( Meyer Hatchery ) 16 Week Old Cockerel - What Breed?

[sybonbon]

The OP is correct on the gender of the Marans in question (if that's what you're referring to). He has pointed feathers and very large comb and wattles for his age.

Oops I guess the photos look different on my device. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Briosafarm]

Came from Meyer Hatchery as a bin chick, so it was kind of a mixed bag. I had another thread that originally started as a gender one but evolved into figuring out what Blueberry’s breed was. I’m just wanting to put this in its own thread to get more opinions.

I think handsome Blueberry is an Olive Egger. The comb is very different, not like a Marans nor is the eye color, but he has the feathered legs. Many olive eggers get the peacomb because it's "mostly" dominant, but the genes can interact to produce this kind of mixed-type comb if one parent (a hatchery Ameraucana i.e. Easter Egger for example) had only one peacomb gene. Muffs and beards are incomplete dominant, so even if there was an Ameraucana parent, not all olive eggers get those. Look at the OE pics on Meyer's...the one of the mature male in the snow has the same type of comb as Blueberry. Blueberry also has the beginnings of the dark head and neck like blue Ameraucanas and Olive Egger males.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I think handsome Blueberry is an Olive Egger. The comb is very different, not like a Marans nor is the eye color, but he has the feathered legs. Many olive eggers get the peacomb because it's "mostly" dominant, but the genes can interact to produce this kind of mixed-type comb if one parent (a hatchery Ameraucana i.e. Easter Egger for example) had only one peacomb gene. Muffs and beards are incomplete dominant, so even if there was an Ameraucana parent, not all olive eggers get those. Look at the OE pics on Meyer's...the one of the mature male in the snow has the same type of comb as Blueberry. Blueberry also has the beginnings of the dark head and neck like blue Ameraucanas and Olive Egger males.

Blueberry doesn’t have a pea comb, he has a regular unmodified single comb.

 

[cluckingheck]

I think what’s throwing me off the most besides his color is the fact Blueberry has a lot of feathers on his legs. I have two marans pullets from Meyer’s and they have very sparse feathering on their legs. Blueberry has a lot more like my blue cochin pullet does, that’s part of the reason I was almost convinced he was a cochin ( of course, I never thought to look at the skin color on his feet ).

these are older pictures of him

 

[Briosafarm]

Blueberry doesn’t have a pea comb, he has a regular unmodified single comb.

I didn't say he had a peacomb. I have purebred Ameraucanas, Marans, and olive eggers. Blueberry's comb doesn't look like a correct single comb to me (like a Marans) or a peacomb like Ameraucanas, but rather the mixed-type comb on some olive eggers I've seen and owned...like what can be produced by mixing a Marans with an Easter Egger or hatchery-quality "Ameraucana" carrying just one peacomb gene. Meyer's makes olive eggers from various mixes and I've seen some with the same kind of funky "not quite this, not quite that" type of comb.

 

[Briosafarm]

I think what’s throwing me off the most besides his color is the fact Blueberry has a lot of feathers on his legs. I have two marans pullets from Meyer’s and they have very sparse feathering on their legs. Blueberry has a lot more like my blue cochin pullet does, that’s part of the reason I was almost convinced he was a cochin ( of course, I never thought to look at the skin color on his feet ).

these are older pictures of him

Marans can vary widely in the amount of feathering...some of mine have hardly any and some have so much you can hardly see their legs and feet! Some of my olive eggers (all half Marans) have huge amounts of feet feathers. Of course I could be wrong...but I've had olive egger boys who looked just like him so that's why I suggested that's what he might be. Meyer's does make OEs from various "blends" and they carry blue Marans, Easter Eggers, and Ameraucanas (both one line of purebred blue ones and others which are more Easter Eggers.) He's a handsome boy and it might be fun to put him with different hens and see what color genes he contributes to the eggs.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I didn't say he had a peacomb. I have purebred Ameraucanas, Marans, and olive eggers. Blueberry's comb doesn't look like a correct single comb to me (like a Marans) or a peacomb like Ameraucanas, but rather the mixed-type comb on some olive eggers I've seen and owned...like what can be produced by mixing a Marans with an Easter Egger or hatchery-quality "Ameraucana" carrying just one peacomb gene. Meyer's makes olive eggers from various mixes and I've seen some with the same kind of funky "not quite this, not quite that" type of comb.

If he had a single pea comb gene, he would have a heterozygous pea comb/modified pea comb. His comb is pure for the single comb gene and unmodified. If it’s not a standard single comb, that is caused by something else, not the pea comb gene.

 

[sybonbon]

12.5 week Cockerel for comparison

 

[Briosafarm]

If he had a single pea comb gene, he would have a heterozygous pea comb/modified pea comb. His comb is pure for the single comb gene and unmodified. If it’s not a standard single comb, that is caused by something else, not the pea comb gene.

Thanks for correcting my incorrect attempt at explaining Blueberry's comb, which to me appears NQR and modified by something. Obviously I'm not a geneticist, but I do study Ameraucanas and got off track about something I knew (last week.) :-D Somewhere I read a scientific article explaining that at least occasionally pea comb genes and other comb genes can interact and influence each other; i.e get into a sort of "tie" which seemed to explain some combs I've seen in OEs...but I can't find it at the moment to ask about. Anyway, it would be fun if we ever find out what egg color genes Blueberry contributes!

 

[cluckingheck]

Just because I want to met in the middle - could he be a cochin/marans mix? Someone snuck into some place they weren’t supposed to be and had a little hanky panky time?