My Breeding Project and Help with the Genetics

[MeanCheek]

Sorry the coop is so dirty

 

[MeanCheek]

@NatJ you're amazing with genetics, what would the above hens crossed with a mille fleur Pyncheon roo look like?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I was just out looking at combs, and they're not pea combs. They are like a really small single comb with no points scrunched up into a kind of long "S".
I don't necessarily need a pea comb; I just need a really small frost-bite-proof comb.

This sounds like they have one pea comb gene and one not-pea-comb gene. They often look like small, fat single combs that make s-shapes.

They may be slightly inbred. They are all cousins, brothers, sisters, first cousins once removed, aunts, and uncles. They family tree is quite intricate.

Inbreeding really isn't as big of a problem with chickens as it can be with mammals. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/inbreeding-not-as-bad-as-it-may-seem.74335/

I don't want the muffs, but I also don't want wattles. The Spitzhauben hens have small/no wattles. Should I use Spitz?

How old are the Spitz hens? They should have wattles similarly sized to any other breed.

The pea comb gene restricts wattle growth as well, so by solidifying the pea comb in your project birds, you should end up with greatly reduced wattles as well.

The first and third hens in these pictures have a pea comb gene. The second hen has both pea and rose comb genes. Cute hens! I believe the color you're seeing in the middle two hens is incomplete quail, which means that they're missing a gene or two that would make them quail like their d'Anver parent. I don't think there's a way to make that coloration breed true so that that's all you get from your project birds, honestly.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

@NatJ you're amazing with genetics, what would the above hens crossed with a mille fleur Pyncheon roo look like?

I'm not NatJ, but as I recall, mille fleur is basically gold Columbian with mottling. Mottling is a recessive gene, so none of the first generation cross will be mille fleur, but all of them will carry mottling. You should see some individuals that are incomplete quail like the hens and some that are gold Columbian or incomplete gold Columbian, and some might have inherited blue as well depending on the hen.

 

[MeanCheek]

How old are the Spitz hens? They should have wattles similarly sized to any other breed.

They are just over a year old. Wattles are still very little. I don't think they are the best quality

The pea comb gene restricts wattle growth as well, so by solidifying the pea comb in your project birds, you should end up with greatly reduced wattles as well.

Thats great! Perfect for me.

I'm not NatJ, but as I recall, mille fleur is basically gold Columbian with mottling. Mottling is a recessive gene, so none of the first generation cross will be mille fleur, but all of them will carry mottling. You should see some individuals that are incomplete quail like the hens and some that are gold Columbian or incomplete gold Columbian, and some might have inherited blue as well depending on the hen.

How would I "stabilize" the "incomplete Quail?
What would the easiest color to get them to breed true as be? That is a very confusing sentence, sorry.

 

[MeanCheek]

I need to decide on a color. I want something that will "blend in" while they forage (which they will hopefully be great at), and something that will be easy to breed for/ add in. Suggestions?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I need to decide on a color. I want something that will "blend in" while they forage (which they will hopefully be great at), and something that will be easy to breed for/ add in. Suggestions?

Depends on your soils, and your foliage. I am seeking a pencilled gold-base bird for my orangy-clay soils and irregular greens. With a preference for the lighter/more orange or gold reds, rather than the mahoganies.

 

[MeanCheek]

Depends on your soils, and your foliage. I am seeking a pencilled gold-base bird for my orangy-clay soils and irregular greens. With a preference for the lighter/more orange or gold reds, rather than the mahoganies.

Soil here is dust, pine-needles, and stones, and the foliage is a dry pine wood. Gold Spangled does perfectly, (of course that's during the five months of the year there isn't snow) but I don't really want a color that complicated.

 

[MeanCheek]

Also, they would need a name...

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Also, they would need a name...

You can't have "Clay Ranger" - I want that one for myself (see Sig)