Help with some genetics before hatching- white feathers, egg color

[MommaBee]

I already posted this in the genetics board with ZERO response.
I suppose the "mutt" part of my question threw people off? This board has always been very helpful, so I thought I would try here.

We have a wonderful Rooster, Leroy, who is a White Marans. He is 6-7 mo old and performing his duties well. We thought about hatching some of the eggs from his flock for fun. No real goal in mind, just hoping to produce darker brown egg layers as well as some Olive Eggers.

I am curious as to how the white feather gene will work. From what I understand it is recessive? So is it safe to assume that since none of our hens are white, we will not get any white chicks?

Also feathered feet. None of our hens have feathered feet. He does. How will this play out genetically?

Lastly is it safe to assume that all of his offspring will in fact lay darker eggs than their mothers (because of his dark egg gene)?

The following is the flock he is over:
Barred Rock
Speckeled Sussex
Buff Orpington
Partridge Rock
3 Easter Eggers (one is solid light grey)
Black Australorp


Thanks for any advice or information you might have. I was an art major and have zero experience in genetics!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

so i cant help u much but all the hens and roos ive mixed so far has more roo traits then hen. for example i just crossed rir hens that are very dark with my buff polish roo and all look look like daddy for the most part. white fluff with a little red around the face. as for eggs i dont know except they all taste the same to me! haha

 

[Kelsie2290]

http://maransofamericaclub.com/whitemarans.php is the page to the White Marans on the clubs page, they talk about the genetics of it.
http://kippenjungle.nl/kruising.html link to that chicken color calculator, you can pop in your rooster and various hens and get possibilities.
Basically Marans seem to be recessive white so your chicks should be colored depending on what the mother is (unless she carries recessive white also). Leg feathering, chicks should have less than dad, egg color should be darker brown than mom (green/EEs).

 

[Granny Hatchet]

allso 3 of 4 have feathered feet

 

[MommaBee]

http://maransofamericaclub.com/whitemarans.php is the page to the White Marans on the clubs page, they talk about the genetics of it.
http://kippenjungle.nl/kruising.html link to that chicken color calculator, you can pop in your rooster and various hens and get possibilities.
Basically Marans seem to be recessive white so your chicks should be colored depending on what the mother is (unless she carries recessive white also). Leg feathering, chicks should have less than dad, egg color should be darker brown than mom (green/EEs).

Really enjoyed that read (what parts I could understand), thank you! I will try the chicken color calculator out!

Very helpful I do appreciate it!

 

[MommaBee]

Well I hatched them out. Interestingly enough 3/4s did have feathers legs, but even more interesting about 50% came out barred. Our one barred hen didn't actually contribute any to the eggs that were incubated so I guess it leaked through from while male. Pretty cool!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Interesting, how old are the chicks now? Looks like your boy must have a dominant white gene to mask the barred gene if I follow what is going on.... did you get other colors?

 

[LTygress]

http://kippenjungle.nl/kruising.html link to that chicken color calculator.

Someone shared this link with me early this year. I have since been addicted to it, plugging in every possible combination of my chickens, experimenting with their offspring, crossing all sorts of colors and combinations....

Too much more, and I'll probably be spitting out the answers without using the calculator! Lmao!

 

[gimmie birdies]

funny I had a barrred maran roo and a barred maran hen "coco's" and they had a splash maran chick but the rest were all barred. I stopped using him because I didn't want all barred chickens.

 

[gimmie birdies]

see the really green eggs? they are maran/EE/columbian wyandotte, and Maran/EE/delaware. really olive-y.