If you hatch mixes, does the rooster breed traits dominate ?

[Vanish1687]

I hatched my tan OE hen and white silkie roo’s eggs…all are identical and black. I am totally surprised. Out of 5, 2 have 5 toes. All have black skin.

I hatched eggs I acquired from someone that were the opposite of mine- silkie eggs fertilized by an OE roo. I don't know what the parents looked like. None of the chicks had any silkie characteristics.

I thought the mix I got would have silkie traits prevail. So do the genes depend on the rooster? Also will all chicks look identical with the same parents?

 

[Sammbalina]

It depends on what type of genes they carry. If the dad has a dominant gene there is a 50/50 chance that the offspring will have that gene. If the dad has 2 recessive genes and the mom has one of the same recessive gene, then there’s a 50/50 chance the babies will show that trait, but if the mom doesn’t, then the babies will not show that trait. For example, the silkie feathering. The silkie gene is recessive, so in order for it to show they have to have 2 copies. So crossing a silkie with a chicken that has no gene for silkie feathering, no babies will have silkie feathers, but all of them will have 1 copy of that gene. Then if you crossed those back to another silkie, 50% of the third generation will have the silkie feathers.

Here’s a basic run down of pennet squares. You put the parents genes on the outside of the square, and the inside combinations are what the offspring could be, each quadrant representing a 25% chance to get that combination.