how do you take care of them? do you have to keep them in doors most of the time? Did you get them intentionally or was it a surprise one day when you looked in the incubator? I can just imagine the shock the first time seeing one especially if you didn't know about them in advance.
So if they're a mutation then any feathered chicken could carry it? or is it specific to certain breeds? They're rather fascinating.... must be pretty rare, I'd never seen anything like them until I saw your avatar.
Got them very very very deliberately!!! I had been wanting them so bad ever since seeing a short news segment clip on TV maybe 30 years ago. All I managed to locate were in closed university stock and not for sale to general public.. so close yet so far. Someone managed to get eggs from stock carrying the gene and in turn some eggs were then passed on to me maybe 4 years ago by now. I didn;t hatch any nakeds from that batch but the chicks were naked necked... when those were old enough to breed they surprised me with 4 naked babies(the avatar pic are three of those first ones).. I was so thrilled! Love them.
As it turns out the first recorded history of scaleless were out of an university line of New Hampshires. It was a random mutation that popped up in this line, I forget in what year the first naked chick showed up.
It has nothing to do with the breed and isn;t even a breed, it's still a "genetic oddity" than anything else. I've been outcrossing my carrier birds with other lines of naked necks and couple other breeds to bring in new blood and as far as I can see what mix the bird are has no effect on the "naked-ity"..
It's mild out here so they stay out all year. They do get clothes when night time temps start to get chilly in the fall until early spring time also insulated boxes(kind of like a homemade dog house but with extra insulation) to sleep in at night and they do great.
speaking of shocks from hatching eggs... I have given batches of naked neck eggs to people without telling them what they were... day 21-22 usually is so fun.. heh heh (I would not do that with scaleless eggs though, not every one is able to take care of them, so..)
