buff orps in there. The eggs are so similar that I cant tell them apart but I figured Id be able to tell the chicks apart easily.
The pita chick down looks like this
and the buff orps are simply yellow chicks (slightly golden sometimes)
Well the resulting cross produced a chick that was solid chocolate brown (have since hatched another and its similar with lighter down on the breast)
The surprise for me was the feathering out
Here it is at a month
The lacing has continued to develop on the head and neck and the back half of the bird has brown stippling on the wings and tail
Im wondering about the genetics here that produced the lacing effect. The male was a Pita Pinta
The female was just a hatchery buff orp hen. You can see the tail pic.
Im wondering where the lacing comes from ( I know that pitas can have brown leakage and sometimes are simply brown instead of black) My boy has very very little brown.
Im wondering if the mottling genes have this effect on the genes of the Buff Orp and if I were to breed offspring would I be able to keep the lacing going.
Thanks penciled may be Ill get a close up of her pattern as she is a couple of months old now and more fully feathered.
Ok I have a breeding pen of Pita Pinta's with a couple of hatchery buff orps in there. The eggs are so similar that I cant tell them apart but I figured Id be able to tell the chicks apart easily.
The pita chick down looks like this
and the buff orps are simply yellow chicks (slightly golden sometimes)
Well the resulting cross produced a chick that was solid chocolate brown (have since hatched another and its similar with lighter down on the breast)
The surprise for me was the feathering out
Here it is at a month
The lacing has continued to develop on the head and neck and the back half of the bird has brown stippling on the wings and tail
Im wondering about the genetics here that produced the lacing effect. The male was a Pita Pinta
The female was just a hatchery buff orp hen. You can see the tail pic.
Im wondering where the lacing comes from ( I know that pitas can have brown leakage and sometimes are simply brown instead of black) My boy has very very little brown.
Im wondering if the mottling genes have this effect on the genes of the Buff Orp and if I were to breed offspring would I be able to keep the lacing going.
