HELP! IMPURE HENS

[NatJ]

There are plenty of other genes that can result in white chicks. Without knowing what it is, it wouldn't really be worth testing since it could just result in all hens being 'negative'

I agree about there being other genes. My first thought was Wheaten, rather than recessive white, but of course we won't know either way until they grow some feathers.

But looking at the wing feathers of the chicks in a few days might answer some of the questions. If they have black, brown, tan, or any not-white color in their wing feathers, they are not recessive white. If they do have completely white feathers, then recessive white might be the gene involved.

Another way to check whether recessive white is the gene involved: test the rooster who fathered the chicks. He must have whatever the gene is, so if the test finds no recessive white in the rooster, you know it's the wrong test for the purpose.

Unfortunately, I don't know any tests for any other chicken genes (just the blue egg and recessive white ones.)

Looks like there is no “breed id” dna test for chickens like there is for dogs? At least not according to forums on here.

I don't think there is one, and I doubt there ever will be.

For dogs, they check a large number of genes, and try to match the combinations with what they tested in various purebred dogs. That's only partly accurate at best, considering that some breeds share quite a lot of genetic background with some other breeds.

For chickens, "breed" is pretty much defined by how it looks and whether it produces others like itself. And we know that many "purebred" chickens have variations in genes, intentionally or not, that still give the same adult appearance. So I do not think it would ever be possible to make an accurate DNA test for chicken breeds.

There is also the question of how much market there would be for such a test. It's probably not worth the company spending money to try to develop one, even if it were possible, because not enough people would pay for it.

 

[Finnie]

We have 11 BCM hens, that were supposed to be pure. Turns out 2 must not be because we got 2 yellow chicks. We sell hatching eggs, so we need to figure out which of these hens needs to be pulled out of the BCM pen. All I can think of at the moment is to separate 1 hen at a time, take her egg, band her, and incubate that darn egg and see what happens. Then repeat the process until we find the culprits. Because if we try to incubate 1 from each hen at the same time, we wouldn't be able to keep that straight, right? Please help!!

Let's see individual pictures of the hens. And the rooster. Where'd you get them?

Yes, photos and source of birds would be good information.