Leg color genetic question

kmpcfp

Songster
9 Years
Mar 24, 2014
328
308
211
Southern Maryland
White legs are dominant over yellow legs, correct? So, if a white legged easter egger hatched out 3 male chicks with yellow legs then their father must have been a yellow legged bird? Correct? She must be heterozygous for yellow/white?

The fathers could have either been a pure speckled Sussex (white legs) or a pure welsummer (yellow legs).

The chicks (now roosters) all have yellow legs.
20220711_175322.jpg


These are white legs on the lavender hen?
20220121_160655.jpg



One of these offspring (one of the roos pictured above) were bred back to the above hen, and all those resulting chicks have yellow legs as well (3).
 
Yes, the Welsummer is the father and your Easter Egger is carrying the yellow legs gene.
 
Yes, the Welsummer is the father and your Easter Egger is carrying the yellow legs gene.
Thanks!


These are yellow legs, right? Him pictured as a chick is one of the big ones below.
20230325_151030.jpg
20220301_123403.jpg


I just thought it was odd that it was a 25% chance of yellow legs to have every one of her offspring hatch with yellow legs.

This is her, unless maybe she does not have white legs. She is 6, so I'll have to search around for some of her as a chick:
20230325_150940.jpg
 
Oh wait, I just found a younger picture of her and she used to have yellow legs. The speckled sussex could still be the father, which I was suspecting for atleast two of the roos, as they had speckled chests.
IMG_20170604_184611.jpg
 
Oh wait, I just found a younger picture of her and she used to have yellow legs. The speckled sussex could still be the father, which I was suspecting for atleast two of the roos, as they had speckled chests.View attachment 3443741
Nope, the speckled Sussex is homozygous for white legs. He couldn’t be the father.
 
Oh wait, I just found a younger picture of her and she used to have yellow legs.
It's common for yellow legs to fade as a hen lays more eggs, and get yellower again when she takes a break from laying. Her body puts the yellow into the yolks when she is laying, and into her feet and beak and other areas when she is not. White-legged breeds obviously do things differently, as they still lay eggs with yellow yolks but do not get yellow legs when not laying.

I just thought it was odd that it was a 25% chance of yellow legs to have every one of her offspring hatch with yellow legs.
Your math is a bit off. If the hen had white legs and carried yellow, and she was bred to a male with yellow legs, that should produce 50% chicks with yellow legs, and 50% with white legs but carrying yellow.

But since you now know the hen had yellow legs, the mystery is solved: a hen with yellow legs and a rooster with yellow legs produce chicks with yellow legs.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom