Comb Type

[Brooks_]

If breeding a rose comb rooster with a single comb hen, what would the chicks have as a comb? TIA

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Rose comb is a completely dominant gene, so a bird with a rose comb may be pure for the gene or may be split for single comb, and either way would look identical. It's not unheard of for single-combed individuals to come out of Wyandottes and Sebrights as a result of this, as an example.

With all that in mind, if your rooster is pure for the gene then he'd produce all rose-combed offspring with a single-combed hen. If he is not pure for the gene, then about half of the offspring from such a pairing would have a rose comb and the other half would have a single comb.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Sorry to barg in

I was just a bit curious about my Wyandotte pullet.
The breeder has had wyandottes for 5 years and the flocks that her wyandottes came from were all rose combs. All of her wyandotte flock is rose comb.
But my wyandotte came out straight comb.
So would this mean that somewhere in her lines a wyandotte has a gene for a straight comb?

 

[Brooks_]

So would this mean that somewhere in her lines a wyandotte has a gene for a straight comb?

That's the way I read the post.

 

[p4PaDuck]

Hi!! Yeah I’m chickens rose comb is a completely dominate trait, single comb is ressesive. If I was going to tell this to a kid I’d say rose comb is a stronger trait, and single combs is weak.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Sorry to barg in

I was just a bit curious about my Wyandotte pullet.
The breeder has had wyandottes for 5 years and the flocks that her wyandottes came from were all rose combs. All of her wyandotte flock is rose comb.
But my wyandotte came out straight comb.
So would this mean that somewhere in her lines a wyandotte has a gene for a straight comb?

Yes, that would mean that at least two individuals of their breeding flock are split to single combs and happened to pair up to produce your bird.

This is fairly common even in breeder lines of Wyandottes because the rose comb gene is associated with reduced sperm motility, leading to lowered fertility in males with two copies of the gene. Thus, males that are split to single combs have better fertility and are, as a result, inadvertently selected for in breeding groups with more than one male. Since single comb is recessive, it's impossible to tell which individuals carry it until they have a surprise single-combed baby or you test-cross them to single-combed birds to find out. I don't think there's even a DNA test for that like there is for some other recessive genes.

There reportedly is another rose comb gene without that associated loss of fertility, but I don't know much about it beyond that it appears to express outwardly in the same way (it makes a rose comb just like the other rose comb gene) and does not cause that lowered sperm motility.

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

Yes, that would mean that at least two individuals of their breeding flock are split to single combs and happened to pair up to produce your bird.

This is fairly common even in breeder lines of Wyandottes because the rose comb gene is associated with reduced sperm motility, leading to lowered fertility in males with two copies of the gene. Thus, males that are split to single combs have better fertility and are, as a result, inadvertently selected for in breeding groups with more than one male. Since single comb is recessive, it's impossible to tell which individuals carry it until they have a surprise single-combed baby or you test-cross them to single-combed birds to find out. I don't think there's even a DNA test for that like there is for some other recessive genes.

There reportedly is another rose comb gene without that associated loss of fertility, but I don't know much about it beyond that it appears to express outwardly in the same way (it makes a rose comb just like the other rose comb gene) and does not cause that lowered sperm motility.

Thank you !
Well she has one rooster in with 6 hens(i think) so obviously her rooster carries the gene and one of her hens has to as well.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Yup, that would have to be the case! That's the 'fun' part of recessive genes like single comb; they can hide in a line for generations until just the right individuals pair up, and then seemingly out of nowhere there they are again.