Mystery Hamburg Chick

[Katesmak]

Hello! I have been raising Silver Spangled Hamburgs and their first crops of eggs are just starting to hatch! I had one hatch so far and I am… stumped? Confused? Because where I expected to get a white chick with the black speckling on the back instead I got an all black chick! It does have a rose comb from what I can tell so it has to be a Hamburg because that’s my only rose comb breed. I did have my Hamburgs mixed with my Phoenixes before I realized they were laying and separated them. They are silver duckwing Phoenixes so I’m not sure if that would account for the dark coloring either? If anyone has any ideas of how this happened that would be great! I’ll post a picture of the chick and any other chicks that hatch if they are similar!

 

[Amer]

I would actually say that is a crossbreed since rose comb is a dominant gene, they would pass it on to all of their offspring. I'm a bit confused though, the chick seems to be gold based with the golden coloring on its face. Are you sure there weren't any other roosters around the Hamburgs?

 

[NatJ]

Hello! I have been raising Silver Spangled Hamburgs and their first crops of eggs are just starting to hatch! I had one hatch so far and I am… stumped? Confused? Because where I expected to get a white chick with the black speckling on the back instead I got an all black chick! It does have a rose comb from what I can tell so it has to be a Hamburg because that’s my only rose comb breed. I did have my Hamburgs mixed with my Phoenixes before I realized they were laying and separated them. They are silver duckwing Phoenixes so I’m not sure if that would account for the dark coloring either? If anyone has any ideas of how this happened that would be great! I’ll post a picture of the chick and any other chicks that hatch if they are similar!

I think it might just be a Hamburg chick. They can have different amounts of dark and light coloring when they hatch, and it might be the dark end of the range of possibilities.

Regardless of what it looks like, please do update when the chick grows some feathers, and maybe again when it has the mature coloring (since chick feathers are often a different pattern than what the chicken will show when it is all grown up.)

I'm a bit confused though, the chick seems to be gold based with the golden coloring on its face. Are you sure there weren't any other roosters around the Hamburgs?

I see what you mean about it looking gold around the face. Maybe one of the roosters (either breed) is split silver/gold? When it grows some feathers, hopefully it will be more obvious whether it is actually gold or whether it is silver with odd-colored chick down.

 

[Katesmak]

I would actually say that is a crossbreed since rose comb is a dominant gene, they would pass it on to all of their offspring. I'm a bit confused though, the chick seems to be gold based with the golden coloring on its face. Are you sure there weren't any other roosters around the Hamburgs?

I’m fairly certain! They’re very good fliers and escape artists so I’ve had them in their own coop/run for a while. I’ve wondered that as well but isn’t gold a dominant gene? So one of the roosters would have to be gold with a hidden silver gene for that to be the case? Or do I have those mixed up? I’m still wrapping my head around chicken genetics

I’m also not saying I don’t think it’s a crossbreed but more that I’m sure I didn’t get my eggs mixed up and that it is supposed to be a Hamburg chick! Since the rose comb is dominant over single and that’s my only rose comb breed

 

[Katesmak]

I think it might just be a Hamburg chick. They can have different amounts of dark and light coloring when they hatch, and it might be the dark end of the range of possibilities.

Regardless of what it looks like, please do update when the chick grows some feathers, and maybe again when it has the mature coloring (since chick feathers are often a different pattern than what the chicken will show when it is all grown up.)


I see what you mean about it looking gold around the face. Maybe one of the roosters (either breed) is split silver/gold? When it grows some feathers, hopefully it will be more obvious whether it is actually gold or whether it is silver with odd-colored chick

Oh I’ll definitely be updating! I almost wish it would be black or something so I can call it an outcross and put it back with my other Hamburgs since anything but gold and silver Hamburgs are so hard to come across! I just know none of its parents looked like that as chicks so I’m like huh???

 

[NatJ]

isn’t gold a dominant gene? So one of the roosters would have to be gold with a hidden silver gene for that to be the case? Or do I have those mixed up? I’m still wrapping my head around chicken genetics

Silver is considered dominant over gold. If a cockerel has both the silver and the gold gene, he looks silver when he is young. Then when he grows up, he tends to get a yellowish tone in his feathers, not really gold or silver but in-between, and often has red leakage in his shoulders (but not always. Sometimes a silver/gold male will look pretty much silver.)

Silver & gold are on the Z sex chromosome. Male birds have ZZ, so they can have two silver genes, or two gold genes, or one of each. Female birds have chromosomes ZW, so a hen is either silver or gold but not both.

If the chick does grow gold feathers, I would expect it to be female, and I would expect a male in one of the pens to be carrying gold even if he looks silver. A gold male would need to have a gold mother AND a father who has at least one gold gene (gold/gold or silver/gold).