General Genetics Help Needed, Please.

[AnneGirlGG]

Hi there! I've got a couple of basic genetics questions. They may seem silly, but genetics has never been my friend, and I'm very new to chickens.

I've got BBS Orpingtons, and I think I have a decent grasp on the BBS genetics. The rest, well...

I've got 2 female Red Cochin bantams. They're 17 weeks and 12 weeks old. I've also got 14 assorted cochin bantam chicks. They're 4 weeks old. I'm going to keep the following:

1 White female
2 Partridge females
1 Buff female

I've also got many males. I have mainly Black and Buff, and possibly a Red. I plan to keep just one male. With those color females, which male would you advise keeping? It should be noted that I'm not looking to show birds or breed any colors in particular. I'm just not sure which of these would be best, or if it matters. I've read about color leakage and all, but I don't really understand the complexity of it.

Second question, and it's about BYMs. I do not want to keep my flock separated into breeding pens. I want everyone to stay together, unless I'm wanting to specifically breed certain color birds, at which point I'll separate them as required. So overall, I'll end up with mostly BYM chicks, which I'm fine with as I don't intend to sell any purebred chicks right now. Is there anything wrong with this? Other than wonky colors, I mean? I don't want to create genetic or health issues, is my concern. If I ever did sell BYM chicks, I would 100% make sure any buyer knew exactly what they were getting.

Again, I'm sorry if these seem like ridiculous questions. But I'll never know if I don't ask. Thanks for your help!

 

[FunClucks]

Selling BYM chicks is fine. But you'll get more money and probably a lot more interest if you can sell purebreds. You'll have to separate them out for breeding a month or more before you collect the eggs to be sure the parent roo is the one you think it is. Generally, it's best not to mix standard size and bantam size chickens, because the big ones tend to bully or hurt, sometimes accidentally, the smaller ones. At a minimum, I'd give them two different coops for the night.

Breed whichever birds together that you would like to. I have no opinion on which would be best, it's really up to you and what you're looking to produce or what you'd prefer.

 

[AnneGirlGG]

Selling BYM chicks is fine. But you'll get more money and probably a lot more interest if you can sell purebreds. You'll have to separate them out for breeding a month or more before you collect the eggs to be sure the parent roo is the one you think it is. Generally, it's best not to mix standard size and bantam size chickens, because the big ones tend to bully or hurt, sometimes accidentally, the smaller ones. At a minimum, I'd give them two different coops for the night.

Breed whichever birds together that you would like to. I have no opinion on which would be best, it's really up to you and what you're looking to produce or what you'd prefer.

Thank you! I appreciate your advice!

 

[NatJ]

I've got 2 female Red Cochin bantams. They're 17 weeks and 12 weeks old. I've also got 14 assorted cochin bantam chicks. They're 4 weeks old. I'm going to keep the following:

1 White female
2 Partridge females
1 Buff female

I've also got many males. I have mainly Black and Buff, and possibly a Red. I plan to keep just one male. With those color females, which male would you advise keeping? It should be noted that I'm not looking to show birds or breed any colors in particular. I'm just not sure which of these would be best, or if it matters. I've read about color leakage and all, but I don't really understand the complexity of it.

I can't really predict what color chicks will come from the white hen with any of those roosters. This is because there are several different genes and combinations of genes that can cause a chicken to be white, and I don't know which ones she might have. She might produce white chicks, or she might produce chicks that are similar in color to the chicks from some of the other hens.

From the non-white hens, if you keep a black male, you will get black chicks. As those black chicks grow up, they will show some red or gold leakage, especially in the breasts of the females and the shoulders of the males.

Or with those same non-white hens, if you keep a buff male or a red male, chicks will mostly match the colors of their mothers. I say "mostly" because the shade of buff or red will be shifted a bit in the direction of the father's color, and chicks from the partridge hens will probably have less black than their mothers.

Which male is "best" will depend on what colors of chicks you would rather have.

If you are not sure what color of male you want to keep, I would go with the one that is best in other ways (temperament, health, body shape, feathering, etc.)

 

[AnneGirlGG]

I can't really predict what color chicks will come from the white hen with any of those roosters. This is because there are several different genes and combinations of genes that can cause a chicken to be white, and I don't know which ones she might have. She might produce white chicks, or she might produce chicks that are similar in color to the chicks from some of the other hens.

From the non-white hens, if you keep a black male, you will get black chicks. As those black chicks grow up, they will show some red or gold leakage, especially in the breasts of the females and the shoulders of the males.

Or with those same non-white hens, if you keep a buff male or a red male, chicks will mostly match the colors of their mothers. I say "mostly" because the shade of buff or red will be shifted a bit in the direction of the father's color, and chicks from the partridge hens will probably have less black than their mothers.

Which male is "best" will depend on what colors of chicks you would rather have.

If you are not sure what color of male you want to keep, I would go with the one that is best in other ways (temperament, health, body shape, feathering, etc.)

Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it. One day I want to breed purebred chicks, but it's only fair to the birds and future potential buyers that I have a better understanding of the genetics before doing so. In the meantime, I'll learn from my own flock and everywhere else I can, as well as continue to learn chickens in all aspects. If I've learned anything since I got them, it's that I didn't learn much from all the chicken books I bought, lol.

And this explanation does help a lot, thank you again!

 

[NatJ]

Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it. One day I want to breed purebred chicks, but it's only fair to the birds and future potential buyers that I have a better understanding of the genetics before doing so. In the meantime, I'll learn from my own flock and everywhere else I can, as well as continue to learn chickens in all aspects. If I've learned anything since I got them, it's that I didn't learn much from all the chicken books I bought, lol.

And this explanation does help a lot, thank you again!

For many colors of chickens, you can just breed a male and a female of the same color and all the chicks will be that color. You don't really need to learn about genetics to do that. If you start getting off-color chicks, then you go check your breeding stock and maybe learn about the genetics that might be involved, but in most cases the chicks will be pretty much right. Of course you can still learn genetics if you want to, it's just not a requirement for breeding correctly-colored chickens.

For the ones you have now, you do have the option of breeding pure Buffs or maybe pure Reds: just pick the appropriate rooster, and find a way to identify the eggs from the correct hens for hatching (maybe by putting those hens in a separate pen for as long as you are collecting eggs to hatch.)

 

[AnneGirlGG]

For many colors of chickens, you can just breed a male and a female of the same color and all the chicks will be that color. You don't really need to learn about genetics to do that. If you start getting off-color chicks, then you go check your breeding stock and maybe learn about the genetics that might be involved, but in most cases the chicks will be pretty much right. Of course you can still learn genetics if you want to, it's just not a requirement for breeding correctly-colored chickens.

For the ones you have now, you do have the option of breeding pure Buffs or maybe pure Reds: just pick the appropriate rooster, and find a way to identify the eggs from the correct hens for hatching (maybe by putting those hens in a separate pen for as long as you are collecting eggs to hatch.)

Thank you, again! Right now, I'm leaning towards keeping a buff male. I like to sit and watch everyone in the run. I don't interact with them, just watch their interactions with each other. Just to gauge their temperaments. I guess that's only so useful at only 4 weeks old, but it is neat to see who is laid back, who seems to like to start trouble, etc.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Which male is "best" to keep really depends on your individual goals. Not just chick colors, but especially body shape, size, health, and production qualities (are you breeding for meat, eggs, pets, cool colors, etc). Everyone has different goals they're breeding towards and none of them is "better" than the others.

For me, I'm raising chickens for ethically sourced meat with eggs being a bonus. So when I'm deciding what males to keep I'm looking for qualities that are good for meat birds, broad and deep and quick to hit the feed trough. We narrowed down from over a dozen cockerels to 5 based on size and then narrowed those 5 to 2 based on behavior.

In cases like yours, where there may not be any hard and fast goals, the BYC community recommends choosing the cockerel that is best with the girls and non-agressive towards humans. A bad rooster is going to make chicken keeping a miserable experience, so don't tolerate a mean one. Yours are still young, a lot can change between 4 weeks old and when the testosterone kicks in (which varies from individual to individual, usually around the time they start getting male specific feathers)

 

[AnneGirlGG]

Which male is "best" to keep really depends on your individual goals. Not just chick colors, but especially body shape, size, health, and production qualities (are you breeding for meat, eggs, pets, cool colors, etc). Everyone has different goals they're breeding towards and none of them is "better" than the others.

For me, I'm raising chickens for ethically sourced meat with eggs being a bonus. So when I'm deciding what males to keep I'm looking for qualities that are good for meat birds, broad and deep and quick to hit the feed trough. We narrowed down from over a dozen cockerels to 5 based on size and then narrowed those 5 to 2 based on behavior.

In cases like yours, where there may not be any hard and fast goals, the BYC community recommends choosing the cockerel that is best with the girls and non-agressive towards humans. A bad rooster is going to make chicken keeping a miserable experience, so don't tolerate a mean one. Yours are still young, a lot can change between 4 weeks old and when the testosterone kicks in (which varies from individual to individual, usually around the time they start getting male specific feathers)

That was my thoughts as well. So while I planned to sell them within the next couple of weeks, I'm wondering if I might do better to wait and let temperaments develop a little more. They're just so young to know how they would ultimately turn out, I feel like. I watch them a lot and get an idea of how they act, but like you said, they're awfully young.

 

[AinaWGSD]

That was my thoughts as well. So while I planned to sell them within the next couple of weeks, I'm wondering if I might do better to wait and let temperaments develop a little more. They're just so young to know how they would ultimately turn out, I feel like. I watch them a lot and get an idea of how they act, but like you said, they're awfully young.

If you're able to hold onto them for longer I certainly would. A sweet 4 week old cockerel who gets along splendidly with everyone could turn into a complete menace at 8, 10, 12, 16 weeks or sometimes even a bit older.