Lethal white gene in chickens?

[DURR]

Ok so I have a question. I just started to breed a Pair of white pumpkin hulseys and hatched some eggs from them. The rooster is older at about 3 and the hen is 1. Out of 5 eggs I've had two chicks born solid white. ( diffrent batches) The others had some orange pattern on them. But these 2 were solid white with pink legs. They had both passed away 2-3 days after hatching both were strong healthy babies and had just died suddenly. I noticed that the day they died they were limp and barely could chirp. I always use electrilites for their first few days. Just wondering if there was such a gene in chickens?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

There are lethal genes, but white is not one of them. I'm not aware of any COLOUR genes that are lethal in chickens. With a larger group, the colour differences between those that died versus those that did not might mean something, but with only 5 chicks the sample is way too small to be anything other than coincidence that they were both the solid white.

Things that you need to check on include whether they were eating/drinking; brooder temperature (or if raised by the hen, how well she took care of them--and then colour could be an issue if she's never been around birds coloured differently than she is); coccidiosis; any disease history of the parents that could pass into the eggs or to the chicks...