comb? comb color? phenotype?

[urbanagrarian]

I don' t think this rooster is an actual breed, but correct me if I'm wrong please or give an opinion as to his mix.

What do you call his comb? What makes it black? I understand the genetics of single, rose, pea and walnut comb but not always the actual appearance especially when Pea or Rose in incompletely dominant. I don't know what the comb on this roo is called. It is big!

Thanks

 

[silkiechicken]

It's a silkie mix. Silkies are a common breed that have black skin and are used for their "medicinal" properties in Asian medicine. The dark skin and black bones and so on are part of the breed that usually is pretty dominant when passed down the lines.

 

[ksacres]

That's a "walnut" comb- definite silkie mix.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Wonder if he's got some black spanish or minorca in him as well as silkie...

 

[urbanagrarian]

Thanks everyone.

Rather than incompletely dominant. I should have said heterozygous vs homozygous. Would a comb that was RRPP look different than one that was RrPp?

Are silkies the only chicken with black skin?

I looked up Minorca and also Pendesenca and I think that is a possibility also.

 

[ksacres]

No, they *should* look exactly the same. Completely dominant genes "completely" hide recessive ones. Silkies or their crosses are the only chickens with completely black skin, bones, etc. Willow or black legs can occur in other breeds, but the skin (under the feathers) will not be black.

 

[wclawrence]

RRPP and RrPp look the same.
....but I do not agree that that rooster HAS to be a silkie cross...

His black face looks more like Gypsy faced to me, like a sumatra. If he is off of a Sumatra and (something with white earlobes and rose comb) he could look just like that.

See how long his tail gets. And whether he has extra spurs.
Long tail and/or extra spurs would make one think Sumatra.

But then again he does have a topknot. So silkie may be right. Just trying to get everyone thinking outside the box.

 

[kentuckysilkies]

I would say he is for sure a Silkie cross. The comb is the Silie Walnut comb, but slightly mis-shapen due to the effect of the other genes he has inherited. The very short beak is another sure Silkie trait. The earlobe is bleached to white as an effect of the genes of the non-Silkie parent. In a pure Silkie they would be Blue-Turquois.

 

[earthnut]

Silkies are not the only breed with black skin, meat, and bones. They are the only common breed. Other breeds are Ayam Cemani, Black Quechua Olmec, and Svart Höna. The Black Sumatra and Rapanui breeds sometimes have black skin also.