if you have genetic questions

[Sonoran Silkies]

Suze,

Latest research says the frizzle gene does not directly effect metabolism and indicates the health issues may be related to heat loss. The research also suggested the syndrome may be pleotropic. If the health issues are due to heat loss then the recessive gene should take care of the problem ( substantially reduce heat loss). Frizzled birds that live in warm climates should be less effected than those living in milder climates.

If the gene's effect is pleotropic, a study would have to be carried out to determine the answer to your question. Does the recessive modifier of frizzle negate the health issues?

Tim

Interesting. Thank you for looking it up, Tim

. I've read everything from it nearly being a fatal gene to causing some sort of metabolic issues, and while many of the comments I've read were like proliferated gossip, some of the comments were by knowledgeable people.

I assume heat loss is from broken feathers, whose absence prevents them from insulating the bird. My sizzles seem really well-feathered, and I've never noticed any particular fragility to them; but I also live in a relatively warm climate. I've never had more than a few frizzled birds; right now one sizzle hen and one frizzled silkie hen who are both penned, and two sizzle roosters who roam the yard, and do not have access to the frizzled hens. I don't believe the frizzled silkie is homozygous, but her feathers do tend to have stiff shafts, and break fairly easily; they only curl a little. The sizzle has soft shafts, the feathers curl much more (typical heterozygous appearance) and are very full.

If pleiotropic, then it seems that health issues might be negated by removing one of the necessary genes, as well as the possibility of the modifier reducing any affect. I don't suppose there is likely to be a study unless the affect could be seen to relate in some way to human health...

 

[bhj123]

What is a wheaten sport? Is it basically just a splash wheaten?

 

[Extra Java]

A sport is an unexpected color that "pops" up. A Splash has 2 copies of the blue gene.

Since this is a month old perhaps you have already found the answer you were looking for...

 

[Wishapup]

How is partridge "created"? I had one striped partridge chick pop up from a cross between a white hen and either a black, barred, or barred and white rooster, which confused me. The parents of this partridge chick also had parents who were white, black, and barred/cuckoo, and one had some red leakage...

 

[bhj123]

Haha! No I have yet to figure out if my babies are sports. I did though only get two blues out of 9 eggs.

 

[Warwolf]

I was wondering, and playing with the idea, would it be possible to get a Blue Barred chicken (like a barred rock/barred holland but instead of black, be blue like the blue laced wyandotte) that laid blue eggs?

 

[Wishapup]

I was wondering, and playing with the idea, would it be possible to get a Blue Barred chicken (like a barred rock/barred holland but instead of black, be blue like the blue laced wyandotte) that laid blue eggs?

Yes! There are Blue Barred Plymouth Rocks. Simply, the blue replaces the black on the bird.

To lay blue-green eggs, you could try Blue Ameraucana hen x Blue Barred Rock rooster (if the other way around, only roosters would be barred, hens solid). The progeny would lay green eggs having 1 blue gene and 1 brown gene.

 

[Warwolf]

So lets say I used a Barred Holland (white eggs) instead of a barred rock (brown eggs). Then I would get blue eggs instead of green right?

 

[Wishapup]

So lets say I used a Barred Holland (white eggs) instead of a barred rock (brown eggs). Then I would get blue eggs instead of green right?

Yes, but the white would wash out the blue, making it lighter (I think).

 

[Wishapup]

Actually, a better cross would be a regular Barred Holland rooster x Splash Ameraucana hen. All offspring would be blue barred, and lay (pale) blue eggs. To see the color of the eggs, I believe there are pictures of Ameraucana x Leghorn crosses.