Comb questions

[Amer]

The gold chick I kept posting pictures of is a cockerel.

Also I noticed our silver Icelandic roo has a tiny bit of gold leakage. One or two of his feathers have gold on them. More “proof” that he is carrying a gold gene!

Thanks for the explanations! Really interesting! Everything makes sense now



Gold leakage

But the mother is gold, right?

 

[CashewVulture]

But the mother is gold, right?

Yes

 

[CashewVulture]

Update on the Deathlayer/Spitzhauben mix. (V comb x rose comb). It’s almost 5 weeks old. Not sure about it’s sex yet though.

 

[CashewVulture]

Both Deathlayer crosses have been rehomed. The gold Deathlayer/Icelandic is a cockerel, the silver Deathlayer/Spitzhauben is a pullet. Last pictures I have of them are below, for anyone interested in the combs or mix.

 

[NatJ]

Both Deathlayer crosses have been rehomed. The gold Deathlayer/Icelandic is a cockerel, the silver Deathlayer/Spitzhauben is a pullet. Last pictures I have of them are below, for anyone interested in the combs or mix.

Thank you for updating! It's been interesting to watch how they grow.

 

[CashewVulture]

Hello everyone!
I have another question about combs…

I have a spitzhauben/icelandic mix hen. Her dad was an Icelandic and her mom was a Spitzhauben.


She has a split single comb (due to the spitzhauben V comb genetics). If she were to mate with a purebred spitzhauben rooster, what would the babies look like? Could they have the V crest without any signs of single comb??? Because I know if the two parents carry the V gene the chicks could have them, right?


The reason I am asking is because I plan to sell some purebred spitzhauben chicks this spring/summer, when the broodies hatch their babies. I usually rely on their comb to know if they are purebred, but if this mixed hen has her eggs incubated and her chicks do have perfect Vs (even if they’re mixed), I will have a problem. I don’t want to sell barnyard mixes for the price of a purebred! Especially if the buyers decide they want to breed spitzhaubens themselves. So that’s why I would like to know if there will be a way to distinguish them from the purebred chicks?

Also, would the chicks from this hen have spitzhauben-like crests or backward ones?


(First 2 pictures are of her and the last is her with the purebred spitzhauben rooster)

 

[NatJ]

I have a spitzhauben/icelandic mix hen. Her dad was an Icelandic and her mom was a Spitzhauben.


She has a split single comb (due to the spitzhauben V comb genetics). If she were to mate with a purebred spitzhauben rooster, what would the babies look like? Could they have the V crest without any signs of single comb??? Because I know if the two parents carry the V gene the chicks could have them, right?


The reason I am asking is because I plan to sell some purebred spitzhauben chicks this spring/summer, when the broodies hatch their babies. I usually rely on their comb to know if they are purebred, but if this mixed hen has her eggs incubated and her chicks do have perfect Vs (even if they’re mixed), I will have a problem. I don’t want to sell barnyard mixes for the price of a purebred! Especially if the buyers decide they want to breed spitzhaubens themselves. So that’s why I would like to know if there will be a way to distinguish them from the purebred chicks?

I don't think you can be certain of recognizing the mixes.

That mixed hen, bred with a Spitzhauben rooster, does have the potential to produce chicks with proper Spitzhauben-type combs, crests, etc. Those traits may not all be in each chick, but any single trait has a good chance of being in at least some of her chicks.

Probably some of her chicks will be easy to spot, but some may be difficult or impossible. You could consider penning her up while you are collecting eggs for hatching, to be sure that you know which eggs are hers and just don't incubate them. Or do incubate her eggs, but only in situations where you will know which chicks hatch from those eggs and then you mark her chicks or raise them separately from others, at least until they are old enough that you are confident of recognizing them.

 

[CashewVulture]

I don't think you can be certain of recognizing the mixes.

That mixed hen, bred with a Spitzhauben rooster, does have the potential to produce chicks with proper Spitzhauben-type combs, crests, etc. Those traits may not all be in each chick, but any single trait has a good chance of being in at least some of her chicks.

Probably some of her chicks will be easy to spot, but some may be difficult or impossible. You could consider penning her up while you are collecting eggs for hatching, to be sure that you know which eggs are hers and just don't incubate them. Or do incubate her eggs, but only in situations where you will know which chicks hatch from those eggs and then you mark her chicks or raise them separately from others, at least until they are old enough that you are confident of recognizing them.

That’s what I was afraid of. I’ll definitely be separating her when I will be collecting the hatching eggs then. I might also incubate her eggs on purpose sometime, to see what her chicks would look like! If I do, I will post pictures here for anyone interested.