EE question

[mekasmom]

Silkies have peacombs but don't lay colored eggs. Maybe the silkie/auracana mixes will all lay colored eggs because they all end up with peacombs. I was just curious which ones to keep or sell. I will keep them all until I can tell who is who.

 

[SilkieTime]

I wouldn't think you would geta blue or green egg from a silkie rooster, (dad).

 

[TurtleFeathers]

Silkies don't have pea combs - they have walnut combs.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Walnut combs are a combination of the pea and rose comb genes.

Having a pea comb does not mean a bird will also have the blue eggshell gene. However the genes at the P and O loci are so close to each other that they are considered linked. It is highly uncommon for a bird to not inherit both from the same chromosome of the parent. If the pea combed bird has one chromosome with P & O and one with p+ & o+, the offspring is unlikely to inherit P & o+ or p+ & O from that parent. It happens approximately 3% of the time.

Once crossover occurs (p & O+ or P & o) that combination is also usually inherited together; crossing back is as difficult as the first cross.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Sounds like you're just looking for a quick way to tell which ones to keep. Since the pea comb gene and the blue egg gene are so closely linked, I keep those with pea combs. It's not 100% b/c of that small genetic chance that the pea comb gene and the egg color gene are inherited separately, but a comb check is a quick, easy way to have a good idea what color egg the hen will lay.

We have an Ameraucana roo and lots of different kinds of hens. A BO/Ameraucana cross, for example, is more likely to lay a green egg if she has a pea comb, even if the rest of her looks like a BO. It also works the same if we have a mating with my Ameraucana hens and my barred Rock rooster. No pea comb usually means brown eggs.

The legs are all over the place, and don't matter.

Erika

 

[logansmommy7]

All of my girls that are Ameraucana/Golden Comet crosses have very smallish combs. Are these pea combs? They are approximately 16 weeks old, are you supposed to see much comb at this point?

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

How to tell if you have a pea comb: http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/3/3-1/Dave_Anderson.html

Course, these are drawings of male combs. A hen with a pea comb will have almost no comb. It looks like two rows of bumps.

edited b/c rose combs aren't the subject here, pea combs are!