Help to identify chicken

[Jack765]

Last year one of my best hens a black rock went broody and hatched out nine chicks when the chicks started to grow up I noticed that one looked like a light Sussex you could almost say that she is a pure breed one.
The father is a cross of all sorts that was given to us a few years back by a friend who didn't want to kill him so we took him in as we wanted a cockerel to go with our hens.
Over this time he has helped hatch out over 24 chicks but only the one looks like a light Sussex could you help explain how this happened without any other light Sussex hens or cockerels on the property.

 

[chooks4life]

It would have happened for the same (or similar) reasons one can cross a black animal with a white animal and get some black offspring that can produce white offspring, and some white offspring that can produce black offspring.

In less words the father's appearance, and the mother's appearance, are not necessarily the types they will pass on to all of their offspring.

Our phenotype can actually represent a grandparent or other somewhat distant ancestor rather than the parent's, and the same is true of animals. Pure-breeding is a way to fix appearance type but outside of crossbreds, purebreds and other careful combinations, you have very few guarantees of what you'll get. A little research into recessive and dominant genetics would assist in understanding that too.

It would probably be educational for you to breed the parents again with each other, and also breed both parents with other birds, and see what results; it'll give you a good idea of what genes they actually carry regardless of what their appearance may seem to imply.

One of the best things about poultry keeping is watching how the genes interact, and mongrels can be particularly interesting in that area as you never know what you'll get.

Best wishes.

 

[Jack765]

Thank you very much for the help, I plan to breed the same hens again this year as last years offspring are very good layers I will keep you informed on how they turn out when they mature.