How did my Welsummer egg produce a black chick???

[Feath3rDust3r]

I incubated an egg from my welsummer. I have 2 roos penned in with her, a lavender orpington and an easter egger...(the easter egger is not dominant and I've never seen him mate). We were incubating silkies and decided to pop in a couple other eggs to see what happened.

The welsummer chick just hatched...pure black with black legs and beak. Totally not what I expected!! I was expecting brownish/yellow down because I thought lavenders are recessive.

I don't really understand genetics at all...is this what you'd expect from this pair?

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Humor us here: what does the EE look like? Because from my understanding, if the lavender chicken had a black gene, the chicken would be black and not lavender.

 

[Feath3rDust3r]

He's the guy on the left

 

[Feath3rDust3r]

Humor us here: what does the EE look like? Because from my understanding, if the lavender chicken had a black gene, the chicken would be black and not lavender.

I understand that the chick wouldn't be lavender...I just wasn't expecting pure black with black legs and beak...I guess I was expecting more of the welsummer look

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I understand that the chick wouldn't be lavender...I just wasn't expecting pure black with black legs and beak...I guess I was expecting more of the welsummer look

From what I have observed on here, often times they do hold the welsummer look, which is why I was wondering. I wasn't saying the chick would be lavender, I was saying it was impossible for the lavender to pass on a black gene. That's why I was asking about the EE. However, I don't know the genes where make a welsummer look like a welsummer. I once had a white rooster and a buff brahma make a feather feed barred hen, so you just never know what chicken genetics will produce!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

It sounds like a sport probably. But EEs are genetic gambles. If he snuck a breed, it could very well be his

 

[Feath3rDust3r]

It sounds like a sport probably. But EEs are genetic gambles. If he snuck a breed, it could very well be his

Excuse my ignorance... what do you mean by 'sport'?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Excuse my ignorance... what do you mean by 'sport'?

It's an offspring that shows something that shouldn't be that way. It's also how a lot of unusual breeds start. Rex and sphinx cats, silkied ducks and rex rabbits all developed from sports thrown. It can be something as simple as eye or covering color, it could be polydactylism where there's no history of it, it could be a texture on the covering. It's like a mutation but usually people are more willing to buy and breed 'sports' than mutations. Unfortunately at least in the rabbit world, when breeders get a rabbit with a diaqualification, such as no markings on a marked breed, they might call it a sport so they can make money selling it

 

[Feath3rDust3r]

It's an offspring that shows something that shouldn't be that way. It's also how a lot of unusual breeds start. Rex and sphinx cats, silkied ducks and rex rabbits all developed from sports thrown. It can be something as simple as eye or covering color, it could be polydactylism where there's no history of it, it could be a texture on the covering. It's like a mutation but usually people are more willing to buy and breed 'sports' than mutations. Unfortunately at least in the rabbit world, when breeders get a rabbit with a diaqualification, such as no markings on a marked breed, they might call it a sport so they can make money selling it

Interesting! Thanks for explaining.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

You'll just have to see if it grows up to resemble just what parents you think made it to be sure if it's a sport or not