Do Buff Columbian Cochins Carry a Lethal Gene?

[Coopa Cabana]

I was told today that Buff Columbian Cochins carry a lethal gene (causing chicks to die before hatching). I'm really not that familiar with lethal genes - only having heard about lethal genes in Aracaunas.

Has anyone heard of this before in BC Cochins?

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Really?

bump

 

[Coopa Cabana]

Thanx for the bump!

I was equally shocked when I heard it. I was talking on the phone Friday to an "old-timer" Cochin breeder about the possibility of crossing in a BC to improve the lacing in my GL's. He just freaked out: "Oh no - you don't want to do that! They have a lethal gene that kills the chicks in shell, and you will introduce it into your flock."

So I posted the same question over on the Cochins Internation forum, and have been re-assured that they have not evidenced any lethal gene in the BC's.

So maybe it's just an Old Wives Tale, or maybe it did exist many years/generations ago, and has since been bred out?