Huge pile of genetic questions?

[Ladybug2001]

I have my first ever broody hen. I had some genetic questions, one specific.

To start, if barring is a dominant gene, what happens when you breed a White Plymouth Rock rooster x Barred Plymouth Rock hen?

Also, does anything special occur when crossing White Plymouth Rock x Rhode Island Red?

Picture of my Black Sex Link broody who is sitting on 10 eggs.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

If you place a non-barred rooster over a barred hen, due to the genetics of barring, you will get barred males and non-barred females.

However, you have a White Rock rooster. White Rocks, as I understand it are usually white based. Some are silver based, it depends on his line of genetics.

White is dominant, so while you will have barred males, the white will block most of the appearance of the barring. What you see is ghost barring in the male adults. Further all chicks will be pale yellow down. That will make it hard to distinguish the white dot on the pale yellow down of the males from the females. So all told, that crossing makes it hard to sex young chicks, the purpose of sex linking. (However, the resulting shadow barring on the males can be rather stunning depending upon how far it is seen).

If you take a RIR rooster over a White Rock hen, again it depends on whether the hen is white or silver based. If silver based, you would end up with sexable home brewed Gold/Red Sex Links, with males a pale yellow down and girls with more reddish tones. If white based, all chicks will be pale yellow.

Reverse the equation, making the rooster White Rock, your original question, you simply get chicks with the same color down. If the WR is white based, all yellow down, if the WR is silver, all foxy gold down.

Breeding a RIR and WR together will make excellent layers no matter which side you go, but you will have to test and check for Silver (which is not that common) in your White rock if you hope for any sex linking.

My understanding.
LofMc

 

[junebuggena]

Dominant white makes seeing white stripes impossible. White Rocks can also carry barring, so that makes for some interesting results after a few generations.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

@junebuggena

I've read that White Rocks are recessive white while White Leghorns are dominant white...which makes for the difference in the barring. But I agree that Rocks often carry barring due to the popularity of the Barred Rock "muddying" the Rock waters.

LofMc

 

[junebuggena]

White Rocks could be both dominant and recessive white. With hatchery sourced birds there is really no telling what genetics they have lurking.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Agreed that if the OP Rock has dominant white, then all chicks will be white, with some interesting flecks here or there (I've seen that even from WL mixes).

 

[DrumstickRanchTex]

Genetics: If an Americauna lays a pink egg, what should she be bred to so as not to dilute the gene for the egg color? I thought of using brown leghorn but some say they have not have good luck with this cross. Anyone have any experience with this? Thanks for any ideas y'all can share.

 

[junebuggena]

Pink eggs are just a shade of brown. Brown coating genetics are very complicated as there are over 9 known genes for the brown coating, some dominant, some recessive, and birds can have several different coating genes all expressing together. That's why there are so many different shades of brown eggs. There are no guarantees you will be able to replicate the color in the offspring. The Brown Leghorn crossing may work, if the pink is being caused by only one dominant coating gene, but there is no way to really know that.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Genetics: If an Americauna lays a pink egg, what should she be bred to so as not to dilute the gene for the egg color? I thought of using brown leghorn but some say they have not have good luck with this cross. Anyone have any experience with this? Thanks for any ideas y'all can share.

Several genetic things going on here.

First, you have an Easter Egger not an Ameraucana...there is no such breed as Americana. If you see that term in a feed store the chicks are Easter Egger mixes.

That means you have a hybrid that does not breed true. That makes things much more difficult.

Pink is not a gene like blue is.

Pink is a light coating of the hemoglobin based brown wash applied over white shell.

It could also come from some tint in the bloom.

It is thought to take 13 genes for Brown. Bloom genetics are not really understood.

Brown is elusive, just ask any breeder breeding for dark brown eggs.

Pink is very elusive. There is no formula to my knowledge. Some hens of brown laying lines simply lay a light pink tone. But it skips around.

I know of no one successfully breeding for pink, or plum.

Croad Langshan are thought to have the occurrence more frequently.

You could try breeding her to a white line to see if anything passes. Then breed her to a light tint line to see if anything passes. Then to a reddish tone line, like Barnevelder.

The trouble is you will always be flying blind as the rooster doesn't lay eggs to see his brown color tone genetics. You have to work with a pure bred rooster and hope he examples the general breed egg color of that line.

It takes a lot of breeding and hoping chasing after Brown wash color tones and bloom.

I know from personal experience.

Sorry there is no easy answer that I know of.

LofMc

 

[DrumstickRanchTex]

Thank you so much for the info and the explanations. This is really interesting and I know it's very complicated. I would love to try some breeding experiments.
Thanks again.